Bush, Quayle and GOP Convention

The choice of Indiana Sen. Dan Quayle as Vice President George Bush’s running mate should be a little hard to swallow for moderate Republicans, particularly for Republicans who, like myself, are members of groups like the California Republican League.

The CRL is pro-choice, and anti-prayer in schools. It questions the wisdom of military aid to the Contras, chemical weapons, MX missile production, and SDI. In other words, it’s not in agreement with Quayle on much of anything. And yet, many of my associates in CRL will be stomping around shouting “Bush and Quayle!”--obsessed with something they call “loyalty.” And the word from one pundit on Monitor Radio is that Quayle is expected to attract many moderate Republicans because he’s 41 years old and “projects the youthful image the moderates seek.”

Speaking for myself, I have no intention of supporting the Bush-Quayle ticket. I don’t support candidates because they’re my age, or because they’re in my party, but because they are in at least approximate agreement with me on the issues.

DOUGLAS LASKEN

Woodland Hills