FOR THE RECORD

Just where does Ronald Reagan stand with Congress and the people? The drop in his job-approval rating bottomed out right after Thanksgiving in the 47 to 50 per cent range, but his personal popularity has bounced back to 75 per cent. And so has his credibility. By late December, 45 per cent believed he was telling the truth about the Iran/Contra business (against 41 per cent who didn’t); a month earlier only 37 per cent believed him. . . . A mid-December NBC poll showed 57 per cent believe Reagan is doing all he can to solve the Irangate problem. . . . Reagan faces shoals in Senate, where seven political enemies now chair major committees: Leahy (Agriculture), Proxmire (Banking), Burdick (Environment & Public Works), Pell (Foreign Relations), Biden (Judiciary), Kennedy (Labor), Cranston (Veterans). But moderate-to-conservative Democrats, mostly Southern, control other major committees, which may ease the pain: Stennis (Appropriations), Nunn (Armed Services), Chiles (Budget), Hollings (Commerce), Johnston (Energy), Bentsen (Finance), Boren (Intelligence). . . . Lest anyone think the President will have an easy time with Congress, Congressional Quarterly points out that even in 99th Congress Reagan won only 56.5 per cent of roll-call votes, lowest record since Jerry (Veto) Ford’s last year in office.

Are George Bush and Gary Hart the front-runners in 1988 sweeps? Not according to poll taken of American Association of Political Consultants at December meeting. Eighty-two per cent of them don’t think Hart will be nominated. Their rundown was: Joseph Biden 25 per cent, Mario Cuomo 19, Hart 18. Seventy-three per cent don’t believe Bush will get nomination. The rundown: Robert Dole 30 per cent, Bush 27, Jack Kemp 15. . . . Ins and outs: Lee Iacocca has taken himself out of consideration for Democratic nomination: “I’d be damned if I know [what to do about the financial crisis in the offing].” . . . And Jeane Kirkpatrick hints she might be interested, “if I really thought that there was nobody else who was running who had a reasonable sort of knowledge and experience and conception of our role in the world.” . . . Geraldine Ferraro has withdrawn from Coalition of Italo-American Associations, charging it with “sexism” for supporting incumbent Rep. Joseph DioGuardi over Bella Abzug in New York’s Westchester County last fall.

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Just where does Ronald Reagan stand with Congress and the people? The drop in his job-approval rating bottomed out right after Thanksgiving in the 47 to 50 per cent range, but his personal popularity has bounced back to 75 per cent. And so has his credibility. By late December, 45 per cent believed he was telling the truth about the Iran/Contra business (against 41 per cent who didn’t); a month earlier only 37 per cent believed him. . . . A mid-December NBC poll showed 57 per cent believe Reagan is doing all he can to solve the Irangate problem. . . . Reagan faces shoals in Senate, where seven political enemies now chair major committees: Leahy (Agriculture), Proxmire (Banking), Burdick (Environment & Public Works), Pell (Foreign Relations), Biden (Judiciary), Kennedy (Labor), Cranston (Veterans). But moderate-to-conservative Democrats, mostly Southern, control other major committees, which may ease the pain: Stennis (Appropriations), Nunn (Armed Services), Chiles (Budget), Hollings (Commerce), Johnston (Energy), Bentsen (Finance), Boren (Intelligence). . . . Lest anyone think the President will have an easy time with Congress, Congressional Quarterly points out that even in 99th Congress Reagan won only 56.5 per cent of roll-call votes, lowest record since Jerry (Veto) Ford’s last year in office.

Are George Bush and Gary Hart the front-runners in 1988 sweeps? Not according to poll taken of American Association of Political Consultants at December meeting. Eighty-two per cent of them don’t think Hart will be nominated. Their rundown was: Joseph Biden 25 per cent, Mario Cuomo 19, Hart 18. Seventy-three per cent don’t believe Bush will get nomination. The rundown: Robert Dole 30 per cent, Bush 27, Jack Kemp 15. . . . Ins and outs: Lee Iacocca has taken himself out of consideration for Democratic nomination: “I’d be damned if I know [what to do about the financial crisis in the offing].” . . . And Jeane Kirkpatrick hints she might be interested, “if I really thought that there was nobody else who was running who had a reasonable sort of knowledge and experience and conception of our role in the world.” . . . Geraldine Ferraro has withdrawn from Coalition of Italo-American Associations, charging it with “sexism” for supporting incumbent Rep. Joseph DioGuardi over Bella Abzug in New York’s Westchester County last fall.