Bush Meets Shevardnadze to Get a Campaign Boost

Vice President George Bush, using superpower relations as a campaign prop, invited a senior Soviet official to his home today and was credited with being “involved in all high-level discussions” between the Kremlin and the White House.

Taking out time from preparations for Sunday’s debate, Bush turned his official residence into the stage for an appearance with Soviet Foreign Minister Eduard A. Shevardnadze, complete with loudspeakers on the front lawn and a microphone stand in the driveway.

The vice president, who made a campaign trip to Houston on Thursday, had to miss some sleep to keep the appointment. “If my eyes look a little heavy, I got in at 2 o’clock this morning from Texas,” Bush explained as he greeted Shevardnadze at 8 a.m.

On the campaign trail, Bush frequently talks of his foreign policy experience, trying to show that he is better qualified than Democratic rival Michael S. Dukakis to be President.

Joined by Secretary of State George P. Shultz, Bush and Shevardnadze met over breakfast for about an hour.

‘Substantive Discussion’

Emerging from the residence, Bush escorted Shevardnadze to the microphone stand, where he told an audience of cameramen and reporters that there had been “a substantive discussion on where things stand” on superpower relations.

“It is a pleasure for me to see Mr. Shevardnadze once again,” Bush said. “We have met several times.”

Invited by Bush to make some remarks, Shevardnadze said, “We have had a very interesting, a very substantive and a very profound discussion on problems of concern to both our countries.

“The vice president has already said that this is not our first meeting. He has been involved in all high-level discussions here in Washington and our talks with the President.”

When a reporter asked whether it would not be appropriate for him to meet with Dukakis, Shevardnadze did not respond directly, saying merely that his meeting with Bush was “a continuation of our dialogue.”