What’s the overall impact of Iran-Contra hearings, prior to North, Poindexter? New York Times/CBS poll shows public evenly divided: 43 per cent think the hearings “are only for show,” 43 per cent believe they are “producing new information.” Kevin Phillips tends to agree with Democrat Ben Wattenberg that they may even be a plus for Administration. They draw attention to seven-point rise in support for Contras since January. . . . Democrats in Senate wary of dismissing Ronald Reagan as political force just yet. Says Lawton Chiles (Fla.): “A lot of people are saying ‘Ho hum, is this all?’ ” Says Frank Lautenberg (N.J.): “You don’t dare write this President off. [But] his political value to others is damaged beyond repair.” . . . Their Republican colleagues in the House are less sure. Vin Weber (Minn.): “It’s bleeding him.” Guy Vander Jagt (Mich.): “That daily erosion is going on.” . . . Some Republicans have come out fighting. Rep. Bill McCollum (Fla.) took advantage of Elliott Abrams’s testimony to call attention to support for Salvadoran Communist guerrillas by certain members of Congress: Democratic Reps. John Conyers (Mich.), Mervyn Dymally (Calif.), and Patricia Schroeder (Colo.), who have signed letters for or otherwise helped raise funds for New El Salvador Today and Committee in Solidarity with the People of El Salvador (CISPES), which support the guerrillas. “Since the Communist guerrillas in El Salvador are trying to destroy a democracy we strongly support,” said McCollum, “it seems to me that the fundraising activities of these congressmen are very wrong.” … At the White House, new Communications Director Thomas Griscom plans to appoint a USIA officer whose specific job will be to promote Contra policy. . . . Six weeks into the Contra hearings, liberal columnist Mary McGrory has had it. “Congress-baiting,” she asserts, “may have reached a new level with the Reagan Administration.” What touched that one off was Oliver North’s choice of a very tough lawyer.
Evans & Novak report White House will “come out of the trenches” and confront Congress on constitutionality of 1973 War Powers Act. Attack, which is backed by State Department legal experts, and by former Yale Law School dean and former LBJ Under Secretary of State Eugene Rostow, would center on Claiborne Pell’s resolution specifically requiring Reagan to admit relevance of War Powers Act to Persian Gulf situation. Chances of passage, say E&N, are slim, chances of an override nil. . . . While the House passed its $l-trillion budget, the margin was surprisingly slim, 215 to 201. Observers feel the President’s new offensive against big spenders in Congress is having some effect. . . . Incidentally Reagan defense spending is up over Carter’s but not that much. The U.S. is now spending 27.6 per cent of budget on defense as against 23.6 per cent in Carter years and 46 per cent in Kennedy years.
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