Reagan Says He’s ‘Saving Best Stuff for the Last Act’

President Reagan said today that political pundits are trying to ring down the curtain on his Administration “even before the show is over” but he is “saving the best stuff for the last act.”

Reagan’s address to the Conservative Political Action Conference followed a speech in which Rep. Jack Kemp of New York, a contender for the 1988 Republican presidential nomination, called for the resignation of Secretary of State George P. Shultz and was roundly applauded.

“When the question becomes whether the President will conform to his secretary of state or the secretary of state will conform with the President, it is time for Mr. Shultz to do the only correct thing,” Kemp said. “In my view, it is time for George Shultz to resign.”

White House spokesman Marlin Fitzwater, asked for comment, said, “The President has full confidence in his secretary of state.”

No Direct Mention

In his speech, Reagan made no direct reference to the controversy over secret arms sales to Iran and diversion of profits to Nicaraguan rebels that plunged his Administration into its deepest crisis since his election in 1980.

But he said: “The pundits told us we couldn’t expect to get anything accomplished, even before we got to Washington. Now they’re trying to bring the curtain down even before the show is over.”

“Well, I learned a lesson in my former profession,” the ex-movie actor said. “So let me give you a tip: We’re saving the best stuff for the last act.

“Our game plan is still the best one in town,” Reagan said, repeating his opposition to “government controls, central planning and bureaucracy.”

In what amounted to a state of the conservative union speech, Reagan ticked off his agenda for reforming welfare, continuing the fight against federal funding for abortion and supporting anti-communist rebels around the world.

Tambo Meeting Hit

Kemp criticized Shultz for meeting with Oliver Tambo, head of the African National Congress, a group opposed to the current government of South Africa, and accused the secretary of state of dragging his feet on deployment of the Strategic Defense Initiative, Reagan’s space-based missile defense proposal.

“George Shultz personally rolled out a red carpet for Oliver Tambo,” the New York congressman said.

He added: “Everybody knows President Reagan’s commitment to SDI. We know it; our allies know it; (Soviet leader Mikhail) Gorbachev knows it. The only person who doesn’t seem to know it is our secretary of state.”

Conservatives in the audience leaped to their feet, whistling and applauding, at Kemp’s remarks. Shultz has long been a target of conservative criticism.

Kemp was also applauded when he said, “I’ll soon announce my decision about seeking higher office.”