Dukakis Vows to Play ‘Constructive Role’ After Conference With Bush

President-elect George Bush met vanquished Democratic candidate Michael S. Dukakis Friday, and the two declared that they will try to work together in the future, although the bitterness of the campaign has not yet completely disappeared.

And Dukakis, while promising to play “a constructive role” when Bush addresses such issues as the deficit, homelessness and health care, refused to grade the President-elect’s performance to date.

“I think the vice president is eager to learn and listen and reach out and I think that’s a good thing,” Dukakis said.

But, he said, “we’ve got to wait a little while to start grading anyone.”

‘A Good Discussion’

The one-time rivals met for just a little more than half an hour in a meeting Bush characterized as “a good discussion of the issues that are facing this country . . . in a spirit of good will.” The meeting capped an ongoing round of meetings Bush has had with supporters and opponents since his Nov. 8 election in an effort to build good will and national unity.

Dukakis offered no judgment on Bush’s early transition moves, saying, “The real test will come when the new administration is fully formed and begins to move forward with its priorities.”

The vice president-elect, Dan Quayle, often the object of Dukakis’ scorn during the campaign, greeted him inside the vice president’s residence, along with James A. Baker III, Bush’s campaign manager and his choice for secretary of state. Both left before Bush’s meeting with Dukakis.

After the visit, the two stepped out without topcoats into the brisk afternoon for a brief word with reporters.

Talks With Leaders

Dukakis, who earlier Friday made a series of calls on the Democratic leaders of Congress, said he and Bush “talked about the future. I expressed my concern obviously about the deficit” and some of the issues the Democrats campaigned on--better health care, housing, education and the environment.

He said he didn’t bring up the negative tenor of the campaign. “We had a good, tough campaign. That’s behind us,” Dukakis said. “The question now is how do we build a good country.”

The governor joked that he was hesitant to offer Bush advice on the deficit given his own problems with his state’s budget. But then he said in earnest that the country faces “a very formidable challenge. We’ve had eight years of endless borrowing and spending and the chickens are coming home to roost.”

Bush left Dukakis with a seasonal wish: “God bless you and have a great Christmas.”

Meeting With Robertson

Earlier, Bush met at the White House with a former GOP rival, Pat Robertson, and spoke of “the wonderful way” that friendships survive campaign battles.

Robertson, who returned last week from South Africa, gave Bush an upbeat report on racial progress in the white-ruled country and said Bush told him he wished that Jesse Jackson and other black American leaders would visit South Africa and “explore firsthand what’s happening because there have been some significant changes over the last 10 years.”

On another subject, as Bush’s presidential transition efforts moved closer to the Jan. 20 inauguration, the vice president expressed chagrin at reporters’ questions about why he made no additions to his Cabinet last week.

“There’s no holdup. We’re way ahead of schedule,” he said, complaining about “early, premature, needless speculation.”

Friendship Confirmed

At the outset of the meeting with Robertson, Bush said, “Some people don’t understand the campaign. They think that when you run against someone in a campaign, that that injures friendships.”

Citing earlier sessions with Democratic leaders, including Jackson, Bush said, “That’s not true. It’s wonderful the way the American political system works.”

Robertson, a longtime critic of sanctions against South Africa’s government, said he gave Bush a private message from that nation’s foreign minister about the situation in Angola in southern Africa and the proposed withdrawal of Cuban troops there.

“The time has come to recognize the South African government needs a little encouragement,” said the conservative television evangelist. He cited as positive steps the government’s movement of black leader Nelson Mandela from prison to a halfway house and the commutation of death sentences for the Sharpeville Six.

Spoke With Black Mayors

Robertson said he had spoken with black mayors in Soweto. “Seventy-five percent of the black people in South Africa are saying, ‘Please, we don’t want sanctions and disinvestment because they are falling most severely on the poor blacks of South Africa,”’ he said.

Bush began his day meeting with Bermuda Premier John Swan and also was meeting a group of evangelical leaders.

Bush was asked if he had a place in his Cabinet for Robertson. “Just good friend,” the television evangelist interjected.

Bush, who reviled Dukakis during the campaign as “another liberal governor coming out of nowhere,” made clear immediately after the election that he hoped to bury the hatchet as quickly as possible.