Candidates on the Stump in California : Dukakis Teams Up With Jackson; Bush With Deukmeijian

Republican George Bush warned his troops Friday not to let his strong, and perhaps decisive, debate performance against Michael S. Dukakis lull them into overconfidence, while the Democrat insisted that the race for the White House was far from over.

With several polls showing Bush solidly winning the Los Angeles debate that many analysts believed Dukakis needed badly, both candidates spent most of the day campaigning in California--a tossup state with 47 electoral votes, the prize of the election.

The vice president, after attending a rally in the Los Angeles suburb of Cerritos, argued that even though he now appeared to be clearly on a roll with less than a month to go to the election, “There’s no overconfidence at all. That’s the last thing I want. I remember how these polls can change.”

Bush Optimistic

“I believe I moved my campaign forward by what happened last night,” Bush told the rally.

Bush was accompanied Friday by California Gov. George Deukmejian who, continuing the GOP’s theme that Dukakis is too liberal for the nation, described the governor as “a Walter Mondale on taxes, a Tip O’Neill on spending, a Ted Kennedy on crime and a George McGovern on defense.”

However, Dukakis, the Massachusetts governor, appeared upbeat as he campaigned at a church in Los Angeles with former rival Jesse Jackson and then joined with running mate Lloyd Bentsen at a large rally outside the state Capitol in Sacramento.

At several points he hit upon themes struck during the debate and tried a new tactic--assailing Bush for having supported the nomination of Robert Bork to the Supreme Court last year. Bork’s nomination was defeated by the Senate.

“It’s the President of the United States who selects the people who will serve on the Supreme Court,” Dukakis told black civic leaders at the West Angeles Church of God in Christ. “That’s a message, too, isn’t it? . . . It’s the President of the United States that says to people all over this country, ‘I want everyone to be a full shareholder in the American dream.’ ”

Bentsen Warns Crowd

Later, in Sacramento, Bentsen, perhaps trying to stop the race from getting away from the Democrats, tried to stir up the partisan crowd to work for the ticket, noting, “I don’t want to wake up on Nov. 9 and say, ‘If only we had worked a little harder.’ ”

Going into the Thursday debate at UCLA, most national polls showed Bush holding a modest lead in popular votes and a huge edge in electoral votes--the votes that actually elect a President.

As a result, many analysts said they believed the debate could be Dukakis’ last chance to draw even with the vice president. However, Dukakis did not hit any home runs in the confrontation, and several polls showed Bush the clear winner.

For example, a Los Angeles Times poll of 522 registered voters who said they had watched the 90-minute televised debate showed Bush the winner, 47% to 26%, with 27% calling it a draw.

Aides Get Busy

While the candidates hit the stump Friday, their aides scurried to adjust voter perceptions to their advantage.

Bush campaign manager Lee Atwater told reporters that he is worried about possible overconfidence, saying the campaign could “be in trouble in a matter of days” if it began to rest on its lead. “There’s a 100% chance of getting in trouble if you get smug and confident,” Atwater said.

However, by warning against overconfidence, Atwater was also sending a message that the Bush campaign believes the vice president is well on his way to the White House.

On the Dukakis side, meanwhile, top aide John Sasso conceded that Bush “has had a good month.”

Bork Nomination

Nonetheless, Sasso sought to minimize the debate results, contending that it was a poor showing for Bush not to be further ahead than he is.

Sasso also contended that Dukakis could capitalize on the unpopularity of the Bork nomination, Bush’s 1985 tie-breaking vote in the Senate to freeze cost-of-living adjustments for Social Security, and a host of “economic factors” that Sasso said will force Americans to consider the change Dukakis offers.

“We were going for the swing voters . . . (and overnight polling) showed that we came out ahead,” Sasso said.

The campaign, meanwhile, scrapped previous commercials that painted Bush as a “packaged candidate” and unveiled two new ads that simply feature Dukakis talking about his vision of America.

Environment Stressed

In terms of issues, Bush Friday talked about the environment, a favorite theme in California, and argued that he would be a “President who is committed to conservation. As I’ve said before in this campaign, I am an environmentalist.”

Dukakis, meanwhile, talked about crime, repeating stories about how his father had been confronted by thieves and his brother was killed by a hit-and-run driver. He said the experiences had shown him crime on a personal level, while Bush learned about it from “a Clint Eastwood movie.”

“I don’t need lectures from George Bush about crime,” Dukakis said. “The fact is that my record on drugs and crime is one of the best in then country. His is pathetic.”

In his campaign stop with Dukakis, Jackson issued a stirring call to support the Democratic nominee because “there is hope in Michael Dukakis.”

Dukakis also planned to attend a birthday party for Jackson, who turned 47 on Oct. 8.