Bush Launches State Ad Blitz to Prove Commitment to California

Trying to prove his commitment to an all-out state effort despite trailing Bill Clinton by landslide poll numbers, President Bush’s political strategists have begun a blitz of TV commercials and campaign mailings in Southern California.

The TV ad and mailed flyers also are designed to help Bush build a substantial “bump” in state polls coming out of next week’s Republican Convention in Houston.

There has been speculation that Bush might concede California, which he won by only 3 percentage points in 1988, and concentrate his reelection resources on states where he seems to be more competitive. A California Field Poll after the Democratic National Convention showed Bush trailing Democrat Clinton in the state by 34 percentage points, 62% to 28%.

“The TV and targeted mail reinforces the national campaign’s commitment to California,” said James Lee, press secretary for the President’s state organization, headquartered in Sacramento. “They’re not abandoning California.”

But senior campaign officials, speaking anonymously, said it likely will be several weeks before Bush’s national strategists decide how much real effort to put into California. On the one hand, its 54 electoral votes represent fully one-fifth of the number needed to elect a President and the Republican ticket has carried the state for the last six elections. On the other hand, California is the most expensive state to campaign in and if Bush is not strong here, it may be wiser to try to build an electoral-vote majority elsewhere.

The TV ad and mailings are the first of the fall campaign for Bush in California. In the Democratic camp, Clinton has not begun TV commercials or mailings in the state and none are imminent, according to California campaign manager John Emerson.

The Bush TV ad is one that recently has been running in such key swing states as Illinois, Ohio, Michigan, Pennsylvania, Missouri and Wisconsin. It shows the President in tight close-up shots discussing his foreign policy record and leadership abilities and denouncing Congress for not approving his domestic proposals.

The one-minute ad is scheduled to begin today and run through early next week, primarily in Southern California and on cable television, according to spokesman Lee. “We want to push the (poll) numbers going into the convention,” he said. “That’s why a lot of the buy is on cable, because that’s where the convention watchers are going to be.”

He declined to say how much the TV blitz will cost, but asserted, “It’s not a small buy.”

The mailings of the multicolor flyer are being sent to 500,000 Republicans, primarily suburban households in Southern California. The pamphlet emphasizes the campaign’s “trust” theme; “Leadership You Can Trust” is splashed across the cover under a picture of Bush conferring solemnly in the Oval Office with his advisers and Vice President Dan Quayle.

The text, including a “Dear Fellow Republican” letter from Bush, features a strong attack on the “do-nothing Congress” and a plea for the election of GOP candidates. “The days are numbered for these tax-and-spend Democrats,” the President asserts.

Spokesman Lee said, “Congress is so negatively viewed, this is a sure winner.”

The ad and the mailings are designed “to solidify our base,” he said.