Republican Convention : Area GOP Delegates Confident, Enthusiastic

Amid the waving American flags and red, white and blue fireworks in the Astrodome Thursday evening, fired-up San Fernando Valley-area delegates to the Republican National Convention expressed confidence that the four-day gathering had positioned President Bush to win reelection in November.

Bush’s rousing acceptance speech was the crowning event for the delegates, an oration they said greatly enhanced the President’s prospects.

“He really pointed out the accomplishments of his administration and his goals for the next four years,” said Rep. Carlos J. Moorhead (R-Glendale) as the spectacular multimedia show continued after Bush’s speech. “And I think it’s very important that he pointed out that we need a Republican Congress.”

Several Valley delegates and alternates who were critical of Bush’s approval of a 1990 tax increase--breaking his “Read my lips, no new taxes” vow--said he had restored his credibility by admitting in the speech that he had erred.

“He made a decision to say he made a mistake on the tax increase, and he really laid out the differences between himself and his opponent,” said former Rep. Bobbi Fiedler, an alternate delegate. “He did what he needed to do.”

“Obviously, people here are not all conservatives but they all liked what he had to say,” said Sara DeVito Hardman, a Bush delegate from Tarzana who is also state director of the Christian Coalition and California vice chair of the Bush-Quayle campaign.

On an upbeat evening, the delegates proclaimed unity. They brushed aside earlier divisions over the abortion issue and expressed enthusiasm for the “traditional family values” that the convention stressed. They said they were delighted that the party’s leaders had opened fire on Democratic nominee Bill Clinton’s character and the Democrat-led Congress.

Those interviewed on the Astrodome floor during the final day of the high-stakes convention sounded like partisans who felt that they had regained the political momentum, despite polls that show the Republican candidates trailing.

“I’m very rejuvenated,” said Ellie Ashmore, a Bush delegate from Arleta and the head of volunteers for the California Republican Party.

“It’s been really positive,” Hardman said. She hailed the theme of family values but added, “It’s more than that. It’s decency, it’s wholesomeness, it’s morality. . . . That’s what the bully pulpit is for.”

Some Valley-area delegates did express concern that the party’s platform was too far to the right, as exemplified by the hard-line positions on abortion and homosexual rights. The Valley delegation was evenly divided on the abortion issue while the party platform called for a complete ban on abortion.

But even those who thought that the platform went too far played down its electoral impact.

“We’re an all-inclusive party,” said Frank Visco, a Bush delegate from Lancaster and former state GOP chairman.

“Republicanism has nothing to do with sexual preference. Sexual preference has no business in the political arena. It belongs in private.”

Nonetheless, “there are some extremes in our platform,” Visco said, “but there are major extremes in the Democratic platform on the other side.”

“I was really not all that enthusiastic when I came to this convention and now I’m very enthusiastic,” said Bonny J. Waugh, a Bush delegate and registered nurse from Palmdale who is against abortion.

“It’s really been a great sales meeting for me. It showed me we are a large umbrella. We can be pro-choice and pro-life and we can live together.”

Lucille Pershing, a veteran activist and Bush delegate from Burbank, said, “I would have pulled the plank” on abortion “because it doesn’t belong in the political arena. But, if that’s Bush’s point of view, I’ll go along with it.”

Celeste Greig, an alternate delegate from Chatsworth and longtime Republican loyalist, said she was concerned about alienating moderate voters. But, as a conservative, she proclaimed herself satisfied with the platform.

“It’s up to us, the leaders in our communities, to sell the ideology, to sell the conservative President and tell people that there’s no alternative.”

Pershing, who appeared on the floor Thursday wearing numerous political buttons and a straw hat adorned with GOP stickers and a small American flag, gave Bush a ringing endorsement.

“Bush has so much integrity and experience. He’s been great. He knows what it’s all about. His foreign policy is excellent. His domestic policy is good and getting better. The economy is mainly the fault of the Congress.

“Have you ever seen so much enthusiasm?” she asked. “I think we’ve got more than the Democrats.”

For most of the California delegates, former President Ronald Reagan’s speech on Monday evening was a highlight--if not the highlight--of the convention. Many had worked with Reagan as governor and President over the course of three decades.

Said Moorhead: “If you could pick one speech for your kids to hear, one speech to define democracy and the goals of America for the future, you’d want them to hear Ronald Reagan’s speech.”

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