Reagan Sees Trench Coat Liberalism : Democrats Veil Liberalism, Reagan Says

President Reagan, saying that Michael S. Dukakis and the Democrats hide their liberalism behind “trench coats and sunglasses,” today urged Americans to do “a little comparison shopping” in the presidential race and heaped praise on George Bush.

In his strongest pitch yet for his vice president, Reagan called Bush “the kind of man I want to follow me.”

The President, in an address to a group of conservatives at the Old Executive Office Building, portrayed the November elections as crucial for his conservative legacy.

“All we’ve achieved . . . could be lost in just a few months,” he said.

Referring to the likely Democratic presidential nominee only as “a governor,” Reagan derided Dukakis as an “out-and-out liberal” who has no interest in controlling government spending and instead raises taxes.

Bush Standard-Bearer

In contrast, Reagan lauded Bush as his standard-bearer for conservative anti-tax, anti-abortion and tough law-and-order policies.

Less than two weeks before the Democrats gather in Atlanta for their convention, Reagan accused the party of “putting together a campaign that is subtle and clever.”

“The American people understand what liberalism means and don’t like it, so our opponents plan to go to the voters incognito--they’re putting on political trench coats and sunglasses,” Reagan said.

Evoking laughter from his audience, Reagan quipped that the Democrats “will never even in the lowest whisper mumble the ‘L’ word again.”

“How other than liberal would you characterize a governor who in the last five years increased his state’s spending twice as fast as the federal government’s and more than a third faster than the average for all the other states?” Reagan asked.

“And what do you call a governor who raises taxes $115 million and declares it a victory? An out-and-out liberal,” Reagan said.