President Reagan returns from vacation looking pretty good in the polls, but there’s stormy weather ahead. The latest NBC/AP poll shows his popularity up eight points, to 63; 64 per cent approve his handling of the air controllers; another 64 per cent think he has “set the right tone” with the Soviets (only 5 per cent think he’s been too tough). And a surprising 67 per cent (Gallup) approve, or are indifferent to, Reagan’s environmental policies. . . . But a poll of small-businessmen (National Federation of Independent Business) indicates more of them are worried about high interest rates (31 per cent) than inflation (26). That’s a big turnaround from a year ago when small business put inflation ahead of interest rates as a major worry by 39 per cent to 9 per cent. . . . Evans & Novak see the intra-Administration fight over how deep to cut the defense budget as Reagan’s major hurdle this fall and winter. . . . Rock-solid GOP Senate majorities are endangered in upcoming AWACS debate, with such Reagan supporters as Sens. Armstrong (Colo.), Jepsen (Iowa), Stevens (Alaska), and Hawkins (Fla.) in the uncertain to possibly opposed camp. . . . Interesting sidelight: Democratic political analyst Alan Baron says contributing factor to Menachem Begin’s unpopularity with U.S. Jewish community is Begin’s closeness to Moral Majority leader Jerry Falwell.
Anti-Reagan attacks are mounting abroad. President José López Portillo’s State of the Union message spent about as much time in anti-U.S. rhetoric as on Mexican problems (muchos). The U.S. was attacked on SALT, the neutron bomb, cold-warriorism; López Portillo reiterated his support of Fidel Castro,
Comments