A SURPRISING ENDORSEMENT
When Reagan formally endorsed Bush on May 11, he raised eyebrows among Bush campaign aides and Republican Party officials because his three-sentence endorsement sounded so unenthusiastic. A chagrined Reagan later said he had written the endorsement himself and had never intended it to be anything less than a total commitment of support.
Nevertheless, rumors have persisted that Reagan had lukewarm feelings about Bush as a successor. Yesterday's detailed announcement about the luncheon and Reagan's campaign plans was intended to demonstrate his enthusiastic backing for Bush, White House officials said.
Fitzwater said Reagan would do some campaigning this summer in California, where the President will be spending four weeks on vacation. After Labor Day, when the presidential campaign officially begins, Reagan's travel will be limited until Congress adjourns, after which the President will be on the road frequently, Fitzwater said.
One unresolved issue is whether Reagan and Bush will appear together at any campaign events. Bush said yesterday that security concerns have been raised about a joint appearance, though his top campaign aides have said they oppose joint appearances because they fear Reagan would upstage Bush.
Yesterday's meeting, however, formally resolved another sticky campaign problem: how Bush can part with Reagan on some issues without appearing disloyal.
DIFFERENCES ACKNOWLEDGED
Fitzwater said Reagan acknowledged that Bush "will want to take positions during the campaign that may differ from the President on administration policy." Fitzwater said, "The President recognizes that the vice president will want to present his own approach to solving the problems of the '90s."
In the last few months, Bush has broken with Reagan on several issues - the most notable being his opposition to the President's offer to drop drug- trafficking indictments against Panama's military ruler, Gen. Manuel Antonio Noriega, if he surrendered power.
On the Democratic side, Dukakis yesterday criticized as a "late conversion" Bush's pledge Wednesday to give a cabinet appointment to a
Hispanic.
"I don't know where he's been the last eight years," Dukakis said at a news conference in Boston. "I don't know how many cabinet appointments have been made. . . . It strikes me that this is a rather late conversion."
Bush made the pledge at a speech in Dallas to the convention of the League of United Latin American Citizens. Dukakis, who addressed the convention yesterday, noted that he had made a similar pledge to the same group a year ago.
In Massachusetts, he said, "we have one of the most successful affirmative action polices in the country. . . . It's precisely the kind of thing I want to bring to Washington."
Like Bush, however, Dukakis would not make similar pledges on cabinet appointments for women, blacks or other minorities. Dukakis said he would make such a distinction for Hispanics because "sometimes if the specific ethnic group has been virtually shut out of high positions in government, they're entitled to that kind of pledge."
