1988 DEMOCRATIC NATIONAL CONVENTION : Bush Declines to Rise to Democratic Bait : Where Was George? Gone Fishing

Fisherman and presidential candidate George Bush reappeared from the political wilderness Wednesday and pronounced himself blissfully ignorant, unlike the rest of the country, of the Bush-bashing going on in Atlanta.

To hear the vice president tell it, his 4 1/2-day fishing trip in the wilds of Wyoming was heavy on trout and light on politics--and certainly lacking any word of the Democratic National Convention.

So when he clambered out of his fishing togs to resume his campaign here, Bush played it coy and magnanimous before assembled reporters.

To Massachusetts Sen. Edward M. Kennedy’s Tuesday night refrain, “Where was George?” (during the Reagan Administration’s misadventures), Bush cracked:

‘Don’t Have to Listen to Ted’

“That’s the beautiful thing about the forest, the actual wilderness. You don’t have to listen to Ted Kennedy.”

At the mention of former President Jimmy Carter’s contention that Bush comes off as “silly” in public appearances, Bush did a double-take.

“Who said that?” he asked, knowing full well the answer. Then he grinned. “That takes care of that.”

If he had heard any of the slights lobbed his way, Bush allowed with just a hint of consternation that they “might show a little desperation” on the part of the Democrats.

“Why respond to a bunch of frantic name-calling?” he asked.

“This is to be expected from the convention, it seems to me,” he said. “I have broad shoulders. They’re going to have to get in line to say ugly stuff . . . . If you just go nasty, go ugly, that isn’t an effective way to do business.”

Breaks Moratorium

All presumed political innocence aside, Bush dove back into his election effort here at an unusual time, breaking the traditional moratorium on campaigning during the opposite party’s nominating convention.

Though he does plan to meet with reporters daily, Bush said that the week would not be “high profile” or an attempt to “rain on their parade.” Rather, he said, he would concentrate on private fund-raising events, which his campaign expects will net $1 million in contributions for the Republican Party.

On Wednesday night, before attending a fund-raiser in Bloomfield Hills, Bush played to his political strength by appearing before a group of anti-communist activists to castigate the Democratic-controlled Congress for lacking “a commitment to freedom” in Central America.

He blamed the withdrawal of U.S. military aid to the Contra rebels for the Nicaraguan government’s recent crackdown on dissent.

“We cannot take an on-and-off-again approach,” he said. “Congress has been shameful and destructive on this issue . . . . It is a national disgrace!”

Earlier Wednesday, the vice president posed for pictures and accepted gifts from a group of Ukrainian schoolgirls in traditional costumes and floral headdresses. On the day the Democrats would nominate first-generation Greek-American Michael S. Dukakis for the presidency, Bush went out of his way to proclaim his “respect for those who have not lost sight of their heritage.”

No Shop Talk

On their fishing trip, Bush insisted, he and Treasury Secretary James A. Baker III, the confidant expected to assume the campaign’s chairmanship within a month, engaged in “very little discussion” of politics.

“There wasn’t discussion of names for vice president or anything of that nature,” Bush added.

He said again that he intends to keep his choice of a running mate secret until the Republican convention, rather than announce it early, as Dukakis did.

Thus far, Bush has refused to name anyone being considered, but, in response to questions at a press conference, he said that Kansas Sen. Bob Dole “would be on any list.”

“We ran against each other and there were a few harsh things . . . . That’s been laid to rest,” the vice president said.

Dole’s name has been repeatedly floated by Republican activists who regard him as a candidate who could bring strength to the ticket in the Midwest.

Bush seemed relaxed from his last break before full-scale campaigning, and declared himself “refurbished” by the fishing trip. Asked how he spent his days, Bush feigned surprise that reporters would question his nonpolitical account and said he and Baker had caught cutthroat and brook trout.

“We stayed in the same tent,” he said. “We fished three days . . . . We caught a lot of fish!”