New Role for Reagan

The studio set belonging to TV's Death Valley Days was furnished as a comfortable den, complete with bookcases and a crackling fire on the hearth. The man who paced back and forth as he spoke over TV to his fellow Californians was obviously used to being before the cameras. He smiled intermittently, carefully turned his head from left to right, delivered his lines with feeling. At 54, Ronald Reagan, who has ap peared in 50 movies, emceed a General Electric-sponsored dramatic series on TV and lately acted as host on Death Valley Days, was playing an unaccustomed role. To no one's surprise, he announced that he will be a candidate for the Republican nomination for Governor of California.

Encouraged by George Murphy's successful bid for the Senate--which proved that the public does not hold an acting career against a budding politician--Reagan (rhymes with pagan) has already traveled 10,000 miles and made 150 speeches in his bid for the G.O.P. nomination. By sheer activity, he has thus made himself the front runner among four G.O.P. hopefuls--even though he is a staunch conservative in a state where Republicanism has traditionally tended toward the progressive side. Reagan's political reputation dates from the 1964 presidential campaign when--only four years after becoming a Democrat-for-Nixon-- he won attention as a speechmaker and fund raiser for Barry Goldwater.

Reagan's candidacy has already drawn the fire of the other G.O.P. hopefuls. "I don't intend to go into any background," says George Christopher, a moderate Republican and former mayor of San Francisco, "except his complete and utter lack of qualifications." Says Laughlin Waters, former U.S. attorney in Los Angeles and another moderate contender: "I'm all for on-the-job training but not at the gubernatorial level." Reagan has refused to be drawn into an argument with his fellow Republicans, says: "I will have no word of criticism for any Republican." He believes that California's G.O.P., which has yet to recover from the abrasions of its 1964 split over Goldwater, needs a candidate of unity --and that he can be it.

To that end, under the skillful handling of the Spencer-Roberts political-management firm, Reagan has moved slightly toward center. He still spends a good part of his time inveighing against "social tinkering" and "big-brother, paternalistic government," has refused to rule out support from the far-right wing by declaring: "I am not going to submit a loyalty oath to anyone who votes for me." But Reagan, calling himself a "citizen-politician" and pushing the theme of a "creative society" for Cali fornia, also preaches that government must do something about problems like smog and unemployment, acknowledges that such programs as social security and medicare are here to stay. Anyway, as Reagan sees it, the main energies of California's Republicans need to be used come November "to retire Pat Brown," the deceptively bland Democratic Governor whose muscles seem to bulge mysteriously on Election Day.

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