Dukakis: A Tight Race; Bush: ‘L-People’ Failed : Vice President Intent on Protecting Lead

MODESTO, Calif. —  They told George Bush that if he is to win California, he should make his stand right here in the breadbasket.

And make it against the “L-people.”

And so he came again to the San Joaquin Valley on Saturday in a show of manpower and political force that only a vice president and front-running candidate for President can muster.

Riding at the front of a half-mile-long motorcade of buses, Bush came to bid for the sometime-Democrats who live here in the farmlands along Highway 99. These are Democrats who think of themselves as conservative and who often find reason to vote Republican in statewide elections.

Bush figures he could offer reason enough with this matter of the “L.”

“My opponent, he hates the L-word,” Bush said. “The L-word, the L-people failed. Liberalism failed because it lost faith in the people.”

Heavy on Bush’s mind, though, was protecting his now-expanding national lead in the polls. And this meant that taunting the liberals was about as daring as he was willing to get.

Bush summed up his purpose, telling reporters: “I’m not going to mess up.”

At stop after stop during his bus tour, he filled in the alphabet around the letter “L” with bromides.

“We’re going to take the high road and leave the pessimism about America to others,” he said.

And: “It’s time we stopped raiding the family budget and get the federal budget under control.”

Or: “This is my agriculture policy--more, not less.”

Ebullient and Weary

Bush, wearing a blue work shirt and chinos, confided that he was both ebullient and weary after Thursday’s debate and its taxing buildup.

“Read my smile,” he said when reporters asked him about his performance.

But aboard Air Force Two, Bush disclosed that he has not been sleeping well. “The accumulation of events,” he explained. “We’ve been going pretty hard.”

The pace did not slacken on Saturday. Campaign officials said that not in a generation--since John F. Kennedy whistle-stopped through the valley in 1960--had residents seen anything like Bush’s caravan of 10 buses and a swarm of support vehicles.

The caravan assembled first at a morning rally in Stockton. Bush then worked his way 140 miles down the Central Valley, stopping for rallies and brief speeches in Ripon, Modesto, Turlock and Merced.

Tours Chip Factory

In Madera he toured a tortilla chip factory, and he finished up the day in Fresno at a Fresno State football team tailgate party.

Steven A. Merksamer, chairman of Bush’s California steering committee, said this visit to the valley--Bush’s fourth since spring--reflected the view of strategists that up to 30% of the voters in the region were registered Democrats who have voted Republican before and who might again.

“There’s not a 30% swing anywhere else in California. And you can’t win (as a Republican) without winning big here,” Merksamer said.

Moreover, the valley has proven itself one of those regions where the messages of both Bush and Democrat Michael S. Dukakis have hit responsive chords this campaign--often with the same audiences.

Dukakis has appealed to ethnic sensibilities in the region, where ethnic roots and pride run deep. And he has probed local fears about the economy. Conversely, Bush has pressed such issues as gun control and crime.

Strategy Has Costs

Bush’s focus on the Central Valley has come at the expense of other key swing-vote areas, notably the Silicon Valley below San Francisco, where Dukakis has appeared but where Bush has not so far this fall.

GOP strategists said they may yet find time for Bush to visit that region. But they said their internal polls show Bush in a tougher fight for his vote goals in the Central Valley than anywhere else in the state.

Crowds on Saturday were in the range of 500 to 3,000, some enthusiastic and some just curious. But even senior aides were unsure if Californians in the big population centers of Los Angeles and the San Francisco Bay Area would be the least bit interested in news accounts, given Saturday’s opening of the all-California World Series.

If there was a noticeable weak point in Bush’s Central Valley bus invasion, it was in the lineup of Hollywood celebrities who were brought along to help add excitement.

Chuck Norris Main Draw

Martial arts movie star Chuck Norris served as the main draw and master of ceremonies, but he confessed he was more than a little nervous at his first brush with politics. In his introductions, Norris credited the Reagan-Bush Administration with forcing the release of U.S. hostages from Iran on inauguration day in 1981.

“Why?” he asked in his best tough-guy act. “Because he (Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini) knew President Reagan and Vice President Bush wasn’t wimps.”

Does More Talking

It was not long, however, before Norris came to grasp one of the truths of politics. “I’ve had to talk more this morning than I have in my last three movies,” he said.

When asked, Norris confessed that Bush had seen none of his movies.

Telly Savalas also appeared with Bush but chose a silent role. And two of the Beach Boys--Bruce Johnston and Mike Love--performed their new ditty, “I’m Picking Up Bush Vibrations.” But the performance sagged for lack of musical instruments or a back-up band.

Staff writers Keith Love and David Lauter contributed to this story.