Letter from Washington

Daniel Ortega, Sandinista junta leader, may not be willing to say nice things about Ronald Reagan, but Kay Ortega, Treasurer of the United States, is, and will do so in formidable fashion as keynote speaker before the Republican National Convention in August. Before becoming Treasurer, Miss Ortega, 49, was the first woman president of a California bank. An honors graduate from Eastern New Mexico University, she is a Hispanic, one of nine children, and an ardent Republican. Since she became Treasurer eight months ago, her public-speaking style has improved “1,000 per cent,” notes a Treasury insider, who has frequently seen Miss Ortega on the platform. “Her low-key authenticity works magic with an audience,” he says.

The decision that the keynoter would be a woman was made more than two months ago, and since then several contenders have jockeyed in and out of the lead. Jeane Kirkpatrick, U.S. Ambassador to the UN, was favored by many conservatives here, including Newt Gingrich and other Young Turks on the Hill. But some campaign Reaganites worried that Mrs. Kirkpatrick’s status as a registered Democrat might net out as a minus, as would her customary position on Mr. Reagan’s domestic policy, viz., to stand mute. “Maybe it’s just as well she wasn’t chosen,” says one Kirkpatrick backer. “She’s in the running for Secretary of State during a second term, and the political coloration that goes with being keynoter might just hurt her.”

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Daniel Ortega, Sandinista junta leader, may not be willing to say nice things about Ronald Reagan, but Kay Ortega, Treasurer of the United States, is, and will do so in formidable fashion as keynote speaker before the Republican National Convention in August. Before becoming Treasurer, Miss Ortega, 49, was the first woman president of a California bank. An honors graduate from Eastern New Mexico University, she is a Hispanic, one of nine children, and an ardent Republican. Since she became Treasurer eight months ago, her public-speaking style has improved “1,000 per cent,” notes a Treasury insider, who has frequently seen Miss Ortega on the platform. “Her low-key authenticity works magic with an audience,” he says.

The decision that the keynoter would be a woman was made more than two months ago, and since then several contenders have jockeyed in and out of the lead. Jeane Kirkpatrick, U.S. Ambassador to the UN, was favored by many conservatives here, including Newt Gingrich and other Young Turks on the Hill. But some campaign Reaganites worried that Mrs. Kirkpatrick’s status as a registered Democrat might net out as a minus, as would her customary position on Mr. Reagan’s domestic policy, viz., to stand mute. “Maybe it’s just as well she wasn’t chosen,” says one Kirkpatrick backer. “She’s in the running for Secretary of State during a second term, and the political coloration that goes with being keynoter might just hurt her.”