Letter from Washington

The President’s handling of the Korean jetliner crisis adds up to a short-term (but renewable) political plus for Mr. Reagan, according to White House mavens. Although their private polls shortly after his Labor Day TV address showed that the American public, by a 2 to 1 margin, wished the President had been tougher with the Soviets, the polls also showed that Americans approved the speech 2 to 1. The cool and steady leadership shown by the President will enhance his appeal for lots of voters, it is felt, especially among women moderates. The White House also expects the MX to have a smooth passage through both Houses of Congress, and the defense budget to gain beyond what the Hill would otherwise have approved—two powerful, long-term effects that Mr. Reagan can point to when the 1984 presidential campaign gets into full swing.

The New Right castigated the President, charging him with pusillanimity toward the Soviets, but six visiting key parliamentarians (from Britain, Belgium, West Germany, France, Italy, and the Netherlands) helped turn aside its wrath by revealing that the KAL 007 incident had two broad effects in Europe: One, it has derailed the freeze movement (except the hard core) and, two, it has produced an atmosphere of fitful fright. The logic behind the fear is that if the Soviets are capable of executing this kind of subhuman deed, would they not also be capable of launching SS-20s at our homelands? Let us, then, brethren, not rock the boat. So the MPs were delighted with Mr. Reagan’s controlled, far-reaching response, especially Bundestag member Peter Petersen, who is Helmut Kohl’s John Tower. Ad hoc sanctions (like rupturing the Geneva talks), said Petersen, would have dropped the temperature of the cold war several degrees and caused further resistance to the installation of the nuclear-warhead missiles. Public opinion polls in West Germany have been running heavily against the seven-minutes-from-Moscow, unstoppable Pershings, the deployment of which is the best punishment for the wicked Soviet leadership.

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The President’s handling of the Korean jetliner crisis adds up to a short-term (but renewable) political plus for Mr. Reagan, according to White House mavens. Although their private polls shortly after his Labor Day TV address showed that the American public, by a 2 to 1 margin, wished the President had been tougher with the Soviets, the polls also showed that Americans approved the speech 2 to 1. The cool and steady leadership shown by the President will enhance his appeal for lots of voters, it is felt, especially among women moderates. The White House also expects the MX to have a smooth passage through both Houses of Congress, and the defense budget to gain beyond what the Hill would otherwise have approved—two powerful, long-term effects that Mr. Reagan can point to when the 1984 presidential campaign gets into full swing.

The New Right castigated the President, charging him with pusillanimity toward the Soviets, but six visiting key parliamentarians (from Britain, Belgium, West Germany, France, Italy, and the Netherlands) helped turn aside its wrath by revealing that the KAL 007 incident had two broad effects in Europe: One, it has derailed the freeze movement (except the hard core) and, two, it has produced an atmosphere of fitful fright. The logic behind the fear is that if the Soviets are capable of executing this kind of subhuman deed, would they not also be capable of launching SS-20s at our homelands? Let us, then, brethren, not rock the boat. So the MPs were delighted with Mr. Reagan’s controlled, far-reaching response, especially Bundestag member Peter Petersen, who is Helmut Kohl’s John Tower. Ad hoc sanctions (like rupturing the Geneva talks), said Petersen, would have dropped the temperature of the cold war several degrees and caused further resistance to the installation of the nuclear-warhead missiles. Public opinion polls in West Germany have been running heavily against the seven-minutes-from-Moscow, unstoppable Pershings, the deployment of which is the best punishment for the wicked Soviet leadership.