Quayle Makes Detour After Day of Speeches

Vice President Dan Quayle, in San Diego Tuesday night to address a gathering of the Big Brothers of America, ended up detouring unexpectedly to the San Francisco Bay Area to inspect earthquake damage.

After his speech at the Town & Country Hotel in Mission Valley, the vice president’s aides said he would be leaving from North Island Naval Air Station for San Francisco at the urging of President Bush.

At the Marriott Hotel in Mission Valley, he addressed a Republican fund-raiser Tuesday night.

Before the Big Brothers speech at the Town & Country, the vice president updated the crowd on the earthquake, drawing audible gasps from those in attendance when he mentioned that it had registered 6.9 on the Richter scale.

“We do not know what the total damage will be, the loss of life,” Quayle said. “I know that you, like me and everyone else, will pray for the families and the casualties of this disaster that has struck the state of California.”

Quayle’s seven-hour visit to San Diego included two fund-raisers--one for Rep. Duncan Hunter (R-Coronado), the other for the Republican Party, and a 30-minute interview with KNSD-TV (Channel 39).

In the interview, Quayle touched on a number of issues, ranging from abortion and a proposed constitutional amendment to outlaw flag burning to drugs and his “growing confidence . . . and satisfaction” with the vice presidency itself.

Asked to define his vision of his job, Quayle said: “My No. 1 responsibility is totally loyalty to the President. That is going to remain, no matter what happens . . . it’s the way that he was with President Reagan, and it’s going to be that way in the Quayle vice presidency.”

The vice president and his entourage left Washington early Monday, raised money for Oregon Republicans there, then traveled to San Francisco where he raised more money and rallied businessmen to support Sen. Pete Wilson, who is running for governor. After speaking to the Town Hall of California at the Century Plaza Hotel in Los Angeles, he visited former President Reagan, then flew to San Diego for the next speech. Private fund-raising meetings were held along the way.

Aides said there was no way to calculate how much Quayle raised on this trip, one of several he has made to Los Angeles since his inauguration nine months ago. But figures gathered before this swing showed that Quayle has thus far raised almost $9 million, three times the amount raised by Bush during his first year as vice president, an aide said.

The Reagan stop reunited two men who are more ideological soul mates than either is with Bush, and Quayle appeared clearly at ease with Reagan.

In brief comments after the meeting, Quayle described the session as “very good.”

“We talked a lot about his upcoming trip to Japan,” said Quayle. “I was just there, and we talked about some of the people he was going to be meeting . . . . Most of the conversation was focused on Japan and just some general social conversation.”

Reagan, who leaves Thursday for a speaking tour of Japan, did not attend Quayle’s Los Angeles Town Hall address, which took place next door to the former President’s office. But he would not have been displeased by the speech’s content.

The vice president praised the protests of East Germans who have taken to the streets to seek more democratic government.

“Last night, 120,000 people demonstrated for freedom in Leipzig, East Germany,” he said. “Their call for freedom is eloquent, and it deserves our strong support. . . . We must remember, however, that freedom’s success is never assured. Poland is one road, the hopeful road for others to follow. Tian An Men Square is another road.”

As he has repeatedly, the vice president cautioned Americans not to make too much of recent liberal moves by the Soviet Union.

“Although this is a time of hope, it is no time for complacency,” said Quayle, who defended the U.S. military presence in several parts of the world, including the Philippines and Korea.

“On the contrary, this is a time to recognize that the world remains a very dangerous place.” Quayle’s travels and the continual speech making have left him more relaxed on the political stump than he was at this time last year, when reporters hung on his every gaffe.

Only one was readily apparent Tuesday--when he greeted the crowd of “distinguished ladies and gentlemens”--and the vice president even inspired a little laughter, if not much applause. Asked, for example, whether the U.S. should pressure the Japanese to increase their defense spending, Quayle offered a droll remark:

“Before we get carried away and encourage Japan to rearm--let’s stop and think about it,” he said. The audience, clearly thinking about Pearl Harbor, laughed.