DOLE, KEMP'S GRAND ENTRANCE : TAX THEME, REAGANISM TRUMPETED.

Byline: Richard L. Berke The New York Times

With a colorful spectacle of boats, afternoon fireworks and partisan politics, Bob Dole arrived Sunday for his long-awaited convention with his new running mate, Jack Kemp, and a rousing pitch for his centerpiece plan to cut taxes.

As buoyant supporters chanted ``Dole-Kemp! Dole-Kemp!'' at a rally in a sunny park jutting into San Diego Bay, Dole immediately went on the attack against President Clinton in a speech that signaled a bruising fall campaign in which the Republicans will appeal to the anxiety of middle-class voters.

``If Bill Clinton opposed tax cuts, he obviously didn't mean it when he said the era of big government was over,'' said Dole in a punchy dry run for his presidential nomination acceptance speech Thursday. ``I think what's happening, the era of Bill Clinton is about over. And that is going to happen sooner than you think.''

After a primary campaign that was notable for his stark appeals to conservatives, Dole, who told The San Diego Union-Tribune that he had not even read the party's conservative platform, also sought Sunday to strike a more broadly appealing, confident tone. He repeatedly invoked Ronald Reagan, the last Republican who rode to the White House on a promise of tax cuts.

``It's time to lift up America,'' Dole said. ``Lift up America. Lift up our economy. Lift up our schools. Lift up our families. Lift up our values. And, most of all, lift up our expectations. And that's exactly what Jack Kemp and I are going to do.''

In his new subordinate role, Kemp accused the White House of ``kibitzing and criticism'' of Dole's blueprint to cut taxes and balance the budget. ``The president has said he is unalterably opposed,'' said the former congressman. ``His advisers have said it can't be done. They don't know Bob Dole and they don't know Jack Kemp, either.''

Saying that ``everything before has been a warm-up lap, a trial heat,'' Dole was seeking a fresh start for his campaign as thousands of Republicans poured into this clean and breezy city for the convention, which opens today and will nominate him to be president of the United States.

Republicans are counting on their four-day, made-for-television extravaganza to help Dole close Clinton's months-long lead in the polls - and to dress up the image of a party that many Americans blame for shutting down the government last year.

As the Republicans sought a harmonious pose, even Pat Buchanan, whose candidacy has been a major irritant to Dole for months, seemed to cooperate - at least for Sunday.

``It is time for a party truce in the name of a Republican victory,'' Buchanan said in remarks prepared for delivery Sunday night at a rally north of here in Escondido. But Buchanan's proclaimed ``Truce of San Diego'' stopped short of a formal endorsement.

As the Dole camp sought to smooth relations with Buchanan's renegade delegates, there were more political dealings up the coast, in Long Beach. In a gathering that could spell more trouble for the Republicans in the fall, the Reform Party, established by Ross Perot, opened its convention, with Perot and former Colorado Gov. Richard Lamm vying for the party's nomination.

In his speech Sunday, Dole did his best to pre-empt the competition. ``As of now, the president and his party are the party of the status quo,'' Dole said. ``We are the reform party.'' He added, ``We have all the ideas. And they have all the excuses.''

But in presenting the new ticket as future-oriented, Dole turned to the past. From the opening line, when he asserted, ``We're going to win one for the Gipper,'' his speech was salted with references to carrying the banner of Ronald Reagan - through a proposal that he claims would cut taxes and balance the budget at the same time.

``One man, Ronald Reagan, really did start it all,'' he said. ``And we're thinking of him today, and God bless Ronald Reagan today. Now it's up to us to finish the job and win the Reagan revolution once and for all. And we're going to get it down. Make no mistake about it. That's why we're going to cut taxes, tax rates across the board for every working person in the country.''

Dole was apparently attempting to goad Democrats into making the same mistake they made in 1994, when they sought to identify Republican congressional candidates with Reagan's economic policies. The effort backfired because Democrats failed to appreciate Reagan's enduring popularity with the American public.

Beyond the oratory, the symbols throughout Dole's showy entrance were unusual for his campaign - and reminiscent of the well-polished campaigns of Reagan. It was no accident that several of Reagan's image makers, including Michael Deaver, have important roles at the convention.

After flying here from Dole's hometown of Russell, Kan., where Dole announced Saturday that he had selected Kemp as his running mate, the two men and their wives, Elizabeth Hanford Dole and Joanne Kemp, arrived at the rally on a tour boat, waving from the deck amid sailboats, steamboats and a smattering of yachts.

As the rally ended, a huge blue curtain behind the candidates dropped, revealing a depiction of the facade of the White House, which rose from beneath the stage. It was not lost on some in the audience that the White House tilted to the left. All the while, the blue sky was crowded with sky divers and vintage airplanes.

CONVENTION SCHEDULE

Here is an outline of Monday's prime-time program for the 1996 Republican National Convention. All times are PDT.

4:15 p.m.-8 p.m.

Salute to the American Dream: Republican National Chairman Haley Barbour.

Remarks: RNC Co-chairman Evelyn McPhail.

Welcome: San Diego Host Committee Executive Director Jack Ford.

Remarks:

Rep. William Paxon of New York, chairman, National Republican Congressional Committee.

Sen. Alfonse D'Amato of New York, chairman, National Republican Senatorial Committee.

Gov. John Engler of Michigan, chairman, Republican Governors Association.

Meet your delegates-TV presentation.

Community Involvement/The War on Drugs:

Gov. George Voinovich of Ohio.

Rep. Rob Portman of Ohio.

Main Street American.

Youth and the American Dream: Main Street American.

Fostering Self-Reliance: Main Street American.

Remarks: San Diego Mayor Susan Golding.

Meet your delegates-TV presentation.

Service to Country:

Arizona Sen. John McCain

Remarks: Gov. George W. Bush (Texas).

Community Involvement/Literacy: Laura Bush.

Individual Leadership and Integrity:

President Gerald Ford.

President George Bush.

President Ronald Reagan-videotape presentation.

Nancy Reagan.

Colin Powell.

UPCOMING ON TV:

ABC, CBS and NBC: Convention coverage, 7-8 p.m.

PBS: 5 p.m., Joint coverage with NBC. PBS coverage continues at 7 p.m. as NBC splits off for separate coverage.

Fox: Updates during regularly scheduled programming.

CNN: Convention session, 10 a.m.; convention coverage, 5 p.m.; post-convention special, 8-9 p.m.

C-SPAN: Round-the-clock coverage. Platform hearings, 9 a.m.; convention preview, 2-4 p.m.; gavel-to-gavel coverage, 4-8 p.m.; post-convention wrapup, 8-10 p.m.

MSNBC: Focuses on convention all day.

Comedy Channel: Convention updates during regularly scheduled programs.

Family Channel: ``Unconventional'' coverage, 6 p.m.-8 p.m.

MTV: Live coverage, 8:30-9.

CAPTION(S):

Photo

Photo: (Color) White House hopefuls Bob Dole and Jack Kempconfer during their arrival rally Sunday.

(2) Megan Rayzor, 6, of Moorpark rides her father's shoulders and waves a flag before the candidates arrive.

(3) Republican U.S. Sens. Ben Nighthorse Campbell, left, and Trent Lott greet the crowd at a light-hearted Ride to Victory rally Sunday.

Associated Press

Box: CONVENTION SCHEDULE (See text)