Bush Apparent Winner in Michigan as Kemp, Robertson Forces Stage Walkouts

That confrontation between Bush and Robertson came in Wyandotte, a blue-collar Detroit suburb, where the convention was controlled by Robertson and Kemp supporters.

Posts Bodyguards

The local party chairman posted bodyguards at the entrance to the convention to keep the media and Bush supporters out, and they gained entrance only after the guards retreated in the midst of a shoving match with the growing crowd of angry Bush backers.

Later, the local party chairman, a Kemp backer named Perry Christy, called out the police to have the media thrown out of the meeting; eventually, the entire Bush delegation walked out to form a rump convention elsewhere.

"What has happened there is just outrageous," said Pardue. "Our people were left waiting in the cold, including a woman in a wheelchair, while the Robertson people were inside the meeting."

Blames Bush Forces

Robertson officials said it was "unfortunate" that chaos had reigned Thursday night, but continued to blame the Bush forces.

Waldman charged that the Bush campaign had forced Robertson supporters out of many local conventions--thus ensuring a credentials fight--in order to hide Bush's weakness in the state. "The Bush people had a policy that if they couldn't win it they would adjudicate it, and if they couldn't adjudicate it they would detonate it," said Waldman.