Bush Uses Defense Plants to Stress Campaign Stands
Day after day, more frequently than anything else, in states across the continent, George Bush’s campaign for the presidency comes here: to the defense plant.
Last spring, when he was 15 points behind, the Republican candidate traveled to factories like the one in Indiana that makes multipurpose military vehicles and TRW’s satellite facility in Redondo Beach, Calif.
Now, with the polls showing him even with Democrat Michael S. Dukakis, Bush is still at it. In suburban St. Louis on Monday, he visited a plant that manufactures military air conditioners. On Tuesday, here in North Carolina tobacco country, Bush campaigned at a Bendix facility that produces controls for jet engines.
Gives a Few Upbeat Words
The routine for such visits has become so steady and predictable that Bush could probably do it in his sleep. He meets with factory executives, tours the plant, often putting on a hat with the company logo, or goggles or a smock. Then, he poses for pictures with workers at some imponderably complex machine. Finally, employees are gathered to hear a few upbeat words from the man who wants to be commander in chief.
One lasting axiom of American politics is that peacetime elections rarely hinge on foreign affairs.
But, as employed by Bush, the defense-plant-as-stage becomes a sweeping campaign metaphor for much more than defense--for economic growth and jobs, for education, for industrial competitiveness, for patriotism and even for his own war record.
“What I want to say today, whether you are Democrat or Republican, the key has got to be two things for the election,” Bush said Tuesday at Bendix.
‘Peace and Security’
“One is employment--jobs and opportunity . . . . And the other has got to be the peace and security of the United States.
“And, indeed, this plant combines as the epitome of both.”
The vice president noted that the facilities of Bendix produced engine parts for the World War II torpedo bomber he flew.
To help the vice president underscore his campaign commitment to job training and education, Bendix executives distributed background material stating that its defense operations had given local workers “training in skills which were little to nonexistent in this area.”
Bush later rode across the street to North Carolina Wesleyan College, where he spoke of Bendix as an example of industrial competitiveness.
“I was over at Bendix,” he told a rally of 3,000. “You ought to see the job they’re doing on quality. The American workingman and -woman can compete with anyone in the world.”
If this was not enough, Bush tried to get some political mileage out of the issue of defense plants and defense spending. He charged that Dukakis’ claim of creating a Massachusetts miracle “is a mirage.”
Record ‘Ain’t Too Hot’
“Massachusetts really rates 40th in the nation in job creating and 45th in terms of manufacturing jobs,” Bush said. “And, with all the money that has been plowed in that state for defense, that ain’t too hot a record.”
Unstated by the candidate, but freely discussed by his strategists, is how Bush’s frequent visits to defense plants, military facilities and veterans’ groups are designed to appeal to the patriotic streak in conservative voters of both political parties. Bush particularly needs the crossover support of conservative Democrats to win.
“This is where you want to come to talk to conservative Democrats and independents. And defense is a big concern for them,” press spokesman Mark Goodin said.
This summer’s round of allegations of vast corruption in the defense industry hardly seemed to affect Bush’s defense plant strategy. He has consistently supported the industry, although certainly not its alleged wrongdoers.
Urges Strong America
“We’d better not let our guard down; we’d better keep the United States of America strong. We’d better be on the cutting edge of airplane fuel technology or whatever it is,” he said Tuesday.
From North Carolina, where he campaigned at the side of conservative Sen. Jesse Helms, the vice president traveled to Ft. Campbell, Ky., to visit the headquarters of the 101st Airborne Division and speak at the local American Legion post.
Bush poked fun at Dukakis’ now-famous 25-year-old snow blower, which has become a symbol of the frugality of the Massachusetts governor.
Sees Security at Risk
“If he doesn’t want to modernize his snow blower or his lawn mower, that’s his concern. If he doesn’t modernize our weapons systems, he puts the national security of the United States at considerable risk,” Bush told the 225 legionnaires.
It was the second day in a row that he had made an appearance in a Border state, following Monday’s stop in Missouri. Aides said that, although the vice president believes Dukakis cannot beat him in the Deep South, they expect a closer race in the Border region.
