Dole Speaks Out Against Drugs in Ventura Visit

She may not be old enough to vote, but 12-year-old Jessica Seeley and her classmates at Temple Christian School were thrilled anyway at seeing Republican presidential nominee Bob Dole on their campus Wednesday.

“He could be the next president,” Jessica said, “so this is like a major thing. It’s like, whoa!”

Joined by Gov. Pete Wilson and other state and local officials, Dole took time out from his vacation in nearby Santa Barbara to discuss drug prevention with about 250 students, faculty members and parents at the private school.

Speaking from a small stage set up on an outdoor basketball court, Dole criticized President Clinton for failing to work more aggressively to eradicate a rise in drug abuse among teenagers, which he called the country’s top priority.

“If the figures are right, 38% of high school students have a problem with drugs and alcohol,” Dole said. “This means that parents have a problem, schools have a problem and we as national leaders have a problem if we don’t stand up and say this has got to stop.”

Many of the young students in the crowd described themselves as Dole supporters. Moments before the GOP candidate took the stage, eighth-graders Donald Tripp and Brian Giroux, both 13, said they believed Dole could do a better job of dealing with the drug problem than President Clinton.

“He’s been in the Senate a long time so he has more knowledge about how to do it,” Donald said. “He also supports stronger sentences for convicted drug dealers.”

Several students--many of whom sat on picnic tables set up for the rally--said they supported Dole because their parents did and because he promised to cut taxes.

“He’s better than Clinton because Clinton raised taxes,” said Vanessa Lewis, a fifth-grader at the school. “He breaks his promises.”

Another student, Rebekah Wyatt, 13, said she liked Dole because of his stance against abortion.

“He would get rid of that abortion clinic across the street,” she said, referring to the Planned Parenthood office on Ralston Street.

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Parents and teachers in the crowd cheered Dole as he spoke about the scourge of drugs. One man, making reference to Dole’s military service in World War II, yelled, “Bob Dole, you fought for our country, now fight for our kids!”

Dole responded by saying, “It’s all about kids. It’s all about the next generation. . . . I don’t know of any greater priority.”

Not all who attended the rally were Dole fans, however. A handful of Clinton supporters turned out to protest Dole’s acceptance of large campaign contributions from cigarette companies.

Holding up a sign that said, “What About the Biggest Drug Killer of All?” Ojai resident Dawn Brinker argued back and forth with Dole supporters in the school parking lot.

“Four hundred thousand people were killed by cigarettes last year and Dole continues to cater to the tobacco companies,” Brinker said.

Oxnard resident Udas Young stood nearby with a 4-foot-tall inflatable cigarette balloon marked with cancer and other cigarette-related death statistics.

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“It’s costing every state in the union a fortune to take care of all the sicknesses that the tobacco industry has caused,” Young said. “And Bob Dole continues to take money from the tobacco industry.”

Dole has said that he supports efforts to keep children from smoking, but that the federal government should not further extend its regulatory reach into the tobacco industry. During his 20-minute speech Wednesday, however, Dole appeared on at least two occasions to lump cigarettes in the same category as drugs.

Others attending Wednesday’s rally were state Atty. Gen. Dan Lungren, former federal judge and drug czar Robert C. Bonner, Rep. Elton Gallegly (R-Simi Valley), former Rep. Bob Lagomarsino and Ventura County Dist. Atty. Michael D. Bradbury.

Dole joined Bradbury in denouncing Proposition 215, a statewide ballot initiative that would legalize the use of marijuana for medical treatment.

“Prop. 215 is not good medicine,” Bradbury said. “It is the legalization of marijuana.”

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Dole agreed, saying the initiative has too many loopholes in it and would only serve to further promote drug abuse.

“You could drive a Mack truck through that loophole,” he said as the crowd cheered him on. “You could have [marijuana] for stress, headaches, in-grown toenails--you could have it for everything. Everybody could have a little plot or pot--or whatever it is--of marijuana.”

After his speech, Dole worked the crowd, shaking hands and scribbling his signature on Dole-Kemp placards.

“I got his autograph,” squealed Julie Thompson, 13, of Ventura, running up to her mother and sisters. Julie graduated from the Temple Christian School last year, but returned with her family to see the Republican presidential candidate.

Others were not as kind to the candidate.

As he made his way through the school parking lot, Dole was greeted by opponents who held up Clinton-Gore placards and shouted, “Four more years.”

At one point, Dole came up to Ventura resident Louis Bryant, who told the candidate face-to-face, “You’re not the right man for the job, and you’re going to be unemployed in two months.”

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But Dole took the comment in stride and even stopped to shake Bryant’s hand. “You have every right to your opinion,” Dole said, before moving on.

Although Dole’s visit to Ventura County was the first by a major presidential candidate in several years, it was well worth the trouble, according to organizers.

“Ventura County is a place where we are going to rack up the votes,” said Ken Khachigian, Dole’s California campaign manager. “This is a critical part of our base” of support.

Meanwhile, Ron Matthews, principal of Temple Christian School, said he was thrilled that the Dole campaign had picked his school for the anti-drug rally.

“This is going to be hard to top,” he said. “This year we had our staff in-service with Sen. Dole. Next year, we hope to get him back as President Dole.”

Times staff writer Ken Weiss contributed to this story.

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