Bentsen Says Bush Tactics Display Gall : In California Speeches, He Assails GOP Portrayals of Dukakis

SAN FRANCISCO — Sen. Lloyd Bentsen on Saturday said Vice President George Bush established “a new definition of gall, of chutzpah” in his portrayal of Massachusetts Gov. Michael S. Dukakis’ record.

Speaking to Democratic precinct leaders at a rally at East Los Angeles Community College, Bentsen said: “It’s up to us to get the truth out, and turn it around, and we will.”

The Texas senator, in his role as the Democrats’ vice presidential nominee, has often lamented that Dukakis has been slow to respond to attacks by Bush. Bentsen himself, noting that he comes from a state where “politics is a contact sport,” has shown no such reluctance to enter the fray.

He launched a new counteroffensive Saturday in speeches here and in Los Angeles, and in the Democrats’ weekly five-minute national radio address.

“A presidential campaign should be a magic moment for America, a time when we are proud of ourselves as a democracy because we are proud of our candidates,” Bentsen said in the radio address. “There hasn’t been much about the campaign of George Bush and Dan Quayle that would make any American proud. They have spent millions of dollars--your tax dollars--to raise false fears and make you believe this election is about phony issues.”

Bentsen seemed particularly irritated by Bush’s assertion on Friday that Massachusetts had become a fiscal “mess” under Dukakis. Bush said the governor had tried to raise taxes by $180 million, and when he failed, had turned to “borrowing like mad.”

‘Temporary Problem’

In Los Angeles, Bentsen insisted that Massachusetts is facing a “temporary cash flow problem that happens in virtually every state (and) can be corrected.”

Dukakis, Bentsen said, is “a man that gave them 10 balanced budgets in a row in Massachusetts, a man that’s taken a big deficit and turned it into a surplus, lowered the tax burden on the citizens of that state.

“That’s a record to be proud of,” he added.

Bentsen also noted that Republicans have made an issue of the fact that Dukakis vetoed Massachusetts legislation providing mandatory sentences for drug dealers. “Well, that’s true, he did,” Bentsen said, “and he did it because he wanted a tougher bill, and he got a tougher bill.”

Bentsen told the Los Angeles precinct captains that it is “in your hands to win this election in California.” Campaign officials said their internal polls show they are trailing Bush by no more than two percentage points in the state. “We think we can overcome that with organization,” the process of delivering voters to the polls, spokesman Mike McCurry said.

Appears With McCarthy

Bentsen also appeared with Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Leo T. McCarthy at a rally in a longshoreman’s union hall in San Francisco.

“You’ve got it in your hands,” he told the cheering crowd.

In San Francisco, he again accused Bush of chutzpah. And for a second time, campaign aides grimaced as Bentsen’s pronunciation of the word--as it is spelled, without dropping the “c”--revealed a South Texan’s lack of familiarity with the Yiddish word, which is roughly synonymous with audacity.