Little Rascals

Campaigning family-style

In an election year, all First Families are supposed to be happy. The usual rifts and misunderstandings get temporarily buried as the candidate and his brood put on an enviable campaign tableau of old-fashioned togetherness, love and support.

For all their show-biz blood, the Reagans sometimes miss their cues. Daughter Patti Davis, 31, recently told her hometown newspaper, the Santa Monica Evening Outlook, "I wish he wouldn't run. I wish he'd go live on the ranch."

The aspiring actress said that living with a boyfriend is as normal as "brushing your teeth," and that busting people for smoking pot is "silly." Patti, who did not participate in the 1980 race, will not campaign for her father this fall either: "I don't like politics." Luckily for Reagan, who campaigned last week for a return to "traditional values," Patti's outspoken views did not receive wide coverage. But her modern ways have caused a stir in the White House. Nancy Reagan was especially upset after Patti came to visit last Christmas with her beau, a California yoga instructor.

Eldest Daughter Maureen, 43, has also caused controversy, but of a different sort. Her longtime support of the Equal Rights Amendment (which Reagan opposes) and blunt opinions provoked archconservative Activist Terry Dolan to request last week that she be " muzzled." There is little chance of that. The President said last week that he was "completely satisfied" with Maureen's performance as a consultant on women's issues to the Republican National Committee.

Adopted Son Michael, 38, a Los Angeles businessman, supports Reagan but says he will not join him on the hustings. In a peevish interview last summer, Michael complained that Reagan had never even laid eyes on his youngest grandchild, Ashley Marie, now almost a year old. Michael subsequently explained that he had spoken out of "jealousy."

As for Ron, 25, he will do his bit in his own way. Last year he quit the Jeffrey Ballet company and became a free lance journalist. One assignment: an article about his dad for Family Circle magazine's June issue, just in time for Father's Day. What better way to make a father proud -- and maybe even win a few votes.