FRESNO, Calif. -- Republican presidential candidate George Bush, reaching out to California's ethnic vote and farmers, unveiled a Hispanic advisory panel and told growers he opposes a union-sponsored grape boycott.
At a rally at a Sunmaid raisin plant, Bush said he firmly opposes the United Farm Workers boycott of table grapes, led by Cesar Chavez. The longtime labor leader ended a hunger strike last month that he undertook to protest grape growers' use of pesticides that could harm workers.
'Let me be clear, very very clear,' Bush told the rally as he stood against a photogenic backdrop of fresh fruit and produce. 'Unlike my opponent, I did not support the grape boycott; I do not support it, and that is a clear difference between the liberal governor of Massachusetts and the vice president of the United States.'
Dolores Huerta, United Farm Workers Union vice president, said, 'Mr. Bush's statement demostrates again that he is wealthy and comfortable and insensitive to the stuggle of poor people in our country. It also reveals his ignorance of the pesticide threat to our environment and our people.'
Backing the position of Republican Gov. George Deukmejian and currying favor with farmers in the strategic swing state -- California has 47 electoral votes -- Bush again pledged support for provisions in immigration law allowing 'guest workers' into the country as farm labor.
He also said that if elected, he would bring experience to bear in a bid to open European markets to U.S. agricultural products.
'This is no time for inexperience,' he said to cheers as he sought to draw sharp lines between him and his Democratic opponent, Massachusetts Gov. Michael Dukakis.
Bush also praised the large drop in America's trade deficit and heralded it as proof that administration policies were working. The Census Bureau reported Wednesday that the July merchandise trade deficit hit a four-year low of $9.5 billion -- and analysts said that news was good for Bush, as it calms economists' fears about possible inflation.
As Bush traveled to the central valley and throughout the state, he reached out to various constituencies, all of which will be decisive in his close race in California against Dukakis.
In San Francisco late in the day, Bush took a cable car ride and a tumultuous stroll in Chinatown, where a narrow street was lined with Asian Americans, chasing news reporters and some protesters against offshore oil drilling. A subsequent rally in the ethnic pocket was cut short when a group of Dukakis supporters punctuated Bush's remarks with shouted complaints.
Earlier, in Los Angeles, he announced the new group of Hispanic backers and said a 'new pride in America' is reflected in booming flag sales,
Bush reiterated the achievements of the Reagan administration and said Hispanic-Americans in particular have shared in 'America's new period of economic growth.'
'Two million, three hundred-thousand more Hispanic Americans are at work today than when this recovery began, and unemployment among Hispanics is falling almost twice as fast now as it was under the other party,' he told the breakfast gathering at a Hispanic-owned restaurant in conservative Orange County.
The announcement of the Hispanic group came on the heels of resignations by seven members of a Bush committee created to lure ethnic support after reports surfaced last week that they were involved in anti-Semitic activities.
The vice president said Hispanics for Bush will be headed by former U.S. Treasurer Katherine Ortega and will include Florida Gov. Bob Martinez, Rep. Manuel Lujan, R-N.M., and Bush's daughter-in-law, Colomba Garnica Bush, who was born in Mexico.
Bush caused a minor flap during the Republican National Convention in August when he introduced the three children of Colomba and his son Jeb to President Reagan as the 'little brown ones.'
Repeating most of his stump speeches by promising more jobs, better education, better child care and a strong defense, Bush alluded to another bone of contention with Dukakis: the controversy over mandatory recitation in schools of the Pledge of Allegiance.
Bush has challenged Dukakis's patiotism because the governor vetoed a 1977 bill to require teachers to lead children in the pledge every day. Dukakis contends the bill was unconstitutional.
Citing a small company in New Jersey that makes and sell American flags, Bush said its boost in sales demonstrated the 'new pride in America.'
'Back under Jimmy Carter and Walter Mondale, times were tough. Flags weren't selling that well,' he said. 'Well, since we began restoring pride in the United State of America, business has been booming. Flag sales have taken off and it seems this little company just can't seem to make them fast enough. They even had to add a new plant.'
