Quayle Renews Attack on Clinton’s Character

Vice President Dan Quayle, while conceding that the GOP ticket faces serious problems in California, used a visit to the Central Valley to raise doubts about Democratic nominee Bill Clinton’s character.

At an impromptu press conference at the Stockton airport, the vice president said: “I believe that people need to stop and think a long, long time before pulling that lever for Bill Clinton. It’s a big, big risk to put Bill Clinton in there.

“I don’t believe the American people, when it’s finally said and done, are going to vote for a person that they’ve got grave questions about--questions about his character, questions about his trust. I just don’t think they’re going to vote for him.”

Quayle did not specify why he believed that Clinton did not deserve the public’s trust, but the character issue is clearly one of the cornerstones of the Bush-Quayle strategy. The candidates and their surrogates plan to raise questions about Clinton’s draft record, his marriage and his experimentation with marijuana at every opportunity--either directly or in code, as Quayle did.

At the airport, on his way to Lodi, Quayle acknowledged that the California economy “is not good.” He said that the Republicans have a plan for reinvigorating the economy through tax cuts and incentives for business.

Earlier in the day, in Grand Junction, Colo., Quayle conceded that the Republican ticket was trailing badly in California, but he denied that GOP strategists had written off the state.

“Don’t believe that at all,” the vice president said at a brief news conference after a rally on the sun-washed campus of Mesa State College. “I’m going there. The President is going to California. California is an important state and I think we’re going to do quite well.”

Despite the vice president’s comments, campaign officials traveling with him have an electoral map that shows California as solidly red--the color for states presumed lost to the Democrats.

A Bush campaign strategist said that although there is little hope of winning California, Bush and Quayle will visit the state frequently to force Clinton to spend time and money here. “We’re not giving him anything for free,” the strategist said.

That is the same strategy Clinton is pursuing in parts of the South.