Word: wirthlin
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...first time in his presidency, Ronald Reagan will be dealing with a Democratic Senate. Will he become more confrontational or more compromising? "The President must go about things in a more conciliatory fashion," says White House Pollster Richard Wirthlin. "His proposals must be made in a focused, targeted way. It will be critical to take a few important goals and to drive them hard." Some observers doubt that the Reaganauts, except perhaps for the President himself, have any great gift for the art of political compromise. Indeed, just about the only aide left in Reagan's inner circle...
...Iceland summit, while only 14% said Reagan was mainly at fault. A thumping 69% said the President was right in refusing to restrict Star Wars as the price for a deal that would reduce nuclear arms. Day-to-day surveys taken for the White House by Richard Wirthlin showed Reagan's general approval rating jumping sharply from 64% just before the summit to 73% by last Tuesday night...
During the 1984 campaign, Reagan's best receptions came on college campuses. A White House survey for May showed that 82% of registered voters age 24 and under approved of Reagan. Says Presidential Pollster Richard Wirthlin: "This is an age cohort that has known only two Presidents." The binary vision of the young: in their memories, Carter meant failure, Reagan means success...
...Wirthlin's encouraging figures are, of course, ephemeral, subject to devastation by almost any crisis. His real message goes beyond the mere data. "The President plays better offense than defense," says the pollster. "He has to keep going. Sometimes the changes he proposes are not as important as the fact that he takes action. He cannot expect that all the winds will continue to blow...
That is not a hard prescription for Ronald Reagan. To keep moving is his nature. Furthermore, his standing with the public is bolstered by a mighty reserve: Nancy. A special Wirthlin reading on the personal appeal of the big power players, which he dubs the "thermometer rating," with temperatures from 1 to 100, shows the President at 66, Nancy at 65. The nearest Cabinet officer is way down at a chilly...