Bush Says He Savors Underdog Role, Enjoys ‘Fighting Back’

George Bush, claiming the bracing Maine air had invigorated him to step up his battle against Democrat Michael S. Dukakis, declared today, “I’m the underdog and I like it.”

“He is the front-runner. He’s been decreed that by poll after poll,” Bush told reporters at a news conference on the lawn of his oceanside retreat.

“Do I worry about it? I don’t worry about it. I like fighting back,” Bush said, brushing off recent polls suggesting Dukakis’ lead has been widening.

He called for a resumption of collapsed negotiations to remove Panamanian Gen. Manuel A. Noriega from power, although he had previously expressed reservations about the talks. He said the talks should include other nations if possible.

Bush branded as “an outrageous lie” what he said was a reported suggestion by Noriega that the negotiations were meant to help Bush’s campaign.

“When you read these outrageous charges by a drug-related, indicted dictator, discount them. They are total lies,” he said.

Bush, with the pounding surf of the Atlantic to his back, also said if elected he would personally countermand any effort by the Secret Service to close off the nearby waters to lobstermen as a security precaution.

“That is absolutely absurd,” he said. “They will continue to fish here and they will continue to be welcome.”

As a sole lobster boat worked its pots in a cove several hundred yards away, Bush said he would give up coming to his Maine retreat rather than see the waters closed.