DOLE, KEMP HOPE JOINT TRIP WILL CONTINUE GAINS IN POLLS.

Byline: Jill Zuckman The Boston Globe

When Bob Dole and Jack Kemp blast out of San Diego, they're hoping to take the good will and rave reviews of the convention with them, starting with a 10-day trip to strengthen their partnership with the public.

Dole aides said he gained 8 to 10 polling points from convention ``bounce'' and hopes to keep those numbers rising in the next week of intense media coverage. The goal is to narrow the gap further before President Clinton and Vice President Al Gore get to the Democratic convention during the last week of August, possibly to receive a bounce of their own.

For the next 10 days, Dole and Kemp will campaign together. After that, they will split up to cover more ground. Today they will hold a farewell rally here before flying to Denver.

Dole campaign officials say they hope to keep the momentum of the convention as they concentrate on battleground states and as they show off Kemp to the voters. They also plan an advertising blitz starting Monday, emphasizing Dole's economic plan. The plan calls for a 15 percent across-the-board income tax cut, as well as a halving of the capital gains tax on investments such as stocks and real estate.

The campaign Thursday fetched $62 million in desperately needed cash from the U.S. Treasury, federal funds made available once Dole officially secured the GOP nomination. Dole, who has been waiting for the government funds for months, frequently complained that his presidential campaign had been ``running on empty'' because of preconvention federal spending limits and his expensive primary bid.

Dole also was expected to get some help from his friends. Today a phalanx of governors and political leaders, including New Hampshire Gov. Stephen E. Merrill and House Speaker Newt Gingrich, start crisscrossing the critical state of California, holding news conferences and rallies to get supporters fired up about the Dole-Kemp ticket.

``The basic premise is to underscore for the umpteenth time how important California is to this campaign,'' a Dole campaign strategist, Ken Khachigian, said Thursday.

After Denver, Dole and Kemp will head to Springfield, Ill., on Saturday for a state fair. Then the GOP candidates will fly to Buffalo, where Kemp is likely to receive a hero's welcome. Kemp represented the Buffalo suburbs in Congress for 18 years and he also played quarterback for the Buffalo Bills.

The candidates and their followers will stop Sunday in Pittsburgh, where Kemp briefly played football for the Pittsburgh Steelers. Then, the candidates will return to Washington for a two-day break.

For the newly anointed Republican nominee, the next few weeks will provide an important chance to catch on with voters. It's something Dole has already done several times this year.

When he faltered in New Hampshire, losing the primary to Patrick J. Buchanan, Dole promised to start showing voters ``the real Bob Dole.'' When he was losing points on the Senate floor to Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, he quit his cherished job as senator and majority leader to concentrate full time on winning the presidency.

When his conservative colleagues accused him of lacking vision, Dole surprised them by unveiling an economic plan at odds with his 35-year record in Congress. Then he surprised them again by picking Kemp, the heir to President Ronald Reagan's legacy of tax-cutting and a man he has never been close to.

``This will not be a mean and divisive campaign,'' Dole joked Thursday. ``Jack and I are going to get along just fine.''