After Nancy’s Gridiron Dinner Song, Reagan Issues Challenge: ‘Raisa, Top That’

President Reagan delivered a nostalgic valedictory to the Gridiron Club annual dinner Saturday night, poked fun at Vice President George Bush’s many “home” states and jokingly applauded his wife’s surprise on-stage performance with the quip: “Raisa, top that.”

The President, traditionally the last speaker on the program at the press organization’s satirical banquet, also took shots at some other presidential aspirants.

It was the eighth year in a row that Reagan had attended the show and dinner, and it was the last he will attend as President. He is the 17th consecutive President to attend and second only to Franklin D. Roosevelt for the number of dinners attended.

But it was Nancy Reagan who stole the show with her unexpected singing solo to the tune of “Thanks for the Memories.” One verse referred to that “Soviet Mona Lisa, otherwise known as Raisa, who said: ‘Would you like to see my MasterCard and Visa?’ ”

When her husband followed her to the podium, he said: “Before I refuse to take questions, I have an opening statement. I thought Nancy’s performance was absolutely wonderful. Raisa, top that. . . . “ Raisa Gorbachev is the wife of Soviet leader Mikhail S. Gorbachev.

Reagan later observed that, if Republican presidential hopeful Pat Robertson “made it, there’d be no more ‘Hail to the Chief.’ It would be ‘When the Saints Go Marching In.’ ”

Referring to Bush’s place of birth (Massachusetts), his state of family connections (Connecticut), his state of political activity (Texas) and the state where he spends a lot of time (Maine), Reagan said Bush could win the presidential race “if he carried his own states.”

Looking out over the 700 guests--the men wearing white tie and tails and the women formal attire--Reagan said he had not seen such a dressy group “since the Grosse Pointe Republican caucus,” a reference to the affluent Detroit suburb.

Before the Reagans took the stage at a downtown hotel, New York Gov. Mario M. Cuomo delivered the traditional speech for the Democrats and Sen. Alan K. Simpson (R-Wyo.) spoke for the Republicans.

At one point, Cuomo brought the audience to rapt silence when he referred to the issue of whether Reagan should pardon Lt. Col. Oliver L. North and former National Security Adviser John M. Poindexter for their roles in the Iran-Contra affair.

One option, Cuomo said, would be to “swap Poindexter and North for (Panamanian strongman Gen. Manuel A.) Noriega and a dictator to be named later.”

During the show, a chorus of Washington journalists thanked Reagan “for the memories”--the memories “of Stockman and Jim Watt, the Iran-Contra plot, of Ollie and Bill Casey, the diversions you forgot.”

“Oh, thank you, so much,” sang Gridiron members in a musical spoof that also took aim at Democratic and Republican presidential candidates, Administration officials and television evangelists.

Organizers allowed no live broadcast of the event by radio or television.

The “Thanks for the Memories” tune lampooned former Budget Director David A. Stockman, the late CIA Director William J. Casey, ex-Interior Secretary James G. Watt and North.

A skit member playing Bush sang to the tune of Michael Jackson’s “Bad.” Among the lyrics: “They know by now that I’m no wimp. . . . I’m a pit bull from Kennebunkport (Me.) and I’m ready to bite again.”

A satirical version of “America, the Beautiful” made fun of Democratic candidate Richard A. Gephardt’s focus on trade as a campaign issue: “O beautiful for Subaru, And Datsun, now Nissan,” the song went. “America, America, God shed his grace on these: Thy tiny cars and sushi bars, and all things Japanese.”