Bush Says Only Illness Can Halt Reelection Bid

Sounding like a candidate, President Bush declared Friday that only ill health will keep him from seeking reelection next year, and he launched a fierce assault on congressional Democrats critical of his domestic policy.

The feisty, campaign-style remarks were made as Bush prepared to meet with his top political advisers at Camp David this weekend to discuss for the first time his possible strategy in a 1992 reelection campaign.

The President cautioned that it is too early to make a final decision, but he said that “about the only thing” that might keep him from seeking a second term would be a health problem, adding: “I don’t have one right now.”

Directing his attention to domestic politics only hours after returning from a four-day visit to the Soviet Union, his second long trip abroad in three weeks, Bush lashed out at Democrats who have criticized his apparent preoccupation with foreign affairs.

Among the most biting of critics has been Sen. Tom Harkin of Iowa, who is testing the waters for a possible run at the Democratic nomination. He has taken to waving a suitcase covered with foreign travel stickers as he urges the President to concentrate on his domestic agenda.

At a Rose Garden news conference, Bush did not mention his accusers by name. But the President became visibly agitated as he spoke and turned away from a crowd of reporters to register his appeal to a cluster of nearby television cameras.

“Please, American people, do not listen to the charges by frantic Democrats who are trying to say we don’t have a domestic policy,” Bush said. “We have a very good one.”

The comments reflected the defiant attitude evident across the Bush Administration as officials seek to counter the perception that the President’s priorities lie mostly abroad. Bush strategists have urged Administration officials in recent weeks to gather evidence to demonstrate their achievements at home.

Bush is scheduled to leave Washington on Tuesday to spend four weeks at his summer home in Kennebunkport, Me., and he made clear that he plans to devote his time there mostly to relaxation. He said that he has earned his vacation and, “It will not be denied.”

At the same time, with his agenda under fire, Bush vowed that his Administration will have “a lot more to say about domestic policy” when he returns to the White House after Labor Day. “We haven’t begun to fight on that front,” he said.

The President mentioned education and housing as areas in which his Administration had offered “excellent programs.” But he gave no indication as to whether further initiatives will be forthcoming and said: “I’m not going to lose interest in world peace, and I don’t think the American people want me to.”

Bush spoke under a scorching midday sun just 12 hours after his plane touched down after a four-day visit to Moscow and Kiev. The President has spent 13 of the last 19 days out of the country.

With the meeting of 30 political advisers scheduled for this morning at Camp David, Bush’s mind seemed to have turned already to a possible campaign as he plunged with an enthusiasm not seen for months into the task of scoring his Democratic rivals.

Charging that “otherwise very nice senators” are reverting to character attacks, he accused the Democrats of adopting “a concerted policy to tear the President down.”

In singling out ill health as the only factor that might dissuade him from seeking reelection, Bush came closer than ever before to declaring his intention to seek a second term.

Bush suffers from a thyroid disorder and must take medication that earlier this year caused him to lose weight and feel tired. But he said Friday that he had received a clean bill of health from Dr. Burton Lee, the White House physician, during a checkup earlier in the day.

When asked how he was feeling after his long overseas trip, the 67-year old President shot back: “Ten. Ten out of 10.”

The White House refused to disclose the names of the advisers invited to the political strategy session, the first such meeting since Bush took office 30 months ago. Officials said that the President wants to avoid offending those who are not included.

But among those understood to be taking part are Commerce Secretary Robert A. Mosbacher; Robert Teeter, a presidential pollster and close adviser; and Fred Malek, a close friend and former top campaign official. The three are expected to assume senior positions in a Bush reelection campaign.