VALS SYMBOLIZE USA BUSH TAPS GRANADA HILLS FAMILY TO PUSH TAX CUTS.

Byline: Dana Bartholomew Staff Writer

When President Bush searched for a middle-class poster family for his trillion-dollar tax-cut proposal, he looked to the San Fernando Valley.

The Ashfords of Granada Hills - Ken, Sharon and their three children - joined 19 other families on the South Lawn of the White House on Wednesday as California's sole contingent to the ``tax family reunion.''

For Bush's ``Brady Bunch'' - an African-American couple who overcame real challenges to provide a better life for their children - it was a thrill of a lifetime to be at the White House photo opportunity.

``The president - you could sense he was interested in you, as a family,'' Ken Ashford, 38, said in a telephone interview Thursday. ``As an individual, I was really overwhelmed. I felt I was in 'The Love Boat.' ''

Said Sharon Ashford: ``When Bush said 'This is the People's House,' I actually felt like it was my house, the White House is my home - and my kids feel that way - I feel a real connection.''

The president described the Ashfords and the other families who joined with him to promote his tax-cut packages as all-American families who represented the heart and soul of the nation.

``One of the best parts of the campaign was to meet the hard-working Americans who really make up the backbone of our country,'' Bush told them.

Each had stumped for Bush as ``faces'' who would benefit by year-end tax cash. And each had rejoined the president to sell his $1.6 trillion tax slash.

To the Ashfords, Bush's tax-cut proposal is one reason why the Republican Party is a boon not just to America, but African-Americans, who in November gave Gore 90 percent of their vote.

Ken Ashford, who grew up in the Valley, is a legislative analyst who earns $72,000 a year with the Metropolitan Water District. Sharon Ashford, from New York, is a stay-at-home mom who home-schools Brandon, 12, Cameron, 8, and Shannon, 7.

They rent their home, donate more than 10 percent of their income to charity and their church, and shoulder a raft of school expenses.

``I would say he's average because he's committed, he's honest, and respectable,'' said Ken Ashford's mother, Everlina Ashford of Pacoima. ``From a mother's standpoint, I'm real happy for my son: He has always been the wind between my wings.''

The tax cut, according to the Ashfords, would lop their federal taxes almost in half - from $7,197 to $3,808 - a $3,389 savings.

On Wednesday, the all-American families watched Bush tout his plan before TV cameras, then visited the Blue and Red rooms of the White House. Twenty minutes after they left, shots rang out on the president's lawn.

``All of us felt like regular, everyday families who all make ends meet,'' Ken Ashford said. The kids, ``since they met him in November, they thought he was 'George, old buddy.' ''

For the Ashfords, life wasn't always so regular. They grew up poor. Democratic. And African-American.

Each had become political - and Republican - because of an ethos of personal responsibility. At 16, Ken Ashford used his first wheels to shuttle seniors to the polling booth. At 18, Sharon Ashford, against her father's wishes, became the first member of her family to join the Grand Old Party.

The entire family worked weekends to elect Bush president, going door to door in Granada Hills, making phone calls.

``I feel we struggled to achieve what we achieve,'' Sharon Ashford, 39, said. ``We worked hard. Nothing was ever handed to us. We've come up through the ranks.

``I was born and raised in Harlem, and I feel if I can do it, anybody can do it.''

Her husband agrees.

``The best social program is a job,'' Ken Ashford said, ``and when my African-American friends realize that, they will probably support President Bush.''

``I believe (the tax) proposal will help all Americans and all taxpayers,'' he added. ``The kids are growing like weeds; every time you turn around, you're buying something new - new art lessons; karate lessons; now we're in baseball season ... of course, everybody wants the Mark McGwire bat.

``You try to supply the basics.''

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Photo:

(color) Ken Ashford, right, and his family pose for a portrait Thursday with President Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney at the White House.

Paul Morse/White House