GOP Urged to Oust Party Moderates : Conservatives Plot Survival Strategy for Years After Reagan

Conservatives grappling with the question of whether their movement has life after Reagan were urged today to campaign against moderate Republican senators up for reelection in 1986.

Howard Phillips, chairman of the Conservative Caucus, cited five GOP senators he said ought to be targeted for defeat: Robert Packwood of Oregon, Warren Rudman of New Hampshire, Charles Mathias of Maryland, Mark Andrews of North Dakota and Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania.

Phillips was a panelist at a discussion of “Second Term Strategy: the Politics of Conservative Victory,” at the 12th annual Conservative Political Action conference.

Reagans Draw Salute

The conference dinner tonight is billed as “A Salute to the Reagans,” and the President is to be the featured speaker, a role he has filled on nine previous occasions.

“The question is, can we nominate and elect a conservative successor to the President,” said former White House aide Morton Blackwell, who appeared on the panel with Phillips.

“I say yes, we can, but we can do so only if we have a candidate who can put together the entire Reagan winning coalition.” He suggested Rep. Jack Kemp of New York.

He said that while Kemp had the best chance of reassembling the Reagan coalition, other strong conservative candidates would be Lewis Lehrman, who was the GOP nominee for governor of New York in 1982; Sen. William Armstrong of Colorado, and California Gov. George Deukmejian.

Not Satisfied

Often critical of the Reagan Administration for failure to adhere to conservative principles, Phillips said “conservative victory in 1986 is not necessarily defined as preserving the Republican majority in the U.S. Senate.

“I have no stake in the reelection of Bob Packwood, who connives to preserve murder on demand,” Phillips said. Packwood is a strong opponent of efforts to roll back the Supreme Court decision legalizing abortion.

Phillips castigated Mathias as “the last holdout in permitting a Senate expression of support for aid to the freedom fighters in Afghanistan.”

“Kick him out!” shouted someone in the audience.

Phillips leveled similar indictments against Rudman, Andrews and Specter.