CAMPAIGN ’88 : Ford, Heston on Stump
Former President Gerald Ford and movie actor Charlton Heston hopscotched across the state Monday in a final effort to ensure that “California is in the right column when the polls are closed.”
At a luncheon meeting of the Comstock Club in Sacramento, Ford disputed polls that showed Bush leading and proclaimed the race for the White House to be a “toss-up.”
“It’s close. It’s going to be a narrow victory, either way,” Ford said. “. . . I happen to believe George Bush can and will win, but it’ll be closer than what some of the experts are saying.”
The former President smiled gamely when someone joked that “Squeaky sends her regrets that she will be unable to attend,” alluding to the 1975 incident in which Secret Service guards wrestled Lynette (Squeaky) Fromme to the ground after she pointed a pistol at Ford near the state Capitol in Sacramento.
Ford bristled, however, when reporters took notice that neither he nor the Bush campaign signs he was carrying made any mention of the Republican vice presidential nominee, Dan Quayle.
Ford accused the press of being “bloodthirsty” in its treatment of Quayle.
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