It’s His Day in the Sun--and Vice President Revels in It

Growing up as one of the Bush children in starchy, well-to-do New England surroundings, it was forbidden to boast, or gloat or be so churlish as to swagger in public.

But who could blame George Bush all these years later for reaching around, right in front of everyone, and patting himself a good one on the back Friday?

Almost by acclamation, polls and pundits proclaimed Bush victorious in a debate that Michael S. Dukakis had high hopes and an urgent need of winning.

“One of my favorite philosophers is Yogi Berra,” a smiling Bush told supporters as he campaigned in Southern California. “He made a very profound statement a while back. He said you can learn a lot by just watching. . . .

“Well, last night the American people had a chance to watch two candidates in action. We were specific on the issues, we came at each other pretty hard. And when the smoke cleared, it was pretty clear where we stood.

Moved Campaign Forward

“And,” he concluded, “I believe I moved my campaign forward by what happened last night.”

All around the vice president, there were signs of Republican jubilation 3 1/2 weeks before Election Day. In fact, Bush and his strategists were already busily pondering the challenge of the high flier: How to avoid overconfidence.

“That’s the last thing I want,” Bush told reporters. “I remember how these polls can change.”

Campaign manager Lee Atwater said the public would see few changes in the Bush election game plan.

“No stunt flying here at the end. . . . There is a 100% certainty that if you get smug and overconfident you will be in trouble in a couple of days,” Atwater said.

Added Press Secretary Sheila Tate: “We think it’s still going to be a close election and we are going to fight it that way. . . . We’re going flat-out until Election Day.”

First stop in the day-after campaign Friday was Cerritos for a rally at Heritage Park. Ten large, mock hot-air balloons and 2,500 friendly supporters, including busloads of local high school students, greeted Bush. A lone Hollywood celebrity was at Bush’s side, martial arts actor Chuck Norris.

It was a partisan crowd leavened by students bused in from nearby schools. “Dyed-in-the-wool Republican” said one member of the audience, Ted Castro of Lakewood, when asked about his preference in the election. He added: “I believe in what the Reagan Administration has done. I believe he’s the man to carry the torch.”

As if sniffing a candidate on the move, Bush’s traveling press corps swelled to double its size overnight. “Piling on,” one journalist called it.

Bush made no secret of his relief.

“I’m glad that that last debate is over. And now we have three weeks to take our case to the American people in rallies like this and in events all over the country,” he said.

At Cerritos and at a second stop at Scripps Institution of Oceanography in La Jolla, Bush emphasized environmental themes in this easygoing campaign day.

He appeared to ease up once again on his support for unlimited offshore oil drilling by calling for “a very close look” at the environmentally controversial proposed Southern California tract known as Lease Sale 95.

Pointing particularly to proposed drilling in Santa Monica Bay and the strip from Newport Beach to San Diego, Bush said: “I agree we must subject these areas to the most careful study before allowing any drilling.”

Previously, Bush supported a delay in leasing a tract in scenic Northern California known as Lease Sale 91.

What would happen after the election is decidedly unclear. Bush is generally a strong advocate of offshore drilling and repeated Friday: “I do believe that development of our most promising oil and gas reserves is called for” and “essential to the national security.”

Although the crowd at Scripps was screened ahead of time and was overwhelmingly favorable to Bush, the vice president’s support of offshore drilling drew loud boos. His pledge to consider drilling restrictions drew polite applause.

Without offering specifics, Bush also put in a good word for an environmental issue of local concern, saying he would “pursue further acquisitions” of parkland in the Santa Monica Mountains Recreation Area. But he was noticeably silent on the more divisive question of whether to designate vast tracts of California desert as wilderness.

Finally, in a concerted effort to focus at least some attention off the daily politics and on to the matter of issues, Bush released an eight-page listing of environmental supporters that read like a Who’s Who of the American moneyed Establishment--full of names like Rockefeller, Coors, Pillsbury, Heinz and Packard. They represented membership in groups from Ducks Unlimited to the Nature Conservancy and the Jackson Hole Preserve.