Acting in a Supporting Role : Politics: On Ronald Reagan Day, the former President returns to the state Capitol with a charismatic performance and kind words for the current governor.

He’s 80 now, the hearing is shot and the voice isn’t as crisp. But the stride, the smile, the timing and the aura are still vintage Ronald Reagan.

And it may all have come together on Monday--Reagan Day in the state Capitol--to help Gov. Pete Wilson in his budget battles, especially with conservative Republicans. Reagan, both subtly and bluntly, signaled fellow conservatives that it is politically acceptable to raise taxes, support gun control and care for the needy.

It was Reagan, after all, as a new governor 24 years ago, who raised taxes by $1 billion to balance his first state budget--a record tax hike that, relative to the budget size, far exceeded the $6.7-billion tax increase Wilson is proposing.

It also was Reagan who recently endorsed the Brady Bill to impose a nationwide, seven-day waiting period for handgun purchases. The former president again strongly pushed for the congressional proposal on Monday during an address to a joint session of the Legislature. Democrats applauded while many Republicans noticeably sat quiet.

And it was Reagan--whose campaign speeches en route to the White House usually contained a story about the greedy “welfare queen”--who ended his half-hour speech on Monday with an admonition that “we must never put at risk vulnerable Californians--the very young, the very old, those impoverished in worldly wealth or those who simply find themselves on society’s outskirts.”

Observed Bob White, chief of staff to the current governor whose biggest obstacle in the Legislature right now seems to be a bloc of right-wing Republicans: “He (Reagan) had one clear message, and that was we have to respond to the time and the place where we are. Ronald Reagan comes here as a statesman, and to the extent people who hear him take a step back and look at where they are, that’s helpful.”

It was Reagan’s first trip back to Sacramento since 1984, when he held a huge campaign rally in Capitol Park on the eve of a landslide election victory. It was his first return to the Assembly chamber--scene of all governors’ State of the State addresses--since he left state office in 1975.

Politics and messages aside, it was mostly a day for nostalgia and reminiscences, including how such a controversial politician always could seem to radiate such warmth. There was nothing ever bland about Reagan and this was true of his visit on Monday too. As Reagan and his wife, Nancy, were escorted past the jam-packed Capitol Rotunda en route to the Assembly chamber, angry shouts from gay rights demonstrators competed with chants of “Ronnie, Ronnie” from scores of admirers.

Inside the Chamber, present and former legislators seemed awe-struck, their eyes wide, as the former President strode down the center aisle, smiling, nodding to people, many of whom he likely did not know.

“When he’s 95, he’ll still look better than we do,” shouted Assemblyman Phillip Isenberg (D-Sacramento) to his colleagues. “It ought to be illegal to look that good.”

Gov. Wilson, who first was elected to the Assembly the same day in 1966 that Reagan was elected governor, introduced the former president as somebody who repeatedly demonstrated that there is “no substitute for leadership, no alternative to bold action.” Wilson’s aides like to describe the present governor in the same way.

Wilson and Reagan have not always gotten along so well. Wilson endorsed Reagan’s opponent, President Ford, when the ex-governor first ran for president in 1976. Then in 1982, when President Reagan was trying to raise federal taxes by nearly $100 billion and Wilson was running for the U.S. Senate, Wilson angered the White House by adamantly opposing the tax hike.

All that seemed to be forgotten on Monday. “I have confidence in Pete Wilson’s ability . . . Pete’s a problem-solver,” Reagan said.

The former actor also praised Hollywood and, in effect, described and defended himself. “That town, much maligned, yet inescapably symbolic of the nation it entertains,” he said, “has often been called a dream factory. In truth, California itself encourages the dreamer in all of us. Bigger, brighter, more diverse, more creative, and yes, more complex than just about any place I know.”

Reagan gave a vintage performance for the most part, phrasing his sentences and pausing at the right moments to draw applause. “I thought they only name a day after you--well, after you’re gone, if you know what I mean,” he opened to chuckles. “As you can see, I’m very much here. Which reminds me of a story.” The chamber erupted in laughter and applause.

“At my age, everything reminds me of a story,” he added. Then he blew the story about Winston Churchill, fumbling through the speech text. But those were the only lines he blew.

The former President’s handlers--perhaps including his wife--kept him away from the press. “Can’t hear,” he told a TV reporter, his hand cupped to his ear as a question was shouted about the budget. There would be no questions about President Bush’s illness, the 1980 Iranian hostage crisis or Kitty Kelley’s unauthorized biography of Nancy Reagan.

There would be long lines of legislators lining up for pictures and a lunch with the Wilsons and legislative leaders in “The Ronald Reagan Cabinet Room.”

“Pete said he was in terrific form and he had a great time,” Wilson aide White said later. “The guy’s still got it.”