ORTLAND, Maine - Governor George W. Bush will not under any circumstances endorse Jack E. Robinson for Senate, senior Bush aides said yesterday, despite Robinson's prediction that an endorsement was forthcoming.
Bush arrived in the Bay State yesterday after campaigning earlier in Maine, where he unveiled a major policy initiative for the disabled, proposing to spend $880 million over five years to help the disabled gain increased access to jobs, housing, and public buildings.
He then flew to Boston, where he raised between $1 million and $1.5 million in campaign contributions at two fund-raisiers, party officials said. Robinson, who is waging a troubled Senate bid without the support of the state Republican Party because of past allegations of sexual misconduct, paid to attend the first Bush fund-raiser, a $1,000-per-person event.
At the event, which was closed to the press, ''Governor Bush wished (Robinson) good luck from the stage,'' said Ian Bayne, a spokesman for Robinson.
As far as an endorsement, Bayne said, ''From what I understand, (Bush) said that he wasn't going to endorse or not endorse anyone.''
During an afternoon session with reporters at Logan International Airport, Bush denied he had ever heard of the candidate, despite Robinson's assertions of knowing the Bush family for years.
Following the example of Governor Paul Cellucci, who disavowed any relationship with the Robinson campaign in March, the Bush campaign also ruled out the idea of backing the Republican candidate, even though he is trying to unseat Senator Edward M. Kennedy, said Bush communications director Karen Hughes.
''There is no endorsement planned, and there will be no endorsement, planned or otherwise,'' Hughes said.
Bush, flanked by Cellucci and Lieutenant Governor Jane Swift as he stood under gray skies on the tarmac, said he would discuss the Robinson matter with the governor. He declined to dismiss Robinson outright, but did say: ''It's hard to endorse somebody you've never heard of.''
In an earlier television interview, Robinson insisted he would prevail in his effort to win Bush's endorsement, even though Cellucci had written him off. ''We don't need Governor Cellucci to get to Governor Bush,'' Robinson said. ''I've known the Bushes a lot longer than Cellucci has.''
Meanwhile, Bush spent the morning focusing on an issue that had been a priority of his father's administration: assisting the disabled. The proposal was divided into three pillars: Promoting independent living for the disabled, making the workplace more hospitable toward disabled employees, and encouraging better handicapped access to community life.
In an announcement timed to coincide with the 10-year anniversary of the signing of the Americans with Disabilities Act, Bush said he would spend the $880 million to help the disabled gain access to jobs and enjoy the benefits of technological advances. He also proposed reforming the Section 8 Housing program to allow the disabled to use their housing vouchers as a down payment on a house, an initiative he said would cost $20 million in federal matching funds.
An additional $10 million would be used to help organizations that are exempt from complying with the ADA regulations, so that they could rebuild their facilities to accommodate the disabled. Currenty, churches, mosques, synagogues, and other civic organizations do not have to comply with wheelchair and other building regulations.
''I support the ADA, and I'm really proud that it was my father's signature that made the law become real,'' the Texas governor said. ''People with disabilities confront hardship every day of their lives. To me that leaves our society with a simple choice, whether to add to that hardship or to try to lessen it.''
Throughout the day, however, policy was overshadowed by political developments, including confirmation that Bush's former rival, Arizona Senator John S. McCain, will speak at the Republican convention next month and play, in the words of one aide, a ''prominent role.''
Bush aides also confirmed they had discussed the idea of not having a keynote speaker at the convention, in order to create an ''untraditional convention atmosphere.''
Speaking with reporters later in the day, Bush also refused to cede Massachusetts to his rival, Vice President Al Gore, despite the state's overwhelmingly liberal politics. ''Wait a minute.'' Bush said, laughing, when a reporter suggested he might not win the state in November.
''I realize this is a Democrat state, but there have been some notable exceptions,'' he said.
Bush attended two GOP fund-raisers last night, the second of which, a dinner in Boston's financial district, cost $20,000 per couple and officially benefited the Republican National Committee.
Bush is expected to fly to Ohio and Kentucky today for campaigning. He is not scheduled to return to Boston until Oct. 3, when he will debate Gore in the first of a series of presidential debates.
Jamal Watson of the Globe Staff contributed to this story from Boston.
