Reagan to Play Major Role for Bush--Laxalt

President Reagan will play a major role in Vice President George Bush’s closing stretch drive to win the West in November, former Nevada Sen. Paul Laxalt said today.

Laxalt, a Washington attorney and close friend of the President, said he has been busy mapping strategy on the use of Reagan in key Western states, particularly California, in the final weeks of the campaign.

“The West is very critical to the Bush campaign,” Laxalt said in a telephone interview from his Washington office. “If he doesn’t carry the West, he won’t be elected President. That’s the core of our campaign.”

Laxalt, who headed Reagan presidential efforts in 1976, 1980 and 1984, was named last month as co-chairman of the Bush campaign, with the Western states his primary focus.

Close as Governors

“One of my responsibilities is to make sure President Reagan is best utilized,” Laxalt said of the man who became his close friend when the two were governors of Nevada and California in the mid-1960s. “We hope in the closing days of the campaign that he’ll be spending a lot of time in California. He’ll be a very important factor in that key state.

“I have talked to him and he’s prepared to do anything required of him,” Laxalt said. “We hope to free him up in October so he can campaign in key states such as California, Texas and Florida.”

How does Laxalt see Bush’s chances in California?

“He’s looking a lot better than a month ago,” Laxalt said. “The more people in the West become acquainted with George Bush and Michael Dukakis, the stronger George Bush seems to grow.

“Bush was not all that well known in the West because he hasn’t had a chance to work it,” Laxalt added. “The (Republican) primary season was all over before Bush got to California.