Prop. 209 Applies Best Principles of Nation, Dole Says

SAN DIEGO —  In his strongest endorsement yet of Proposition 209, Republican presidential candidate Bob Dole expanded his arguments against affirmative action beyond the crucible of California politics Monday, asserting that the controversial state measure to do away with such programs “represents and applies America’s best principles.”

Later in the day, at a rally in Orange County, Dole returned to the economic proposal that has served as the mainstay of his campaign, pushing his call for a 15% cut in income tax rates. He was flanked by four Medal of Honor winners.

And in a further sign of Dole’s recent decision to make California the linchpin of his hopes for an upset victory a week from today, the candidate extended his stay in the state. He canceled plans to fly to Denver on Monday night and instead scheduled a speech this morning to the World Affairs Council of Orange County in Irvine.

Dole has used much of his current California swing, which began Friday night, to detail his disagreements with President Clinton on immigration and affirmative action. Indeed, Dole’s remarks Monday in San Diego represented his first detailed speech on the issue in 20 months on the campaign trail. He laid out a 30-minute explanation of how he has changed his own views to vigorously battle use of race- and sex-based preferences in government hiring and access to public education.

Navigating a gantlet of Clinton supporters shouting, “Four more years,” Dole acknowledged the difficulty of campaigning on affirmative action “because feelings on this issue run high, and it’s easy for the demagogues of either side to play on fear or play on resentment. . . . Even as we reject preferences, we must also reject prejudices. Even as we oppose quotas, we must also oppose scapegoating and stereotyping.”

Acknowledging his past support for federal affirmative action programs as a U.S. senator, Dole said these measures “were supposed to be transitional and temporary.” But he said he concluded this approach “did not work. This was a blind alley in the search for equal justice. We should have learned from it.”

He explained his new position by saying: “We cannot fight the evil of discrimination with more discrimination, because this leads to an endless cycle of bitterness. We must fight discrimination with equal justice and equal opportunity.”

He told supporters at the San Diego Civic Center that he sees Proposition 209 “as an extension of a commitment I made in 1964, when I voted for the Civil Rights Act.” Passage of the initiative, he said, “will elevate individual civil rights above group entitlements.”

At his afternoon rally in Anaheim, where he was joined by running mate Jack Kemp and greeted by thousands of ardent supporters gathered in the parking lot of the Pond, Dole indirectly referred to the lead Clinton enjoys over him in various voter surveys as he admonished the cheering group: “Don’t watch all these polls. . . . You are the polls, right here. You’re the polls. Don’t be swayed by the commentators or anybody else. They’re just giving their point of view.”

In lauding the Medal of Honor winners behind him, Dole mourned what he considers America’s loss of foreign policy stature since Clinton took office nearly four years ago.

“They don’t put medals of honor in Post Toasties or Wheaties,” Dole said. “You earn it the old-fashioned way; you risk your life. . . . Thank you very much, fellas, we appreciate it.”

What Dole did not do in Anaheim was follow up on the carefully crafted defense of Proposition 209 that he delivered in San Diego--a speech that he waited so long to give that some California Republicans think it may be too late to help his struggling campaign.

Dole’s chief strategist in California, Ken Khachigian, insisted that Dole was not a reluctant messenger for the anti-affirmative-action measure, which a Times Poll released last week showed is supported by 54% of those surveyed in the state.

Khachigian said Dole had waited until the campaign’s final days to focus on the issue because the candidate “had a lot of other speeches to give,” such as several attacks he has launched on Clinton’s character and ethics.

“I don’t think he really resisted” discussing Proposition 209, Khachigian said.

But just a few weeks ago, Kemp publicly had said the campaign intended to steer clear of the affirmative action issue. And campaign sources have said Dole resisted previous entreaties from California Republicans that he make the issue a centerpiece of his campaign in the state.

Dole first came out in favor of the initiative in a Times essay a year ago. And if he had been a reticent ambassador for the measure, Clinton, too, has been loathe to raise the issue.

The president’s strongest statement of opposition to Proposition 209 came during his debate with Dole earlier this month in San Diego. While stressing that he has “never supported quotas,” Clinton said, “I do favor making sure everyone has a chance to prove their competence. The reason I have opposed that initiative is because I am afraid it will end those extra-effort programs.”

One reason for Clinton’s reluctance to spotlight the issue may have been indicated in the recent Times Poll. The survey found that fully 41% of those Californians who support the president said that they also favor 209.

As Dole walked into his morning speech in San Diego and again as he left, he was surrounded by one of the largest and angriest groups of protesters he has faced this fall.

“Black contractors say no to 209, Bob,” shouted one protester.

In his speech, Dole said Clinton’s opposition to 209 meant that its success would “require two votes--one for the measure itself and one for an American president who will not undermine it after it is passed.”

The volatility of the affirmative-action issue surfaced Monday evening at a GOP rally featuring Kemp at the Long Beach airport. Josh White, a retiree from Long Beach, carried a sign saying, “The Klan supports 209. Should you?”

A group of Kemp supporters surrounded White, who is black, and tried to shield his sign from the television cameras with their own placards. As the crowd grew, one man ripped White’s sign from his hands.

“I think I should have the right to show my sign,” White shouted. “I think we should move this country, and all of its people, ahead.”

Also at the Long Beach rally, Kemp announced a coalition of more than 150 professional athletes and coaches--ranging from Olympic medal winners to race-car drivers--who are backing the GOP ticket. The athletes included Los Angeles Dodger Mike Piazza.

Meanwhile, in an interview on CNN broadcast Monday, Dole expressed bewilderment about why the ethics questions he has raised about Clinton do not seem to have undermined the president’s lead in the polls.

“I’m baffled,” he said. “I’m really baffled. It seems to me, and I’m not trying to be judgmental, but if the American people really cared and they’re really concerned about who’s in charge, something ought to get their attention sooner or later. Maybe . . . they just say, ‘Oh, well, that’s just Bill Clinton.’ ”

Later Monday, Dole went to Los Angeles to film campaign TV spots while his wife left the rally and visited the Leisure World retirement community in Seal Beach, where she spoke to a largely Republican audience of about 800.

During her speech, Elizabeth Dole left the podium and thrilled the crowd by walking among them.

“I just think she’s a wonderful woman,” said Nina Seeden, 84.

Donna Cooper, 66, who wanted to see Elizabeth Dole up close, waited until after her talk to shake her hand.

“I said, ‘God bless you,’ ” an elated Cooper said, “and she told me: ‘Keep us in your prayers. The best place is God’s will.”

Times staff writers Marc Lacey and David Reyes contributed to this story.

* THE ADVANCE MAN: One slip could spell disaster on the campaign trail. E1