Bush Denies Politics in Witnessing Event : Missile Destruction Becomes GOP Show

A strong aroma of politics mixed with the scent of burning rocket fuel at the historic destruction of two U.S. Pershing missiles here Thursday.

The Administration had been anxious to make the process of negotiating and ratifying the INF treaty with the Soviet Union a matter of bipartisan concern. But not so when it came to showcasing the achievement under the brilliant skies of Texas with a violent, ground-shaking and oh-so-photogenic demonstration. This was all Vice President George Bush’s.

Not a single important Democrat was on hand for the invitation-only event.

Bush peered through field glasses at the furious fireball 1,300 feet away, while a wall of cameras three deep peered at him.

Large Area Bulldozed

For the missile firings, an area perhaps five acres in size had been freshly bulldozed to create an unobstructed line of sight between the vice president’s viewing stand and the location where the rocket motors, one each from a Pershing 1 and Pershing 2, sat strapped to a concrete and steel base.

A 50-foot-tall flagpole with a large American flag was planted in the middle of the denuded area as a background prop for photographs.

Bush and his aides said he was wearing the hat of vice president, not that of candidate, in coming to witness the missile destruction.

“This has nothing to do with politics,” Bush said. “This has to do with world peace.”

For virtually the entire campaign year, the INF treaty has been at the heart of Bush’s standard campaign speech. Bush contends the treaty is proof that the path to a less dangerous world is to negotiate with the Soviets from a position of power and that deploying the once bitterly controversial Pershing missiles in Europe was incentive to bring about negotiations to eliminate this class of weapons.

‘Teach Those Critics a Lesson’

“Our critics said it wouldn’t work,” Bush later told a rally of screaming supporters in Tyler, Tex. “. . . Today should teach those critics a lesson.”

He zeroed in on Democratic opponent Michael S. Dukakis for his one-time support for a freeze on deployment of such missiles. At the time, the Soviets had about 1,000 missiles deployed in Europe and the allies none.

Bush quoted Dukakis “and this is an exact quote: ‘The reason we were for the freeze originally is that we wanted to stop the Administration from expanding the arsenal.’

“He wanted to restrain us, not the Soviet Union. Therein lies a big difference between George Bush and the governor of Massachusetts.”

At the rally Bush also did something he has not in several days--he raised the name of his running mate, Indiana Sen. Dan Quayle.

“I wish he was here. I talked to him yesterday or the day before. He’s taken quite a pounding,” Bush said.

Crowd Cheers for Quayle

The crowd cheered heartily at the very mention of Quayle.

Meanwhile, a poll of Texas voters published in the Austin American-Statesman showed Bush with a 47%-40% lead over Dukakis in the state. The poll was taken Aug. 19 through Sept. 2, and was reported to have a margin of error of 2 percentage points.

For all the hoopla in this corner of East Texas, local residents seemed less interested in Bush than in the arrival of the Soviet inspection team.

A local paper, the Marshall News Messenger, carried Soviet and American flags on page one and a huge headline announcing, in Russian and English: “Welcome,” and then adding: “Ya’ll.”