Energetic Bush Speaks at Houston Rally

HOUSTON--President Bush yesterday energetically greeted an enthusiastic crowd gathered to the Republican Convention.

Bush appeared in a pavillion area adjacent to the Astrodome in the afternoon, as the convention began.

The president--standing before Republican leaders and flanked by cheering students--said he always performs better when he fights from behind. He told the boisterous supporters that he gets a "little comfort from some of these poll...it gives you a certain freedom."

He criticized Clinton for speculating in a USA Today interview about the possible members of a Democratic cabinet.

"I half expected when I went over there to the Oval Office to find him there measuring the drapes," Bush said. "Put those drapes on hold, it's going to be curtain time."

Loud support for the president came form college and high school students who were herded into the arena and told to make a lot of noise.

Students stood on raised platforms on either side of the hall, waiting patiently through performances by the Houston Oilers' cheerleaders and country singer Randy Travis.

Travis sang a number of his hits, including a Bush-Quayle anthem whose lines included "If you see what's wrong and you try to make it right, you will be a point of light."

He ended his set with a slow croon "Dixie" that won approval from the largely Southern crowd.

Before the president and vice president made their appearances, a master of ceremonies led the group of students in some practice cheers--most notably a call-and-response of "Bush!" and "Quayle!"

As Quayle stepped to the podium, a band played the song "Shout," made famous by the Blues Brothers.

"I am more determined than ever to stand up and to tell'em like it is," the vice president said to loud cheers.

Qualye and Bush focused on character and leadership as the key issues for the upcoming election.

"There are no greater role models in American than George and barbara Bush," Quayle said.

Bush declared his trip to Houston a return to his hometown. As he approached the podium, strains of "Deep in the Heart of Texas" poured over the loudspeakers while Houston Oilers cheerleaders waved their pom-poms frantically.

He reminisced about his time with his wife in Western Texas, their discussions about issues and the consideration of their children's education. And he returned to his standby theme of family values, announcing that he hopes to "make American families a lot more like the Waltons and a lot less like the Simpsons."

But beyond Bush the dreamer and Bush the everyday American, the main image the president tried to convey with his fiery voice and angry tone, was of Bush the fighter.

Calling the Astrodome the "eighth wonder of the world," Bush told the friendly crowd to "get ready for wonder number nine," the "most stirring political comeback since Harry Truman gave them hell in 1948..