Bush Wins Unanimous OK : Says He, Quayle Will Campaign Like 2 Pit Bulls

The Republican Party, standing proudly on the conservative credo that twice carried it to victory, bestowed its presidential nomination Wednesday on George Bush, hailed as “a man who has served America in war and peace, who has the experience, the character and the strength to lead this great land we love.”

For Vice President Bush, who was nominated unanimously and without opposition by cheering, banner-waving delegates, the victory culminated a long and tortuous struggle that began more than eight years ago when he lost the party’s presidential nomination to Ronald Reagan.

And Bush and his newly designated running mate, Sen. Dan Quayle of Indiana, who is to be nominated officially at the GOP convention here tonight, declared themselves eager to launch their first campaign swing, beginning Friday in Quayle’s hometown of Huntington, Ind.

On the campaign trail, Bush said at a joint press conference Wednesday, they will tell the truth and, to the Democrats, it will “seem like they’ve engaged a couple of pit bulls.”

Quayle, a 41-year old junior senator whose selection startled many old-line Republican professionals, said he relishes the chance to go on the attack against the Democratic ticket of Massachusetts Gov. Michael S. Dukakis and Sen. Lloyd Bentsen of Texas. “Boy do I look forward to going out there and campaigning against Dukakis, Bentsen and (Jesse) Jackson,” he declared, chopping his hands through the air in a mannerism reminiscent of Bush.

“If the party of McGovern, Carter, Mondale and Dukakis got back in power,” Quayle said, echoing the GOP strategy of linking this year’s Democratic ticket to its politically unsuccessful predecessors, “I think it would be a disaster.”

Bush’s nomination was made official when his eldest son, George W. Bush, delivered Texas’ 111 delegate votes, sending Bush’s formal total over the 1,139 required. “The great state of Texas proudly casts 111 votes for a man we respect and a man we love,” the younger Bush said. “Texas casts all her votes for her favorite son and the best father in all America, George Bush.”

The vice president, dressed casually in a jacket, gray slacks and white shirt, grinned at his grandchildren and clasped his wife Barbara’s hand as the nomination he sought for more than eight years became official. One grandchild, 4-year-old Lauren Bush, slept in her mother’s arms.

In other family touches, Bush’s daughter Dorothy Bush Le Blond, delivered Maine’s delegates, his son Jeb Bush delivered Florida’s, and his son Marvin delivered Virginia’s votes. The final Bush child, Neil, hugged and kissed his sister as their father clinched the nomination.

Bush’s daughter-in-law Columba gave a seconding speech in Spanish and English. “I only want to tell you that the Bush family has opened their arms and their heart, to this generous country . . . with respect, with hope, and with love, I am nominating for the presidency of the U.S., a man who has been like a father to me, an honest, intelligent, capable man, my father-in-law, George Bush.”

As she spoke, Bush watched the scene on television from the sofa in his New Orleans hotel suite. The vice president was surrounded by grandchildren, clad in pajamas, and other relatives. The video screens at the Superdome showed the scene as Bush hugged and kissed one of his grandchildren.

Earlier in the day, faced with a barrage of questions about the fitness of his choice of a comparatively unknown running mate to serve as vice president or to strengthen the Republican ticket, Bush defended Quayle as qualified to be “a heartbeat away from the presidency” and said he “will help our cause in every part of the country.”

Agree on Challenges

Introducing Quayle at the morning press conference, Bush said he picked him because he is qualified, because they agree on the fundamental challenges facing the country and because the senator “understands that what’s important in this campaign is not only what we’ve accomplished, but what we will accomplish in the future.”

Under questioning by reporters, Quayle also was forced to address matters that could prove grist for the Democrats: his modest stature as a legislator, his dearth of executive experience, his inherited wealth and his lack of active military service during the Vietnam War.

The first question asked of Bush at the press conference was whether he could tell the nation that someone so young “and relatively inexperienced . . . is prepared to be a heartbeat away from the presidency?”

“Yes I can,” Bush replied. “His record is outstanding. Yes, he’s young, and that’s a tremendous asset. . . . “

While offering few specifics on Quayle’s credentials, Bush said that since selecting him Tuesday, “I’ve listened to his peers, and the accolades from the senators with whom he serves speak eloquently of Dan Quayle’s standing to be one heartbeat away from the presidency. Yes.”

Cites Years in Congress

Quayle, asked what qualifications he had to be President, cited his 12 years in Congress--four in the House and eight in the Senate--and said his work on the Senate Armed Services Committee give him the background “to have an understanding about what needs to be done to preserve the freedoms and the opportunities in this country.”

“I feel prepared,” Quayle said.

As for executive experience, Quayle cited work as an administrative assistant in the Indiana governor’s office while attending law school, work in the state attorney general’s office and work as director of the Inheritance Tax Division of Indiana.

“I was known as the chief grave robber of my state,” he deadpanned.

Quayle said he also had “made a payroll before.” He was apparently referring to the period in the mid-1970s when he served as associate publisher of the Huntington Herald-Press, one of a chain of conservative newspapers owned by his grandfather, the late Eugene Pulliam.

“So I have a management and executive background as well,” the senator said.

In his first grilling by the national press, Quayle--never before tested on the national campaign trail--appeared confident and energetic but sometimes ill-at-ease when peppered with questions about his finances, his military service and other potentially sensitive subjects.

Earlier, recognizing the public scrutiny that inevitably comes with being on the national ticket, he had said that for every vice presidential nominee “there are 15,000 journalists who want to grab him by the ankles, turn him upside down and shake him until something bad comes out.”

At the press conference, he denied he was in any way involved in the covert resupplying of the Nicaragua Contras and bristled when a reporter asked whether meetings to discuss the resupply operation had been held in his office and whether he had had contact with Bush or his office about arms for the Contras.

“None,” he snapped, “and that question is off base as far as any of those meetings going on.”

Supports Contra Aid

The questions were raised because of Quayle’s support for Contra aid legislation and the fact that one of his former aides figured in the Iran/Contra scandal after leaving the senator’s staff.

Asked about an incident in 1981 when he and two members of Congress shared a townhouse with Paula Parkinson, a lobbyist, during a golfing weekend in Palm Beach, Fla., Quayle replied: “That has been covered and there’s nothing to it.”

Quayle, questioned about serving in the Indiana National Guard rather than on active military service during the Vietnam War, said he thought it was a “cheap shot” for Democrats to raise that as an issue.

Some Democratic sources have suggested that Quayle, whose Guard service involved weekend duty attached to the governor’s office during 1969-75, got preferential treatment because of his family connections.

And Quayle, in another press interview Wednesday, acknowledged that influence of some kind may have been involved. “I am sure that I let a number of people know that I was interested in getting into the National Guard,” Quayle told television interviewers. He did not specify who was called but said “I am almost certain that the governor or lieutenant governor were not involved.”

Heir to the Pulliam newspaper fortune, Quayle denied reports that he is worth $200 million, but said he would disclose his finances “in a reasonable period of time.”

“That figure is not correct and believe me, you have caused me a lot of problems at home, because my wife has asked me about that,” he joked.

“We will be releasing all of my tax returns and you’ll be able to figure out that it’s far less.”

Bush, asked if the addition of Quayle to the ticket underscored the image of the GOP as the party of the rich, at first treated the question as a joke, declaring: “Why do you think I chose him?”

Then, turning serious, Bush declared: “I picked the best man to be the vice president of the United States. It isn’t a question of personal wealth, it’s personal--how you keep this country going so more people can benefit by this, the longest recovery in history. It’s those who care about others and his leadership in the Job Training Partnership Act, really something sensational.

“So I don’t think it’s a question of personal wealth. If it were, the Democratic ticket would be in deep trouble too,” Bush said.

The vice president also challenged the Democrats to release 10 years of income taxes, a challenge apparently intended to underscore the wealth of Dukakis and Bentsen.

In Quayle’s first solo campaign appearance away from Bush’s side, the senator was greeted by wild applause and a standing ovation when he met with members of the Indiana delegation at a motel near the New Orleans airport. He was flanked by his parents and a sister as well as his wife, Marilyn, and their three children.

Quayle said he could hardly wait to campaign and “talk about the Republicans that are the party of the great middle class, the party that looks to the future, and then look at the Democratic alternative that has nothing to say but doom and gloom, saying that we ought to take this nation backwards rather than forwards.”

At the convention, the Republicans--like the Democrats in Atlanta--were playing to potential Latino voters. Delivering his address partly in English and partly in Spanish, Orange County Supervisor Gaddi H. Vasquez said Democratic nominee Dukakis “may speak Spanish but he doesn’t speak our language. His actions and philosophy do not reflect the beliefs or the traditions with which we have been raised.”

Before the balloting began Wednesday night, Sen. Phil Gramm of Texas in a speech nominating Bush, led a slashing attack on Dukakis and the Democrats.

As President, Dukakis, Gramm declared, would “spend our workers into poverty . . . cut defense, and wimp America and endanger peace . . . expand the power of government and its control over our businesses, our families, our churches, and our lives.”

Gramm praised Bush as “a man who has served America in war and peace, who has the experience, the character and the strength to lead this great land we love.” And he called him “the greatest vice president this nation ever had.”

Staff writers John Balzar, Frank Clifford, Keith Love, Patt Morrison, Bob Secter and Robert Scheer contributed to this story.