Quayle Tries to Reassure State’s Ranchers

Vice President Dan Quayle stumped through the Central Valley on Monday afternoon trying to reassure ranchers that the Bush Administration sides with them in their fights with environmentalists and government rule-writers.

“We’re here to let you know that we’re on your side,” the vice president told a group of cattle ranchers, as they chatted in a picturesque hay-barn that happened to make a perfect setting for the evening news.

After meeting with 10 members of the California Cattleman’s Assn., the vice president told reporters that the group was concerned with legislation that threatened their access to water; bureaucrats who could take their land without just compensation, and the federal Endangered Species Act.

He said the Endangered Species Act was the greatest of their concerns, adding that he believes the law should be relaxed. “My viewpoint is that . . . it probably needs a little flexibility,” he said.

Democratic presidential nominee Bill Clinton and his running mate, Al Gore, “talk about putting people first,” Quayle said. “Well, they put people first unless you happen to be a spotted owl or a giant garter snake.”

He said President Bush is reviewing the act and may propose easing some of its provisions.

A Mervin Field poll showed that Bush trailed Clinton in California by 34 points--62% to 28%--during the week of July 20 to 27. Quayle insisted that his party can win this key state and its 54 electoral votes.

“Things will turn around here in California--you can put that in the bank,” he said.

At a press conference before a sweeping vista of pastureland and the Sierra, Quayle was asked whether he was correct in describing the cattle ranchers as farmers in light of the historical enmity between the groups that dates from the Wild West.

“Ranchers, farmers, it’s all the same,” Quayle said. “They’re ranchers more out here; they’re farmers back there (in the East). But the term is interchangeable. For the media, rancher and farmer is the same thing.”

On this trip to California, he will visit Sacramento, Bakersfield, Los Angeles and Orange County before returning to Washington on Wednesday.