Thirty Years Ago this week in The Colorado Statesman … President Ronald Reagan’s 90-minute visit to Colorado to headline a fundraiser for Republican Senate candidate U.S. Rep. Ken Kramer went off without a glitch and hauled in $912,000, the most ever raised at a single event in state history. “As we used to say on ‘Death Valley Days,'” Reagan smiled, “he’s piled up enough money to burn a wet mule.” Kramer would need it, as his Democratic opponent, U.S. Rep. Tim Wirth, had been leading handily in campaign fundraising. GOP operatives sounded confident that Reagan’s visit – his first to Colorado in more than two years – would open the floodgates to contributions from PACs, which had been mostly sitting the race out so far. The president and first lady Nancy Reagan were welcomed by VIPs at Stapleton International Airport before posing for photographs with major contributors and then speaking to 2,000 luncheon guests inside a Continental Airlines hangar. The crowd went wild when the fundraiser’s chairman, top Republican donor Larry Mizel, introduced Reagan as “the greatest president history will ever record.” Kramer spoke next, saying the election represents “a tale of two candidates who are different on the issues and their visions for Colorado in the future. One of us is right, and one of us is wrong.” He then stressed the pillars of his campaign – a balanced federal budget and making Colorado the “space capital of the world.” Nodding to the dignitaries seated alongside him – Larry and Carol Mizel, Phil Winn, Terry Considine, Martha Ezzard, U.S. Sen. Bill Armstrong and other GOP officials – Reagan also acknowledged a leading conservative couple seated at the head table. “It’s good to see dear old friends Joe and Holly Coors,, whose generosity and dedication to the cause have helped turn faith in the individual and freedom from a little cool mountain stream to the mainstream of political thought in this country.” After calling the Soviet Union’s detention of a U.S. News & Word Report journalist “an outrage” and vowing there would be no trade for a Soviet spy, Reagan turned attention to Kramer’s race. “Flying in, looking out at the mountains below, I knew what Dizzie Gillespie meant when he said of Colorado, ‘If this ain’t paradise, heaven can wait.'” The president said he and Nancy would love to linger but that Congress was coming back into session “and somebody’s got to be there to keep an eye on them.” Helping Republicans keep the majority in the Senate was crucial, he said. “I didn’t go to Washington to be a six-year president. I didn’t seek reelection just to protect the gains of the first term,” Reagan said, adding, “I don’t want my hands tied by a totally hostile Congress.” Extolling the Republican candidates seated around him – including Kramer and gubernatorial nominee Ted Strickland – Reagan concluded, “And if you don’t mind, win one for the Gipper.” …

… It wasn’t often that state Rep. Scott McInnis answered the phone to find the White House on the other end, but that’s what happened right before Ronald Reagan’s visit to Denver, when a presidential representative told the Glenwood Springs Republican he’d been chosen to escort the president and Nancy Reagan while they were in town for a fundraiser. Other legislators tapped for the honor were state Reps. Betty Neale, Jim Brown, John Singer, Dottie Wham and Kathi Williams, all Republicans in targeted races, according to state GOP headquarters. McInnis said he was thrilled at the chance to escort the first couple from a nearby hangar to Air Force One after the elegant luncheon, albeit a fairly short trip. “I must admit that having the White House advance team check my credentials is quite a new experience for me,” he said, still sounding a bit awe-struck. …

… While Republicans were preparing for President Ronald Reagan’s stop in Denver to raise money for Senate candidate U.S. Rep. Ken Kramer, Democrats in California were throwing a $1.5 million fundraiser for Democratic Senate candidates – including Kramer opponent, U.S. Rep. Tim Wirth – at Barbra Streisand’s enormous Malibu estate. Along with Wirth, attendees at the $5,000-a-ticket, six-hour party and concert included “gum-chewing Jack Nicholson (plump in a loose black silk suit) and his steady, Anjelica Huston,” according to an account of the gala, along with Goldi Hawn and her beau, notorious conservative Kurt Russell, Whoopi Goldberg, Henry Winkler, Jane Fonda, “the very pregnant” Bette Midler, singer Whitney Houston, Bruce Willis, Chevy Chase and Coloradans Marvin and Barbara Davis. Serenading the glitzy crowd at a backyard amphitheater built for the occasion, Streisand belted out 17 numbers, opening with “Somewhere” and including “Over the Rainbow,” “People” and “Evergreen.” The stage-shy Streisand told the crowd, “I could never imagine myself wanting to sing in public again. But then, I could never imagine Star Wars, Contras, apartheid and nuclear winters in my life, and yet they are in everybody’s life. I feel I must sing again to raise money so that we send people to Washington who will solve problems, not create them.” …

… U.S. Rep. Hank Brown, a Republican seeking reelection in the 4th Congressional District, announced that state Sen. Wayne Allard would be his campaign manager for the second run in a row, and the affable veterinarian was raring to go. “I don’t see how Hank can keep up the pace in all 20 counties in the 4th Congressional,” Allard noted, “but we have scheduled eight joint appearances and debates with his opponent. It is remarkable that Congressman Brown has better than a 99-percent voting record.” The main issues, he added, would be balancing the federal budget, economic development and agriculture. Brown’s Democratic opponent, former state Rep. David Sprague, meanwhile, took the incumbent to task at a big rally in Sterling. “If Mr. Brown thinks that addressing transportation problems ought to top the list of Colorado issues, his priorities are really fouled up,” he said, reacting to a recent Brown speech. “The plight of unemployed people, the rural financial crisis, the problems of energy producers, the loss of jobs in the high-tech business and water pollution from hazardous waste sites need immediate attention.” Sprague said he agreed with Brown that Interstate 25 was inadequate but believed “other challenges were more pressing.” …