GOP Presidential Timber Sow Seeds at Conference

INDIANAPOLIS — Susan Weicht pawed through a pile of campaign buttons, shoving aside Jack Kemp, Dan Quayle and Pat Buchanan for two of Texas Gov. George W. Bush.

“I wanted to get some now because they’re going to be in high demand some day,” said the woman from Angola, Ind., as she pressed a wad of bills into the hand of vendor Jonathan Alcox.

“His father should have sold so well,” Alcox murmured, pocketing the cash.

Bush, son of former President Bush, is headlining the Midwest Leadership Conference--a parade of Republican presidential potential that also includes a former vice president, a former vice presidential candidate and four former presidential candidates.

When he spoke later Saturday, the governor criticized President Clinton for siding with organized labor. He also endorsed a balanced-budget amendment, tort reform, tougher law for juvenile offenders and a smaller Washington bureaucracy.

Facing reelection in 1998, Bush has played down talk about a 2000 presidential bid, although he did joke about it.

“I’m not planning to follow in my father’s footsteps,” Bush said. “I will not jump out of any airplane.”

The message was warmly received by the 1,500 Republican activists, although some said Bush’s delivery was uninspiring.

In nearly three dozen interviews, a majority of delegates said they were most interested in hearing from Bush, citing their desire for a “fresh face” on the 2000 ticket and his support in vote-rich Texas.

“I think he may just be the next nominee,” said Glenna Stephen of Redkey, Ind.

Yet delegates said Bush’s star status is an early phenomenon that could fizzle. He must win reelection in Texas, decide to run for president and develop a strong message for a campaign that is still three years away.

Another presidential hopeful impressing delegates Saturday was Sen. Fred Thompson (R-Tenn.), who revved up the crowd with a hard-hitting assessment of President Clinton’s campaign spending practices. As chairman of the Senate panel probing the affair, Thompson promised to hold Democrats accountable for “this outrageous behavior.”

Thompson, who urged his own party to pass new campaign finance laws, hopes to position himself as an independent-minded Republican, an outsider who helped reform Washington from the inside.

Former Education Secretary Lamar Alexander, who didn’t survive the 1996 GOP presidential primaries, returned Saturday with a relatively unchanged message. He said Republicans must convince voters that the party wants to ease racial and ethnic divisions--just not the way Democrats would do it.

“They are the party of preference. We are the party of opportunity,” he said.

Magazine publisher Steve Forbes, the only presidential hopeful who took questions from the delegates, denounced the budget deal negotiated by Republican leaders--some of whom may be presidential candidates in 2000.

Indeed, a chorus of GOP hopefuls who criticized the budget, including Quayle and Thompson, hope to position themselves as anti-Washington candidates.

Bush, 51, the former president’s eldest son, dismissed the buzz about his political ambitions. He doesn’t want voters thinking he’s only interested in the White House.

Still, conference organizers headlined their first news release, “George W. Bush to speak,” with former Vice President Quayle and House Speaker Newt Gingrich not mentioned until the third paragraph. Bush aides complained about the high-profile billing.