It’s your first day on the job as White House chief of staff and how do things look? Today’s New York Times/CRS News poll shows the Chief’s ratings at a four-year low: 42 per cent approve of the way Ronald Reagan is handling his job; 46 per cent disapprove. Is RR really in charge? No, say 66 per cent; yes, say 24 per cent. Is he lying when he says he can’t remember when he approved arms sales to Iran? Yes, say 51 per cent; no, say 35 per cent. . . . Another poll indicates 41 per cent of the people say they’ll vote Democratic in 1988; only 26 will vote Republican. . . . A Washington Post/ABC poll indicates a renewed appetite for activist government: 63 per cent want more bucks for Social Security; 74 per cent, more bucks for Medicare; 46 per cent, more bucks for student loans. . . . On the other hand, the NYT/CBS poll finds that 62 per cent believe Reagan will exert tighter control over White House staff following Tower Report; 53 per cent believe Reagan has “more honesty and integrity [than] other people in public life,” and, very interesting, when asked what they would do if it were a European-style question of a “no-confidence vote” that would bring down the Reagan Administration, 54 per cent indicated they would vote for Reagan, only 39 opted for “no confidence.” . . . Columnists Evans & Novak believe choice of Howard Baker to replace Don Regan means there will be “no renewal of the Reagan Revolution.” . . . Conservatives, always wary of the centrist Baker, pleased by appointment of Kenneth Cribb (from Ed Meese Justice Department) to transition team; they’re watching Gary Bauer’s standing with Baker. Bauer, Deputy Secretary of Education under William Bennett, was appointed domestic-policy advisor before Howard Baker arrived on scene. . . . Under the har-de-har- har rubric, Sen. Terry Sanford’s essay in sanctimoniousness: “The Democrats take no comfort from the disaster that has befallen the Reagan Administration; we do not want an injured President.”
Who are the winners from Cuomo’s copout? According to political analyst Kevin Phillips: 1) Massachusetts Gov. Michael Dukakis, liberal, ethnic, populous Northeastern state, should appeal to same voters. 2) Gary Hart. Cuomo, says Phillips, was Hart’s only “first- tier” rival; there’s no way a second-tier candidate (Jackson, Bradley, Biden, Gephardt, Babbitt) can make it to first tier in the polls before Iowa, he says. . . . But with Cuomo out, where’s the excitement? Kirk O’Donnell of Center for National Policy, a Democratic research organization, says “the charisma quotient in the race has been reduced by 50 per cent.” . . . E. William Crotty, a Democratic fundraiser in Florida, thinks Hart will have trouble raising money: too liberal. “I’m absolutely petrified that we’re going to lose by not having a moderate candidate,” he says.
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