Bush Advocates New ‘Activism’ Guided by Conservative Policy : Republicans: He plans legislative agenda that would gain swift passage. Aides, meanwhile, warn against Perot candidacy.

ALBUQUERQUE —  With the presidential election campaign entering a highly fluid phase, President Bush Monday began to portray himself as an advocate of “conservative activism” while his spokesman sounded a strong warning about the dangers of putting Ross Perot in the White House.

In a major address in Denver, Bush pledged to meet immediately after Election Day with newly elected members of Congress from both parties to forge a legislative agenda that could win swift passage in the first 100 days of a second Bush Administration.

He also promised a host of other measures designed to overcome the barriers that have often left government gridlocked. “We can mobilize for war, we can mobilize for hurricanes,” he told an audience of hardware executives and employees. “Let’s mobilize for our economy and get this country moving again.”

Only minutes earlier, White House Press Secretary Marlin Fitzwater struck a decidedly different tone as he told a group of reporters that Perot harbored a “crazy man’s theory” about being targeted by Republican dirty tricks. He called upon the media to help to “prevent us from electing a paranoid person who has delusions.”

James A. Baker III, the White House chief of staff, later said he did not agree that Perot was deluded, and among the Bush camp there was a feeling that Fitzwater had spoken overly harshly. Noting that Perot had previously expressed willingness to accept the White House explanation, some aides expressed concern that Perot allies might have been angered unnecessarily.

But the close attention the Bush camp devoted to Perot and his can-do themes Monday appeared to reflect a view that decisions made in the campaign’s final days by the Texan’s supporters could have a decisive impact on a race in which the President continues to trail front-runner Bill Clinton.

With the independent’s role in flux in the wake of his extraordinary claims, White House strategists said they hoped to minimize any damage the Perot attacks might cause while persuading backers of the independent candidate to turn back to the GOP.

“Most of the Perot people won’t be voting for Ross on Election Day,” a Republican adviser said. “You like to make them think as well as possible about your guy.”

In keeping with that strategy, Vice President Dan Quayle issued an appeal to Perot supporters while campaigning in Missouri and Wisconsin. “We need your help,” he said. “We need your vote. We want you to join in our crusade.”

At an afternoon rally in a downtown square in Albuquerque later, Bush returned to the slashing attacks on Clinton that have typified his aggressive campaign--a sign that he still remains determined to drive voters away from the Democrat, who remains his biggest threat.

Mocking the Arkansas governor for once misidentifying a Patriot missile as a weapon that went down chimneys, he said: “This guy wants to be commander in chief, and he doesn’t know the difference between a Patriot and Santa Claus.”

But his earlier efforts to lay claim to activism, even for a few hours, imposed a more visionary tone upon a campaign whose homestretch drive has been typified by negative messages.

Readily agreeing that “change” was the issue around which the election would revolve, Bush paid tribute to Perot in conceding that his candidacy had exposed a national aspiration for “a new coalition” of leadership that would “get the job done.”

He said his meetings with new members of Congress “regardless of party” would help a second Bush Administration “respond quickly to the demands of the people.” And, in another theme that echoed one first voiced by Perot, he observed that a President unconcerned with reelection might have more room to maneuver than one concerned with winning a another term.

“You know, the best time to move is when you’re reelected,” said Bush, who would be barred by law from seeking a third term. Perot has said he would limit himself to one term.

“No more elections ahead, no more worries about future politics,” Bush said. “Just get the people’s business done, and do it fast.”

Bush said his second-term “action plan” also would include the formation, in cooperation with congressional leaders, of a new legislative “steering group” to ensure that new initiatives did not become bogged down. He also pledged to form a new “defense conversion council” of Cabinet representatives who would coordinate efforts to help the defense industry adjust to the post-Cold War economy.

That Bush moved so vigorously to embrace activism marked a shift in emphasis from a White House that has repeatedly argued the virtues of government nonintervention.

But Bush, who is portrayed by both Clinton and Perot as advocating a trickle-down approach to government, insisted during his address to the hardware convention that “the real choice is not between activism and passivity.”

“The real choice is between a liberal, activist government that seeks to impose solutions on individuals, families and the private sector,” he continued, “and a conservative, activist government that gives individuals, businesses and families the means to make their own choices through competition and economic opportunity.”

With that combination of energy and populism, Bush sounded more closely than ever before the kinds of themes Perot has used to attract the support of about 20% of voters in some polls.

The Bush campaign has welcomed that strong Perot showing because it has been accompanied by a slippage in support for Clinton. But Fitzwater and other White House officials expressed concern Monday that the new round of Perot attacks might be hurting the President.

But even those Republicans who said they believed Perot’s charges would eventually backfire against the independent said the White House faced a difficult decision in deciding how forcefully to respond.

With the 38-minute address to the Ace Hardware convention, his most substantive since a Detroit economic address on Sept. 10, Bush chose to deliver a speech that was to have been given by Baker, his designated second-term economic czar.

Baker and Fitzwater had gone so far as to announce plans for the chief of staff’s speech, but senior aides said that upon reconsideration, they decided that the President should not be seen as delegating the task to a deputy.

Bush also returned to the themes of trust that have been a constant refrain of his campaign.

“When you enter that voting booth, ask yourself three common-sense questions,” he said. “Who has the right vision for America’s future? Who can get us from here to there? And which character has the character? And who you would you trust with your family or with the United States of America in a crisis? Ideas. Action. Character. I have tried very hard to demonstrate all three.”

Times staff writer Art Pine, with the Quayle campaign, contributed to this story.

Today on the Trail . . .

Gov. Bill Clinton campaigns in Augusta, Ga., Tampa, Fla., Lafayette, La., and Houston.

President Bush campaigns in Des Moines; Paducah, Ky.; and Kettering and Lima, Ohio.

Ross Perot has no public events scheduled.

TELEVISION

President Bush is a guest on NBC’s “Today” show at 7 a.m. PST.