Bush Asserts He Won Clear Mandate in Vote : Seeks to Strengthen Hand Against Congress Dominated by His Foes

President-elect Bush, seeking to strengthen his hand against a Congress dominated by his opponents, asserted Monday that he won a convincing mandate on Election Day that should be honored in the rough-and-tumble political wrangling that is likely to follow his inauguration in 10 days.

Clearly seeking to mold by force of rhetoric the same sort of mandate awarded President Reagan because of his electoral victories, Bush derided those Democrats who have criticized the election as “issue-less and mandate-less.”

“When the American people vote, they have a right to expect their substantive decision will be heard,” Bush declared before 500 campaign workers and volunteers who gathered in Washington to forward the names of suitable appointees for Bush Administration jobs.

The vice president’s remarks came as his transition appeared stalled by continuing difficulty in filling the final two Cabinet-level positions, those of energy secretary and coordinator of the nation’s war on drugs.

Transition co-chairman Craig Fuller, briefing reporters on the selection process, said that Bush has been vacillating on his announced plan to fill the Energy Department post with a nuclear industry veteran, and suggested that the agency’s top echelon would be a balance between nuclear experience and that in the oil and gas industries.

In another delayed announcement, campaign strategist Robert Teeter turned down the job of White House deputy chief of staff, opting instead to serve as a part-time domestic policy adviser. Teeter, who is deeply involved in Bush Administration planning, said that he based his decision on a desire not to uproot his Michigan-based family.

In his address to the Presidential Personnel Advisory Committee, Bush cited his campaign themes of economic growth, a tough criminal justice system and improved environmental and educational programs. Since the election, Bush has been stung by comments that his victory represented less a confirmation of his proposals than a denial of Massachusetts Gov. Michael S. Dukakis.

Citing former President John F. Kennedy’s often-quoted remark that a one-vote victory was a mandate, Bush declared that “in 1988, I think a majority of almost 7 million votes, a 4-1 majority in the states and the Electoral College, is a mandate, too.

“That mandate isn’t a set of issues and policies picked out of a hat or chosen at random,” Bush added. “It’s a program we’ve run a winning national campaign on. . . . There is a mandate.”

Bush specifically asked his volunteers to propose appointees who would further his views, and particularly called for the names of Latinos, blacks and Asians--”not as tokens but as real talent,” he added.

Transition co-chairman Fuller, meanwhile, said that another list of names for the Energy Department secretary will be forwarded to Bush later this week. A list for drug czar has yet to be provided.

“We’ll keep providing him with lists until he feels, you know, that he’s got the person on there that he would like to select,” Fuller said. “There’s no need to rule anybody absolutely out, but the fact is we’re still searching.”

Although Bush said last month that he hoped to fill the top energy post with someone familiar with the problems besetting the nation’s nuclear industry, Fuller said Monday that “we’ve also looked at combinations which would have somebody who’s got an oil and gas background at the top.”

Asked which way Bush is leaning, Fuller replied with a grin: “He’s leaned both ways in the last few weeks.”

Fuller also confirmed that former Defense Secretary Harold Brown, who served in the Jimmy Carter Administration, is under consideration. Another Carter Administration official, James R. Schlesinger, fell from favored status after a persistent campaign by oil and gas interests. Former Louisiana Rep. Henson Moore is believed to remain under consideration.

Among the sub-Cabinet jobs, Fuller said that no decision has been made on who will serve as a deputy to Defense Secretary-designate John Tower. On a list forwarded to Bush by Tower were the names of four potential nominees: General Motors Vice Chairman Donald Atwood; United Technologies executive William Paul; IBM executive Vincent Cook and TRW executive Johnny Foster.

In the office of U.S. Trade Representative-designate Carla Anderson Hills, former Reagan Administration policy strategist Roger Porter will be deputy trade representative and Josh Bolton, formerly a trade specialist on the Senate Finance Committee’s minority staff, will serve as general counsel.

Bush Cabinet designees will meet in Washington Thursday to discuss the budget and other concerns during the Administration’s initial weeks, Fuller said.