The Morning Call from Allentown, Pennsylvania • 7

FOURTH FIFTH A4 THE MORNING CALL, TUESDAY, AUGUST 16, 1S88 REP03LICA1 waot ,,...1, imi.i.,MM,.M..i i By DONALD M. ROTHBERG Of The Associated Press see, professed to be mystified by the mention of his name. "My name's not on that list," he said. "I've made it perfectly clear, I've no desire to be vice president." In Washington, the man with the list and the power of decision, said, "I have not decided." "I probably will say when I have decided," Bush said on the ABC program, "Good Morning America." Bush spokeswoman Sheila Tate said, "He's going to call the schedule the way he sees fit. He knows that pretty well, building a lot of suspense.

He knows when he's going to make up his mind. He's just not telling us." The vice president was flying to the convention city today, and most speculation was that he would make his decision before arriving in New Orleans. When Bush was asked on the NBC show "Today" whether he had dropped from his list those prospects, including Simpson of Wyoming, who said they weren't interested, the vice president replied, "I wouldn't say that at all." That statement could reopen speculation about Govs. George Deukmejian of California and Jim Thompson of Illinois, both of whom have said they don't want to be considered. Gov.

Thomas Kean of New Jersey, a close friend of Bush, said he had talked to the vice president on Saturday and "I know there are some people who have not been on those lists who are still in his mind, so it could be a surprise." Vice presidential activity wasn't limited to the appearances of potential running mates. Sen. Gordon Humphrey of New Hampshire was leading a conservative effort to persuade Bush to choose someone acceptable to the party's right wing. "I think my choice will be widely accepted when I decide on who that choice is," Bush said on the "Today" show. Kemp said, "My conservative friends are going to be happy with the ticket and the platform." But the opposite end of the GOP spectrum also was finding hope in the prospects.

"It's going to be a tall ticket," predicted Rep. Jim Leach of Iowa, a reference to the 6-foot-7 Simpson. The Wyoming senator, while generally regarded as a conservative, supports a woman's right to abortion and is open to a tax increase to deal with the federal budget deficit, positions that put him more in tune with moderates such as Leach. NEW ORLEANS Potential Republican vice presidents made a whirlwind round of appearances in this convention city yesterday, some openly touting their qualifications, others playing coy. George Bush said in Washington that he hadn't made up his mind.

One prospect, Senate Republican Leader Bob Dole of Kansas, complained that the selection process was dragging on too long. "I don't care for it, frankly," said Dole when asked if he felt the process was demeaning. Dole, who had urged Bush to make his selection right after the Democratic convention in July, said he felt the Republicans were giving the Democratic ticket "a five-week head start." Not far from the Superdome, where the convention opened with a prenoon session, Rep. Jack Kemp told a news conference, "I would be a terrific campaigner and a terrific candidate and a terrific vice president." Bush campaign manager Lee Atwater said he thought that going into the weekend Bush "had received the input he wanted" on the field of potential running mates. The list of prospects appeared to include Bob Dole and former Transportation Secretary Elizabeth Dole, Kemp, Sen.

Dan Quayle, Sen. Pete Domenici, Howard Baker, Sen. Alan Simpson and Attorney General Dick Thornburgh, former governor of Pennsylvania. Roger Ailes, Bush's media adviser, was taping one-on-one interviews with prospective choices. In the interviews, potential choices were asked such questions as why they thought Bush would make a good president It was believed that the interviews would be used for television commercials.

While most prospects were less bullish than Kemp on their qualifications, they made it clear they would love to be tapped for the No. 2 spot on the ticket. Domenici, of New Mexico, described himself as "an extreme long-shot" in the veep sweepstakes. But he also suggested that as Bush's running mate "I could help on the economy, I could help on the immigrant vote." The senator's parents were Italian immigrants. The Dole family appeared at a series of receptions.

"We finally had to leave Washington to come down here," quipped the senator, "so we got a recording on the machine at home, just in case they got the wrong number. It just says, 'I accept Associated Press Sen. Bob Dole and former Transportation Secretary Elizabeth Dole attend a GOP luncheon honoring Nancy Reagan. George Bush's list of vice presidential prospects apparently includes the names of both. "If George Bush thinks I can offer the most to the ticket Dan Quayle will sign up immediately," said the Indiana senator.

"You really can't campaign for the office of vice president" said Quayle, as he arrived for an appearance before the Ohio delegation. "I'm here because George Bush knows who I am. He decided to put me on a list." Former White House staff chief Baker, of Tennes Associated Press George Bush holds up a victory sign as he leaves Old Executive Office building. Penn State buttons have Pa. delegates rooting for Paterno Losers struggle to find their niche outside prime time By MICHAEL KELLY Of The Baltimore Sun -yfX'L mw i v.

Vy Associated Press Alexander M. Haig (left) and Pierre S. du Pont. Neither ever drew enough votes to count. Rev.

Jesse Jackson, urging him to join the Republican Party. Haig, in a similarly characteristic address, compared the Democratic Party to a bat "flying erratically for brief periods at low levels and hanging upside down for extended periods of time in dark, damp caves up to its navel in guano." The crowd, such as it was, contained its enthusiasm. As both men spoke, the business of the convention floor went on without them. Delegation leaders made telephone calls; delegates made dinner plans; reporters interviewed political notables. Du Pont spoke to polite but limited applause.

Haig, delivering his speech in tones so low he could barely be heard, drew almost no applause. The difference in the applause signifies a difference between the two men. For Haig, yesterday's speech was the curtain call After a spectacularly successful Army career that catapulted him to positions as secretary of state and national security adviser, Haig's shot at the presidency ended in total failure. He received zero percent of the vote in the Iowa caucus and about 2 percent in the New Hampshire primary. He withdrew from the race on Feb.

12, before the New Hampshire vote. At 63, he has no political plans. Du Pont however, is still politically young at 53 and, with 7 percent of the vote in Iowa and 10 percent in New Hampshire, did not get NEW ORLEANS Six months ago, Alexander M. Haig and Pierre S. du Pont were presidential candidates, with their own entourages, Secret Service guards and supporters.

But there weren't nearly enough supporters, and so yesterday the two ex-candidates found themselves the Republican convention's Not Ready For Prime Time Players. At a political convention, nothing matters like prime time, the evening hours when millions of television viewers actually more or less watch the live broadcasts. This year, with CBS, ABC and NBC opting out of gavel-to-gavel coverage, a non- prime time slot means a television audience limited to Cable Network News or C-SPAN. It's cold out there outside of prime time, and du Pont and Haig were so far out nearly 10 hours away from 9 p.m. EDT when network coverage began last night they could have been speaking in a meat locker.

The giant convention hall in the Superdome was sparsely filled when du Pont spoke first at 11:40 a.m. EDT. It remained sparsely filled when Haig followed him 10 minutes later. Du Pont, in the kind of offbeat approach that marked his campaign, dedicated most of his time to reading a letter he had written to the By STEPHEN DRACHLER And SCOTT J. HIGHAM Call Convention Bureau NEW ORLEANS He's never run for office, but Penn State football coach Joe Paterno now has his own campaign button, appropriately colored in Nittany Lion blue and white.

The 61-year-old Paterno will take time off from practice to second George Bush's nomination tomorrow night. When he steps onto the dais, the members of the Pennsylvania delegation will be properly attired, with the blue and white buttons attached to their lapels. The buttons, which say "Bush, Heinz, Paterno The Winning Team" were distributed to delegates and guests who attended yesterday's Pennsylvania delegation breakfast at the New Orleans Hilton Riverside and Towers hotel. Paterno is a legend in Pennsylvania. His teams have won two national championships, the first in 1982 at the Superdome when the Nittany Lions beat favored Georgia 27-23, and his teams are ranked among the nation's top 20 nearly every season.

The coach has also been a cheerleader for the Republican cause. He campaigned door to door for Bush in New Hampshire before that state's presidential primary last winter, and he has endorsed Republicans running for office in Pennsylvania. Over the years he has brushed aside suggestions that he seek elected office. State Rep. Jon Fox walked between the tables during the delegation's breakfast distributing the buttons.

Not only was he boosting Paterno, but Fox has been a one-man team promoting U.S. Sen. John Heinz as Bush's running mate. trounced so badly as to rule out another try. "Who knows, maybe 1992, maybe 1996," said Delaware Gov.

Michael N. Castle, the delegation chairman here. Nevertheless, the political reality of the moment, for du Pont as well as Haig, is simple and hard: neither candidate ever drew enough votes to count. And not counting means no prime time. "The point is, we've got to put on a show, put on a production, that will attract the maximum number of viewers," said Richard Bond, deputy political director for the George Bush campaign.

"We made a political judgment that we only had so many slots in prime time and only so many people could get those slots and those people were going to be the ones that would attract maximum interest and attention." Other Republican primary race contenders would get their chance to shine in evening air time. New York Rep. Jack Kemp, television evangelist Pat Robertson and Kansas Sen. Bob Dole all have turns at the podium. "There was a greater level of interest in these people," said Bond.

"Pat Robertson brought millions of new people into the party." The level of interest expressed in du Pont and Haig yesterday could be measured in post-speech remarks by delegates. Illinois delegate John A. Davidson, a state senator and Bush supporter, could not recall much of anything in either "To tell you the truth, I only heard part of Haig's speech. I was busy talking to people in some other states," he said. "I didn't hear du Pont's speech at alL hot music and all-night dancing.

Buckwheat Zydeco, a band featured in the movie "The Big Easy," played as sweat-soaked convention delegates and reporters bounced around the crowded dance floor and pushed the temperature upwards of 100 degrees. Tonight, Little Feat, a rock'n'roll band from Atlanta, comes to Tipitina's. And oh yes, New Jersey Gov. Thomas Kean delivers the convention's keynote address at the Super-dome. The place to be seen Sunday night was Antiones, a 148-year-old French Quarter restaurant known for its oysters Rockefeller and hidden-camera Folgers' coffee commercials.

Despite its jacket-only requirement, an anomaly in New Orleans, and a French-language menu with prices that stunned the senses three pieces of broccoli cost about $4.50 Antoines was teeming with star gazers and stars from the media and political power circles. CBS News anchor Dan Rather was assaulted by flashing cameras and autograph seekers as he stepped from the restaurant and into a waiting limousine. After his mugging last year by assailants who asked "What's the frequency, Dan?" between punches, Rather took no chances. A man who appeared to be a bodyguard shielded him from the St Louis Street crowd. Inside the elegant but musty-smelling restaurant the stars slipped past the linen-covered tables in the front dining room.

Many were headed to a party hosted by U.S. News World Report Among them were ABC News anchor Peter Jennings; John McLaughlin, editor of the National Review and host of "The McLaughlin Group;" U.S. Reps. Henry Hyde of Illinois and Robert Walker of Pennsylvania; ABC News correspondent Jeff Greenfield, conservative columnist Robert Novak; Tom Braden, who hosts the PBS public affairs show "Crossfire," and Pennsylvania Attorney General LeRoy Zimmerman. A GOP slings it back The presidential campaign has evolved, or dissolved, into name-calling and derisive sloganeering.

In Atlanta last month. Democrats chanted "Where was George?" following a critical speech of the vice president by Sen. Edward Kennedy of Massachusetts. Texas Treasurer Ann Richards called Bush "Silver Foot" in her keynote address. Not to be outdone.

Republicans have begun to respond. Dozens of teen-agers were walking down Bourbon Street on Saturday night wearing T-shirts that read "He was home, dry and sober, with his wife" on the back. The shirts referred to Kennedy's conduct at Cbappaquid-dick in 1S69. Yesterday, Pennsylvania Republicans began to contribute their own phrases. State Republican Vice Chairman Ann Anstine, who was on the GOP Platform Committee, said the Democrats' theme is "Duck and Weave," a swipe at the 4.000-word Democratic Dlaifoim Mrs.

Reagan is known to have exerted strong influence over her husband, particularly on personnel matters. In brief remarks, Mrs. Reagan praised Vice President George Bush and his wife Barbara. "My husband couldn't have selected a better vice president than George Bush," she said of the man the GOP convention will name tomorrow night as the party standard bearer. "He is a man of integrity and conscience and loyalty And I know I couldn't have found a warmer, more considerate, more caring counterpart than Barbara Bush.

And I think she will be a remarkable first lady," Mrs. Reagan said. "Today the curtain begins to close on the Reagan era of the Republican Party. We've bad a wonderful run. But the time has come for the Bushes to step into the leading roles and for the Reagans to step into the wings," she said.

I Reagan joins GOP tribute to first lady NEW ORLEANS (AP) A hall filled with Republican well wishers watched a romance movie come to life yesterday as President Reagan stepped into their tribute to his wife, Nancy, and said of her: "Every president should be so lucky." simply can't imagine the last eight years without Nancy. The presidency wouldn't have been the joy it's been for me without her there beside me, Reagan told the audience of 3,000 as his wife of 36 years stood beside him. "That second floor bving quarters in the White House would have seemed a big and lonely spot without her waiting for me every day." Mrs. Reagan was clearly moved by her husband's simple but deeply personal tribute. The president was a surprise guest at a tribute to the first lady sponsored by the Republican Party and hosted by Reagan's daughter, party co-chairwoman Maureen Reagan.

"She once said that a president has all kinds of advisers and experts who look after his interests. but no one looks after his needs as a human being. Nancy has done that with me through recuperations and crises. Every president should be so lucky," Reagan said. "Nancy, in front of all your friends here today, let me say.

Thank you for all you do, thank you for your love and thank you for just being you," Reagan said. The first lady, apparently overcome with emotion, sank onto his chest as they embraced. 'Generic' speech being prepared for veep nominee The New York Times NEW ORLEANS Vice President Bush and his staff are putting together a generic vice-presidential campaign from nominating, seconding, and acceptance speeches and strategists, advance men, and briefing books for the running mate they have not yet announced. Bush's staff members now say he may not even notify his choice until Thursday morning. That would be less than 12 hours before the end of the Republican National Convention, when the vice-presidential candidate will be nominated and then must deliver an acceptance speech.

"We will have one or two writers work on a generic acceptance speech," said Fred V. Malek, Bush's convention manager. They will begin this work tomorrow he said, and will be given no clue of the chosen nominee's identity. They will also prepare draft speeches for whomever nominates and seconds the vice-presidential choice. The Bush campaign has also assembled a ready-made staff for Bush's running mate.

Stuart Spencer, a Republican strategist will be chief political adviser for the vice-presidential nominee and act as a liaison representative with the Bush campaign. Lancy Wiles, a Reagan administration advance man, will head the team organizing the running mate's appearances. "Depending on who it is." said a top Bush campaign official, "they'll sprinkle in their own people. All this is being set up as a sfcelL" A Cajun good time Partying, not politics, is taking hold of GOP convention goers and the reporters who flooded into New Orleans for the anti-climactic nomination of Bush. There are speeches to bear and votes to cast of course, and there's even a little drama of who will be Bush's vice presidential choice.

But what's quickly becoming cherished by the thousands of convention delegates and news-starved journalists here are directions to a wild time in The Big Easy. As delegates and journalists started to stream into this hedonistic port city Saturday, The Times-Picayune newspaper hosted an extravagant media party that some staffers said cost more than $500,000. "In New Orleans, it's important to throw a good party," noted Wendi Schnieder, a marketing representative for the newspaper. The party featured Mardi Gras floats, music by the Neville Brothers and turtle soup, hot Cajun sausage, crab salads and tubs of Hurricanes, a sickly sweet drink that assured untold numbers of hangovers. For some, Tipitina's was the next stop, a boozy, steamy hideaway of Television schedule NEW YORK (AP) The three major broadcast networks will carry two hours of coverage of the Republican National Convention today, while two cable television networks will continue to provide gavel-to-gavel coverage.

ABC, CBS and NSC will broadcast live from the convention in New die an from 9 p.m. to 1 1 p.m. EDT. Cable News Network and C-SPAN will carry the entire day's session. The networks plan the same schedule for tomorrow and Thursday, subject to change if convention events run later than planned..