GOP Foes Attack Fiedler Over Radio Spots Featuring Reagan

Rep. Bobbi Fiedler on Thursday stirred up yet another huff in the Republican U.S. Senate race with a series of radio commercials featuring President Reagan and what sounds like a glowing endorsement from him.

Boiling mad opponents in the crowded election field said she had crossed the line of fairness by implying the support of Reagan, who is not taking sides in the GOP Senate primary.

The White House said it had been assured that Fiedler would withdraw the commercials, although her campaign said they would stay on the air.

“Do me a favor,” Reagan shouts out in two of the commercials, “on Election Day send Bobbi back to Washington!”

On the other two, Reagan is introduced and says, “My special regards to Bobbi Fiedler. She’s doing a terrific job in the Congress.”

THe Presidents remarks were taped at the close of his 1984 reelection campaign during a San Fernando Valley rally. His endorsement was directed at Fiedler’s reelection to the House of Representatives in her Northridge district.

Manager’s Position

Campaign manager Paul Clarke acknowledged that Fiedler had not been endorsed by Reagan for the U.S. Senate. He noted that each of the commercials contained a preface that the President was speaking “before his landslide reelection.”

Said Clarke: “This is the audio equivalent of everyone having their picture with Reagan in their brochures, no more, no less.”

But Fiedler’s opponents saw it otherwise.

“Incredible,” gasped Assemblyman Robert W. Naylor (R-Menlo Park). “This is clearly an effort to mislead voters. . . . You’d think with her indictment and the issue there of how close she came to the bounds of ethics, she would be cautious about pressing close to the line again. And this is over the line.”

The campaign of Sen. Ed Davis (R-Valencia) issued this statement: “Again, Bobbi Fiedler is broaching the line of ethical conduct by implying that President Reagan has endorsed her for the United States Senate.”

Bribe Allegations

The two referred to the indictment earlier this year of Fiedler and Clarke, charging they had offered Davis a bribe of $100,000 toward his campaign debt if he would step out of the race. The indictment subsequently was dismissed by a judge.

A White House spokesman, who asked not to be identified, reiterated Reagan’s strict neutrality and said Fiedler had agreed to halt the endorsement commercials because of complaints from other candidates, all of whom claim long associations with Reagan. “She told the White House she would withdraw them and get on with her campaign,” the spokesman said.

But Clarke gamely insisted: “That’s not our position. . . . It’s my intention that those commercials stay on.”

Other Republican Senate candidates joined in heaping criticism on Fiedler, including Los Angeles County Supervisor Mike Antonovich, who for the first time abandoned his pledge to say nothing critical of a rival.

“A total misrepresentation and an attempt to deceive Republican voters,” Antonovich said.