GRAPEVINE

By DAVID ELLIS

Republican organizers say the one person holding back the choice of San Diego % as the site of the party's 1992 convention is -- George Bush. The transplanted Texan is known to want to hold his coronation in Houston. But G.O.P. advisers contend that having the event in California could boost Bush's chances for carrying the state, which he won by a margin of just 3.5% in 1988. Thanks to its population boom, the Golden State will provide 54 of the 270 electoral votes needed to win the presidency in 1992.

With reporting by Linda Williams