Reagan Raps ‘Wily Liberal’ in Md. Race

President Reagan, calling Maryland’s woman vs. woman race for the Senate a “make-or-break election” in the GOP’s quest to retain control of the Senate, today denounced Linda Chavez’s opponent as a “wily liberal” who would allow Central America to be overrun by communist dictatorships.

Reagan, in midst of a public relations blitz to paint the Iceland summit as a success, returned to the campaign trail for Chavez, the former White House aide who is the underdog in the race with Democratic Rep. Barbara A. Mikulski.

Reagan made no mention of the Iceland summit in his speech. However, before the speech, he did answer several reporters’ questions.

Asked if he was “sandbagged” or taken advantage of by Soviet leader Mikhail S. Gorbachev at Reykjavik, Reagan answered: “I don’t feel there was any sandbagging at all.” Asked whether he felt he was winning the propaganda war, the President said Gorbachev is “trying propaganda. I’m just telling the truth.”

Nothing to Say

Asked if he would send a note to Gorbachev, Reagan said, “I haven’t anything to say to him.” But he went on to express hope that he and the Soviet leader will one day return to the bargaining table.

In his speech, Reagan lambasted Mikulski as a “wily liberal opponent who still talks like federal spending is the answer to just about every problem.”

“The last thing America needs is another liberal senator congenitally unable to say ‘no’ to the special interest groups,” he said.

“This November I predict the voters all over this country, including Maryland, are going to give thumbs-down to the last remnants of the tax and tax, spend and spend crowd--sending them the way of the Edsel, the hula hoop and the all-asparagus diet.”

Record Cited

He said Mikulski “can’t even get herself to vote for a limited use of the death penalty for certain drug-related murders” and has opposed the B-1 bomber, the MX missile, nuclear modernization in Europe and modernization of conventional armed forces.

“Linda’s opponent actually voted against military aid to the fledgling democracy in El Salvador,” he added.

“Had her view held sway, the people of El Salvador might be under the heel of a communist dictatorship right now, the rest of Central America, perhaps even Mexico, might be in turmoil, and a flood of refugees could well be headed toward our southern border.”