Candidate Seeks to ‘Get Juices Flowing’ in GOP Race : Haig Blames Reagan for Huge Deficits

Hoping to “get the juices flowing” in the Republican presidential campaign, candidate Alexander M. Haig Jr. on Monday thoroughly dressed down his old boss, President Reagan, blaming him for the giant federal deficit, for declining U.S. esteem and initiative abroad, and a host of other government-induced maladies.

Haig, speaking at a Los Angeles press conference, said he is not sure that his renegade remarks will win him support among the GOP faithful, but he offered a hunch “that the American people in 1988 don’t want a clone of Ronald Reagan.”

Haig’s denunciation of the Reagan presidency, which he once served as secretary of state, rivaled what the Democrats are saying in tone and sweep.

“I am taking a distancing position from the Reagan presidency,” he said, using some of his now-legendary military syntax. “I don’t think a business-as-usual Republican candidate who goes around the country telling the American people how good they have it” provides any solutions to national problems.

“Don’t tell that to somebody in the energy sector of America. Don’t tell that to somebody in the agricultural sector of America. Don’t tell that to the rust bucket manufacturing belt along the Great Lakes who have been experiencing down times and dislocation. Don’t tell that to our friends abroad, who look to America’s foreign policy for consistency and reliability.”

Referring to reports in The Times that Soviet leader Mikhail S. Gorbachev intends to visit the United States this fall for a meeting of the United Nations and would be prepared to meet with Reagan for arms control negotiations, Haig said:

“It’s rather tragic that over the weekend we see Mr. Gorbachev again seizing the international initiative establishing the timing and sequence for his first visit to the United States. It means he’ll also be able to set the agenda. And that is worrisome if a summit develops under those circumstances. . . .”

Haig went on to criticize the Administration’s Central American peace plan, saying the call for a cease-fire and negotiations would lead to a permanent Communist government in Nicaragua.

He also branded the unbalanced federal budgets as “a Republican deficit, not a Democratic deficit.”

“I have said enough to get the juices flowing, now I’ll welcome your questions,” he concluded with a smile.

Despite the boldness of his prepared broadside against the Administration, Haig throttled back on his rhetoric during a question-and-answer session. The exchange went like this:

“That’s a pretty damning analysis of the Reagan Administration’s policies, don’t you think?” a reporter asked.

“Yes it is, and let me suggest to you, so we get the record straight, I support Ronald Reagan,” Haig said. “I support the Republican Party and its philosophy. And while I would be the first one to be critical of certain aspects of recent Reagan policies, I think history is going to view the Reagan presidency with considerable understanding.”

Haig was visiting Southern California for a pair of private fund-raising functions and to assemble the beginnings of a political organization here.