Clinton, in Southland, Hangs Out at the Mall : Politics: Crowds give him a rousing reception on shop-till-you-drop day. Earlier, he visits Reagan.

President-elect Bill Clinton on Friday began his first post-election trip to California with a visit to former President Ronald Reagan and a two-hour foray to the Glendale Galleria that delighted a wildly enthusiastic crowd of holiday shoppers.

“I’m overwhelmed by the reception,” Clinton said, as he struggled through a maelstrom of thousands of people who jammed into the mall’s southern end on what is usually the busiest shopping day of the year.

Clinton, on the first day of a four-day vacation trip, chatted with the former President for more than 70 minutes at Reagan’s Century City office about how to handle his first year in office, and about a range of foreign and domestic issues. He accepted a jar of red, white and blue jelly beans from Reagan, who explained that his trademark beans “kept me from being a cigarette addict.”

“What a wonderful gift,” Clinton replied. “I love it.”

Clinton later described the talk as a “good visit.” In a statement, Reagan spokeswoman Cathy Goldberg said the two men had a “warm and friendly visit and found that they were in agreement on several issues, including the line-item veto and the important role the private sector can play in government programs.”

“We talked about the transition, we talked about the first six months to a year in office,” Clinton told reporters, adding that Reagan told him “he hoped I would have more cooperation from the Congress than he did.”

He said the two men also discussed ways to “restrain government spending in some areas where I want to hold it down so we’ll be able to spend it in other areas.” They also discussed the situation in the former Soviet Union, the recent succession of Soviet leaders, and the trials of Mikhail S. Gorbachev.

Clinton, typically behind schedule, was 15 minutes late for his meeting with the former President.

He said Reagan also “talked to me about some of the personal aspects of the presidency,” and suggested that he take regular trips to Camp David, the presidential retreat in western Maryland, to allow him to think more clearly.

He said Reagan told him that was “about the only place where you can really walk free, you know, and be alone, virtually unencumbered.”

Earlier in the day, as he left Little Rock, Ark., for the flight to California, Clinton said he wanted to ask Reagan “about the transition and the first year of his presidency,” in 1980 and 1981. “They gave it a lot of thought,” Clinton said. “I thought they went after their agenda pretty hard, so I think we’ll talk about that.”

Clinton and his family came to California to spend most of the weekend relaxing at the beachfront home of two friends, television producers Linda Bloodworth Thomason and Harry Thomason in Summerland, an unincorporated area near Santa Barbara.

But Friday’s excursions also had symbolic purposes.

By appearing with the former President, Clinton sought to reach out to Republican and independent voters, and perhaps to show again that the election has now raised him to the level of the chief executive.

The California stop is intended to strengthen ties to a state that gave him 54 electoral votes. His swing through the mall also sought to show again that he will ignore practical obstacles--and perhaps security risks--to shape an image as a man who won’t be isolated from the concerns of average Americans.

The visit to the Glendale mall seemed to bring just the reaction the President-elect sought.

Cheering crowds hung over the second-floor railings and chanted, “We want Bill!” and “Come over here!” Clinton made his way from store to store, and was received with whoops of approval each time he reappeared, waving and showing the thumbs-up sign.

Women held out their babies to him. Teen-age girls cheered as if he were a rock idol. When he reached out to accept a gift--a book about Elvis Presley, “The Boy Who Would Be King”--so many hands reached for his that he struggled to take the gift.

Clinton’s first stop was in the Champs sporting good store, where he autographed two footballs, threw a pair of wobbly passes to a customer and complained that his staff had swiped the football from the governor’s mansion.

His plan had been to talk to shopkeepers and shoppers about the economy, but the boisterous crowd made it almost impossible for him to linger long enough for any exchange on the issues.

Outside the mall’s J.C. Penney store, Clinton stopped long enough to say he read the consumer mood as optimistic.

“I think they’re hopeful,” he said. “They understand that there is only so much one person can do.”

Most shoppers responded enthusiastically. Tom Grant, a commercial printer from Beverly Hills, said he was willing to put up with the boisterous crowd because “my heart just tells me this is a good thing. He takes me back to the Kennedy days.”

Jeff Teeter, 11, and his brother, Aaron, 12, came from Van Nuys with a chocolate cookie cake nearly a foot in diameter to present to Clinton. It read: “Don’t mess with Bill.”

Clinton didn’t miss a cue. When 9-year-old Sarah Huntsman, of Woodland Hills, got separated from her father, Clinton lifted her up in an effort to find the lost parent.

While announcement of the trip to the busy mall had raised some questions about the mayhem it would bring, few shoppers seemed upset by the hordes of visitors. Some merchants, however, expressed frustration that the visit had basically stopped all sales for the duration.

David Small, manager of the J.C. Penney store, said the visit “has created a lot of problems for the past hour. But I think it’s going to be great once the shoppers start shopping again.” Merchants said the visit would bring a windfall of publicity at the right time of year.

Aides said the mall was chosen because, despite Glendale’s Republican voting record, the Galleria’s customers represent a cross section of Southern California.

Referring to Clinton’s visit two weeks ago to a predominantly black commercial district of the District of Columbia, an aide said the mall “is as representative of the L.A. community as Georgia Avenue was of the Washington city community. . . . It’s sort of Georgia Avenue in a mall.”

The mall is Southern California’s second largest, after South Coast Plaza in Orange County, and had more than $400 million in revenues in 1991.

Clinton arrived at the Van Nuys airport at 10:40 a.m. Friday, along with his wife, Hillary; their 12-year-old daughter, Chelsea; Mrs. Clinton’s parents, Hugh and Dorothy Rodham, and two of Chelsea’s friends.

He was met by a group that included Rep. Maxine Waters (D-Los Angeles), Rep. Howard L. Berman (D-Panorama City), Los Angeles City Councilman Michael Woo and Los Angeles County Supervisor Ed Edelman. Clinton’s first embrace when he came down the stairs was for Waters, who was co-chairwoman of his California campaign.

Clinton is expected to spend time on the beach this weekend, and may go golfing.

Presidential Retreat

President-elect Bill Clinton and his wife, Hillary, this weekend are visiting the coastal estate of entertainment industry friends Harry Thomason and Linda Bloodworth-Thomason. The house is in an unincorporated area between Summerland and Carpinteria.