Governor Ends Radio Speeches for Campaign

Gov. George Deukmejian, who last year borrowed a page from President Reagan’s broadcast book, said Friday he will discontinue his weekly five-minute radio speeches but expects to start them again if he wins a second term.

“Since this is an election year, I believe it is best to discontinue the airing of my weekly broadcast for the foreseeable future,” he told radio station executives in a letter. “I do so with the expectation that we will revive it in a second term.”

If he had decided to continue the speeches through his reelection campaign and if stations agreed to air them, the broadcasters likely would have had to provide Democratic gubernatorial candidate Mayor Tom Bradley of Los Angeles and other contenders with equal time.

It seemed evident, however, that fewer and fewer stations were carrying the programs.

Deukmejian’s office insisted it did not know how many stations throughout California regularly carried the pre-taped messages, which were broadcast on Saturdays. When he started the radio talks in May, aides said 11 stations agreed to carry it.

Assistant Press Secretary Donna Lipper said 22 stations confirmed that they had broadcast either the entire speech or parts of it. In addition, she said another 13 used it occasionally when alerted in advance that he would make a major announcement, such as appointment of a Supreme Court justice.

But Ali Webb, Bradley’s campaign press secretary, said a Bradley survey of 20 stations found that only two--one in Bakersfield and another at nearby Lake Isabella--were still broadcasting the speeches and that the others had canceled it since the governor announced his candidacy for a second term in February.

“The governor has been speaking, but no one has been tuning in,” Webb said. “I don’t understand sending a letter to cancel something that has already been canceled by 99% of the participants.”

As for Deukmejian’s expectation that the broadcasts would be revived in a second term, Webb characterized this as “the same wishful thinking that he had something to cancel in the first place.”

Deukmejian modeled his weekly commentary after the Saturday radio shows of Reagan, using them occasionally to denounce his critics, propose new programs, announce high-level appointments and discuss accomplishments of his Administration.