FDR Coalition Is ‘Dead, Gone, Buried’: Bush

WILMINGTON, Del. —  Vice President George Bush told Republican governors today that the Democratic coalition forged by Franklin D. Roosevelt is “dead, gone, buried” but cautioned that the GOP can’t claim to have replaced it yet.

Addressing the closing session of the annual meeting of the Republican Governors Assn., Bush gave an upbeat forecast of party prospects in 1986.

He said President Reagan’s personal popularity and continuing economic strength would enable the Republicans to counter the historic trend in which the party in control of the White House suffers substantial losses in the midterm election of a President’s second term.

“It’s not going to happen to Reagan,” he said.

Farmers Hurt

In citing economic growth that he said was reaching a broad range of Americans, Bush conceded that “farmers particularly have been hurt, other parts of industry, manufacturing particularly, are not as profitable as we’d like to see them.”

He added: “I realize there is a great concern about foreign imports taking American jobs. And we share this concern.”

Bush said it might be two more elections before the GOP can claim it is the new majority party in America.

“The old Roosevelt coalition is dead, gone, buried--but we don’t yet have a new, equally strong coalition to take its place,” he said. “I believe that the next two national elections will decide whether such a coalition actually comes together.”