Youth support
of Reagan rising
By Maxwell Glen
and Cody Shearer
WASHINGTON — “It’s remarkable,”
said Sen. Paul Laxalt (R-Nev.), Ronald
Reagan’s best friend in Congress. “It’s a
fascination phenomenon,” added
Richard Wirthlin, the president’s person
al pollster.
What’s the excitement all about?
Top Republican strategists, charged
with mapping Ronald Reagan’s re-
election campaign, have discovered un
precedented support for the president in
recent months among young Americans.
Wirthlin conducted soundings recently
to locate the fragments of the Reagan
coalition and learned that Americans oe-
tween the ages of 18 and 34 are much
more enthusiastic about the 72-year-old
Republican than they were in 1980.
Young voters, of course, have always
been a weak spot for Reagan. In 1980,
25-to-34-year-olds gave him 48 percent
of their votes while 18-to-24-year-olds
gave him only 46 percent (Reagan re
ceived 51 percent of the popular vote
against Jimmy Carter.)
More recently, exit polls conducted by
NBC News after last November’s con
gressional elections revealed that young
Americans voted their concerns about
the president’s handling of the arms race,
environmental protection and women’s
issues.
Yet Wirthlin’s surveys, conducted as
late as two weeks ago, indicate a massive
change of heart. More than 50 percent of
the 25-to-34-year olds now back the pres
ident, up three points from 1980.
Moreover, 56 percent of the 18-to-24-
year-olds now stand with Reagan, a boost
Disarmament needs
‘flexible’ reductions
By Dick West
WASHINGTON — Speculation is rife
over what new instructions President
Reagan may have given U.S. disarma
ment negotiators at the START talks in
Geneva.
But you don’t need a highly placed
leak to be in on the know. With a little
gumption, you can figure it out for your
self. Or at least make an educated guess.
Start with the latest buzz phrase in
American disarmament circles — “build-
down.” In the unlikely event I am para
phrasing this correctly, it would oblige
the United States and Russia to dismantle
an existing missile for every new one they
put on the firing line.
At last count, we were up to double
build-down. And climbing.
I look for someone to advocate a triple
build-down, followed by a quadruple
build-down. This additional subtraction,
or divided multiplication, would con
tinue until the talks were back to zero
option, which is where they began.
At that point, perhaps the build-down
could be tied in with a freeze-thaw.
Thus far, the nuclear freeze move
ment has gotten nowhere that I am aware
of. The reason may be its lack of flexi
bility.
As it now stands, the freeze would hold
the number of nuclear weapons at cur
rent levels, and that would be that. To
make disarmament acceptable to the
Soviets, I’m convinced the build-down,
whether in duplicate, triplicate or at
whatever magnitude, must be accompa
nied by a freeze-thaw.
If, for example, the next treaty called
for a double freeze-thaw, that would
mean two old missiles would be melted
for every one that is newly frozen.
Under a double speed-up delay, the
schedule would be revised as follows:
Some of the missiles would be de
ployed as early as November; but for ev
ery missiles whose deployment in
speeded up, the deployment of two
others would be delayed until January,
February, June or July.
Note, however, that December is only
the month when deployment of new mis
siles in Western Europe is scheduled to
begin. Emphasis on “begin.”
What Reagan does in speed up the
target date for beginning the deployment
but delay the target date for finishing the
deployment.
I can just see Soviet officials frantically
groping around for some way to counter
that ploy.
The Battalion
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77843.
of 11 points. It seems that the older he
gets, the better he looks. In an interview,
both Wirthlin and Laxalt said the turnar
ound, though surprising, was a natural
product of economic recovery. As econo
mic indicators continue to rise, younger
families will find fewer reasons to doubt
the incumbent.
A second factor may be that young
voters continue to lack a good alternative.
As long as Democratic contenders re
main lackluster in style or substance,
Reagan is sure to reap many votes by
default.
Yet the key issue, Wirthlin and Laxalt
admit, probably transcends an issue-by-
issue analysis. Instead, Reagan’s new
found support can better be traced to a
respect that many young voters have disc
overed in themselves and the presidency.
For many members of the baby-boom
generation, weaned in the less-than-
proud shadows of Watergate and Viet
nam, the Reagan era has brought a first
ever period of patriotism, refreshing
even to the most hard-boiled cynic. This
naturally translates into personal pride
and has undeniable political benefits.
“Our people in uniform tell me how
much prouder they are to serve today,”
said Laxalt in an interview. “That certain
ly has to go through society as well.”
Reagan also presents a formidable im
age that young voters realize has been
sadly lacking in national leaders. Like it
or not, he has been singly successful in
managing Congress, building coalitions
and disarming his detractors. He has, de
spite the many cat calls about a movie star
president, restored a respect to his office
and hence its constituents. Support for
Reagan, then, is merely quid pro quo.
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By Art Buchwald
Dear Sir,
I am a lobbyist representing 500 of the
leading polluters in the United States. I
would like to contribute money to the
political campaigns of several of the
members of the House Subcommittee on
Acid Snow. Should 1 give them money
before a particular anti-pollution bill up
for a vote, or after?—Rich But Perplexed
Dear Rich But Perplexed,
The best time to donate to an incum
bent’s political campaign is when there is
no legislation pending. In that way the
pol can accept the money from a special
interest group with a clear conscience,
and then support your cause at a later
date when you really need him (her?).
Dear Sir,
I represent a small political action
committee interested in keeping out
Honduran-made tent poles. We can’t
afford to finance every candidate run
ning for office this year. How do we make
an impact with out limited funds?—Poor
But Proud.
Dear PBP,
Every PAC organization faces a simi
lar problem. Your best bet is to finance
the campaigns of the chairpersons of cru
cial committees involved with tent poles,
leaving enough money aside to donate to
the present administration’s committee
to re-elect the president. Be sure and spe
cify to the treasurer of the political party
that the money is being given, not to keep
communist tent poles out of Honduras,
but Honduran tent poles out of the Un
ited States.
Dear Friend,
I am running for the presidential
nomination and am having a terrible time
collecting money at this stage of the
game. Do you have any suggestions?—
T he Best Man
Dear Best Man,
Have you ever thought of giving a
$ 1,000-a-plate dinner to honor your
wife’s mother? Or holding a $10,()()0-a-
person cocktail party at the Playboy Man
sion to explain where you stand on pine
tar? Or sponsoring a punk rock concert at
the Los Angeles Coliseum for Kids who
want to grow up in a better world? If you
can’t raise a lousy $25 million for a prim
ary campaign, how are you going to find
the hundreds of billions of dollars the
country will need in the nexffour years to
balance the budget?
Dear Sir,
I would like to give money to a candi
date, but 1 want to make sure he knows I
gave it. When is the best time to make a
political contribution?—Good Citizen
Dear C.C.,
T iming is everything
giving to a candidate,
seems to lie that “late money
loudly than early money.” ThatL'i
in a close race when the personn
for office gets more desperateat
money becomes a lot more impoi
candidate than it was at thebegii
his/her campaign. Therefore,ifyt
out until the last week and thensi
hand your man a check, he
ber you a lot more fondly
stuffed a thousand dollars in hisfj
months ago when his campaign was
doldrums.
Dear Mr. B,
I used to give a lot of monti
certain political party and 1 was inti
many social functions, includ*
White House. This year 1 hadsoi I
vere business setbacks and havete |
able to donate anything. I seem!! t
been dropped from all partiesthail ■
to be invited to. Is there any com!
between a person’s social life in j
ton and how much he gives to thepo
party of his choice?—Tapped0®
Dear Tapped Out,
I don’t know where you gottte '
Politicians never allow money,tof
part in f riendship. You were pro
dropped from everyone’s list
because people found you bor
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Reagan seeks conservatives
Soviet action still debated
by Helen Thomas
United Press International
WASHINGTON — President Reagan is
going out of his way to mend fences with
conservatives, a political faction he believes he
needs if he decides to run again.
He has held the line on ousting James Watt
as interior secretary and he is in effect the only
one who can ask for his resignation. Watt stir
red up a storm of protest when he said he had
on his advisory committee “a black, a woman,
two Jews and a cripple.”
Watt’s supporters in conservative ranks ral
lied to his side, and Reagan himself was in
clined to shrug off the remark as unfortunate
and to permit him to retain his seat in the
Cabinet.
The president is proud to call himself a
conservative, and he believes he was elected to
turn the country to the right. He has put con
servatives in charge of many government
agencies with a view of shaving the federal
government’s involvement.
For two years he has tried to destroy the
Legal Services Corp., an anathema to conser
vatives that gives legal assistance to the poor,
by failing to name members of the board or
provide adequate funding.
Reagan also has tried to change the U.S.
Civil Rights Commission to reflect the views of
conservatives against quotas and busing as
well as limiting the jurisdiction of the panel.
Most pleasing of all to his conservative con
stituency, the president has kept up a steady
drumbeat of harsh rhetoric against the Soviet
Union, referring to the Kremlin as the “evil
empire” and drawing the line between the two
systems as a “struggle between freedom and
totalitarianism, between what is right and
what is wrong.”
He said he believes that American conser
vatives are uniquely equipped to present the
world the proper vision of America.
But he has angered some conservative lead
ers like Richard Viguerie who have sharply
criticized him for not taking tougher action
against the Soviets for shooting down the Ko
rean airliner. Viguerie said Reagan “had his
moment of truth” in dealing with the Soviets
and he blinked, backed away and refused to
engage the Soviets in any kind of serious
activity.
Viguerie wanted Reagan to close U.S. ports
to the Soviet government and to recall the
U.S. ambassador to Moscow. He also would
have canceled all sports, cultural and scientific
agreements with the Soviets and suspended
arms negotiations with them.
But for others who remember the cold war
and the dangers from East-West tensions,
dangers that have been magnified by the
growing nuclear superpower arsenals, the
prospect of slamming the door on
sians may seem self-defeating.
Each president in the past fewde® *
understood the difficulty of dealing* 1 I
Kremlin and of the need to theEi'i
blocs from reaching the confrontaW
Each has tried to keep the lines ofcow® *
tion open considering the alternativt I
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... We have to look at it for the educational value thatit’s j
us. Now we have learned by the self-discovery method that*
should never mix the red stuff with the yellow stuff.