Bush Charges Press Showed Favoritism Toward Ferraro : Some Reporters Were Advocates for Her, He Says

WASHINGTON —  Vice President George Bush looks back on the 1984 campaign as a not-so-pleasant experience in which Democratic rival Geraldine A. Ferraro had an unfair advantage and some reporters covering him actually were cheerleaders for her.

Bush said of his reelection campaign: “It wasn’t too pleasant. It was one of the--most people concede it was pretty bad--in terms of the mood out there.”

“I’ve a better frame of mind about it than I had a few weeks ago,” he added in an interview. “The campaign was grueling. That’s fading into the sunset.”

Bush said there existed an “advocacy amongst some journalists” for Ferraro. “Not only do I think it, I know it. That’s a matter that did not have much effect, thank God.”

Ferraro Uncomprehending Told of Bush’s remarks, Ferraro responded: “I don’t understand what in God’s name he’s talking about.”

The vice president also reflected on the prospect that he’ll seek the top job in 1988.

He said he has started focusing on that race, has not made a decision but has asked associates to see what must be done to keep his options alive.

“I don’t want to leave something undone so that I couldn’t make a prudent decision a couple years from now,” Bush said.

He noted that a study jointly conducted by the American Enterprise Institute and George Washington University found press coverage of his campaign was over- whelmingly negative.

“But that’s history, and the results were so great and the press generally so good, when you consider 251 interviews (mostly by local reporters) out all across the country, most of which was quite positive,” Bush said.

Asked if he felt Ferraro enjoyed an unfair campaign advantage, Bush said, “In some ways, I think so. And yet I would have to add--comma--I think she thinks she was treated with undue harshness. But I do think that.”

He added, “I don’t think the press was unduly tough on her.”

Ferraro reportedly will receive $1 million for the book she is writing about the campaign.

Asked if he thought there was a $1-million story in last year’s race, Bush replied: “If there is, it won’t be mine. Let me tell you about Geraldine Ferraro--she should get all the market will pay her.”

Off-Color Remarks Bush rejected suggestions there was anything orchestrated about off-color language used by himself, his wife, Barbara, and press secretary Peter Teeley to criticize Ferraro.

“Absolutely, totally absurd,” he said.

Referring to his wife’s remarks, Bush said, “Do you think she was sent back to deliberately say something that embarrassed the hell out of her and really has affected her unlike anything I’ve ever seen before? Do you think she was going through an act when she called up Ferraro to apologize?”

In a conversation with two reporters on Air Force 2, Barbara Bush referred to Ferraro as that “$2 million--I can’t say it but it rhymes with rich.” Later, she suggested the missing word was “witch.”

Bush, in assessing his debate with Ferraro, had boasted to a longshoreman, “We tried to kick a little ass last night.” And Teeley referred to Ferraro as “bitchy.”