Quayle, Buoyed by Debate, Steps Up Attacks on Foes : Campaign: He slams Clinton’s character, tax plan and raises credibility issue over Gore’s early anti-abortion stand.

Vice President Dan Quayle, appearing buoyed by his performance in debating Democratic Sen. Al Gore, told a cheering throng of students Wednesday that “this is only the beginning--we’ve only begun to fight for this election.”

Campaigning with renewed vigor during morning television appearances in Atlanta and later while addressing 2,500 students on the baseball field at Auburn University, Quayle repeated his two major themes during the debate--the character of Democratic presidential nominee Bill Clinton and the prospect of higher taxes in a Clinton Administration.

He told a CNN interviewer that Gore, during their debate, “did a good job defending himself but not Bill Clinton.”

At Auburn, standing coatless in warm sunshine with his wife, Marilyn, at his side, the vice president recalled that “time and time again I said Bill Clinton has trouble telling the truth, and not once did Sen. Gore deny that. . . . For 90 minutes, Sen. Gore could not find anything good to say about the integrity of Bill Clinton.”

Referring to the debate, Quayle told reporters aboard his plane: “We had a very good night. We did well.” He said President Bush telephoned him after the debate “to tell me he was very pleased, that I had hit a home run.”

William Kristol, Quayle’s chief of staff, said aides felt the vice president “made all the right points and was cheerfully aggressive.”

Quayle, in attacking Clinton’s character, cited the Arkansas governor’s efforts to avoid being drafted and his mobilization of an anti-Vietnam protest in London as a young man. In each case, Quayle said Clinton did not tell “the whole truth” at the outset.

On Wednesday, Quayle sought to raise another credibility issue in declaring that “Clinton and Gore have been trying to have it both ways on abortion.” He told CNN that Gore, as a young legislator, “had a very pro-life record in the House of Representatives.”

During his tenure in the House between 1978 and 1985, according to the National Right to Life Committee, Gore voted with abortion rights opponents in more than 80% of the instances in which the issue arose.

The Auburn audience gave Quayle a warm welcome complete with three parachutists who landed on the baseball field.

Quayle said the Bush Administration, if given another four years, “will hold the line on taxes.” He drew a loud chorus of “Noes” when he asked the students if they believed that “America’s future with Clinton is going to be better through higher taxes?”

He drew the same response when he asked: “Do you want a President who has trouble telling the truth?”

He concluded by saying: “In times of crisis, do you want a President who is tested and has the experience to make the right decisions? Do you want a President who has the integrity to make the tough decisions? George Bush is your man.”