Dole Plans Campaign Stop Today at Private School in Ventura

Stumping for votes on a West Coast jaunt while Democrats congregate in Chicago, Republican presidential nominee Bob Dole rolls into town this morning to talk with local families at a private Christian school about the perils of drug abuse.

At his side will be Gov. Pete Wilson, Dole’s California campaign chairman and an erstwhile contender who was denied the opportunity to speak at the recent Republican convention in San Diego.

Dole’s visit marks the first time that a presidential candidate from a major political party has visited Ventura County in years. A traditional GOP stronghold, the county has never drawn much attention in the quadrennial race for the White House.

But with Dole vacationing just up the road in Santa Barbara this week, local Republicans urged the candidate to visit Ventura County.

“People in this county will be part of his activist base, and it’s good that he’s here trying to fire up the troops,” said Moorpark school board candidate Matt Noah, a member of the county’s Republican Central Committee. “It appears he’s being much more aggressive than George Bush was in 1992 and he’s trying to get out and meet people. . . . I think he has to run a vigorous campaign to beat Bill Clinton.”

Dole and Wilson will address an assembly at Temple Christian School, a two-story stucco campus just across the street from the local Planned Parenthood office.

It is a morning-long event, carefully choreographed by Dole’s handlers, who spent the better part of Tuesday reviewing facilities at the private school and running through security measures with local administrators.

But campaign strategists waited until late Tuesday to decide whether the public could attend the assembly with the GOP contender.

“It was a flurry of activity,” said Ron Matthews, the Temple Christian School principal who spent much of his afternoon touring the campus with Dole campaign organizers.

“Initially, I was told that it was not open to the public, and then I was told it was,” he said. “Certainly, we’re open to that, so that is what’s happening.”

Ventura police spent much of Tuesday plotting strategy to safeguard Dole while he visits Ventura.

“We’re doing what we need to do to make sure it comes off OK,” said Lt. Carl Handy, who is helping coordinate security. “When you talk about security for something like this, you don’t talk [publicly] about details. We’ll just do what we have to do.”

Handy said he is confident that his officers are up to the task of protecting a potential commander in chief.

“It’s something our people train for,” he said. “We’ll be able to take care of it, but it will certainly be a challenge.”

Dole swings through Ventura County today for the first time in the 1996 presidential campaign, an impromptu appearance coming on the coattails on a midweek trek to Santa Barbara.

After the morning address at the school, Dole plans to confer with Ventura County Republican Party leaders, a spokeswoman at his Washington campaign office said.

Dole is vacationing with his wife, Elizabeth, at the Four Seasons Biltmore hotel in Santa Barbara throughout the Democratic convention, which began earlier this week. Dozens of Ventura County Republicans headed to Santa Barbara for a rally Tuesday.

Today, Dole and Wilson plan to discuss the merits of the DARE program, or Drug Abuse Resistance Education, inside the fenced playground area of the small Ralston Street school, a spokesman for the governor’s office said.

Matthews said Dole would speak at 9:20 a.m., talking to students, faculty members and families about drug abuse and prevention. The Dole campaign last week attempted to link a recent rise in youth drug use to President Clinton’s policies.

“The public portion will be more the outdoor part of the assembly,” Matthews said. “Then there will be some meetings in our chapel with a number of families.”

Matthews said the visit is the biggest news to hit Temple Christian School in its 20 years of existence.

“I’d like to think it’s because we’re so well known throughout the country, but I’m not exactly sure how it happened,” he said. “All I know is that the staff is pretty excited.”

Temple Christian School serves 250 students, offering classes from kindergarten through eighth grade. The campus is affiliated with Ventura Baptist Church, which has a chapel on the same grounds.

Times correspondent Nick Green contributed to this story.

FYI

Robert Dole will make a brief campaign appearance in Ventura at 9:20 a.m. today at Temple Christian School, 5415 Ralston St. The Republican presidential nominee will speak about the perils of drug abuse.