Bush, Duke Return to Campaign Trail

Gov. Michael S. Dukakis and Vice President George Bush exchanged post-debate jabs from a distance yesterday, as the Democrat said his rival would "lead America nowhere" and the vice president charged his opponent with trying to obscure a liberal past.

The two candidates renewed campaign hostilities as their aides waited for the impact of Sunday night's nationally televised debate to show up in the close race for the White House. The first polls rated the 90-minute confrontation a tossup.

"One debate down. How'd I do?" Bush asked a cheering crowd of supporters at a railroad amusement park in Jackson, Tenn.

Republican running mate Dan Quayle swiftly declared Bush the winner. But overhead, a small plane carried a banner of dissent. "Dukakis 1. Bush 0," it read.

The vice president had devoted much of his debate time to depicting Dukakis as a liberal. "We're going to keep on doing it," Bush said as he left Winston-Salem, N.C., for a round of campaigning.

Despite the outward display of confidence, Bush and his aides sought to deflect any repercussions from the vice president's debate comment that he hadn't decided whether women who obtain abortions should face legal penalties.

Campaign manager James A. Baker III told reporters that after giving it more thought overnight, Bush was opposed to the idea. Bush told reporters he had "no change" on the subject, although during the debate he said he hadn't "sorted out" the subject of possible penalties.

Dukakis' first appearance of the day was in Cleveland, where he said the debate provided "the best moments of this whole campaign."

In remarks intended to rebut Bush's charges of liberalism, the Massachusetts governor said: "We heard a lot of talk last night from Mr. Bush about the mainstream. But it's clear that he's willing to leave American families high and dry."

Bush, he said, "offers the easy way. He sees no challenges, he offers no solutions, and he will lead America nowhere as president of the United States."

Addressing a crowd of 3,000, Dukakis said he had asked Bush to explain how he'd bring down those massive federal deficits without raiding the Social Security trust fund. "And what did he say? Not one word," Dukakis said.

While Quayle campaigned with Bush in Tennessee, Democratic vice presidential candidate Lloyd Bentsen tended to his Senate duties.

Bentsen and Quayle plan to hold their only debate of the campaign on Oct. 5 in Omaha, Neb. Dukakis and Bush will meet again Oct. 13 or 14 in Los Angeles for their final debate.

Bush and his Democratic rival clashed sharply on a variety of domestic and foreign issues Sunday, and public opinion polls said the debate was roughly a draw. That type of outcome traditionally favors the out-of-power candidate, and one analyst said that was exactly what happened.

"In essence, the debate served to restart the campaign." said Lee Miringoff, director of the Marist College Institute for Public Opinion in Poughkeepsie, N.Y. "Overall, it was a net plus for Dukakis in that it leveled the playing field for both of them."

Newsweek said a poll taken immediately after the debate found that 42 percent of the voters who watched on television said Dukakis did a better job while 41 percent said Bush outperformed his rival.

An ABC poll taken Sunday night found that 44 percent rated Dukakis the winner, 36 percent gave the edge to Bush and 20 percent said it was a tie.