European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - February 10, 1987, Darmstadt, Hesse Page 10 the stars and stripes tuesday february 10,1987 columns William Safire Reagan needs new attitude for a comeback the Media used the occasion of president Rea Gan s j6lh birthday 10 clobber him. He was portrayed As a doddering old Roan out of touch and out or magic lost in his anecdotage being abandoned by his aides and deemed irrelevant by the opposition his administration in paralysis because lie could not grasp the enormity of Bis breach of Faith. Al that was missing was the allegation that he walked the Halls at night talking to the paintings. Did he ask fat this you bet he did. When Reagan was Riding higher in the polls than any second term president he treated the Media with charming con tempt he spaced out news conferences to become quarterly events forced National Security staff Mem Bers who spoke to the press to submit to polygraph tests or be fired encouraged his Cia chief to threaten editors with jail for publishing embarrassments Label secret and falsely blamed reporters for the continuing Captivity of hostages. Of now we re even. Although nothing can Stop cover age of the investigative Story the vicious Circle can be broken by a Public demonstration by the president that he understands and can Cope with the problem. He probably was sensible to Wail until More fact emerged and nothing he can do will completely put it behind him but for the president to continue to Hunker Down much longer it not a sign of strength or stubbornness but a manifestation offer. The Rea son his state of the Union Drew such Gleeful derision was that he choked up on the Iran Issue. To make a comeback he must now undertake a speech and a news conference with a whole new Atti tude. No More of this in was Only one plan Load amelioration no More passive construction mistakes were made by some ghostly system followed by i Lake full responsibility spoken with body language that signals it was somebody else s fault. Ronald Reagan if he still has the right stuff is required to hand up and show he knows the truth that his head went for the reach out to moderates strategic argument because his heart was in getting out the hos \ Buchanan s leaving the Shi sir i 5ues w la a and me David Broder tags that he turned out to be a closet humanitarian to the detriment of the National interest and he won t make that mistake again. Such an assertion is not like confessing to some terrible crime or abuse of Power. The hostage families got to him he let himself think the arms shipment were not Ransom but tokens of Good Faith and now he realizes he should have treated the ayatollahs the Way he did the air controllers. Saying this is not crawling saying anything else is trying to live in a dream world. He can follow with a denunciation of the diversion of funds which he stopped and made Public die moment he Learned of it and then denounce those who Are seeking to use this scandal As a Way to Cut off Legal Aid to the contras. What s so bad about that posture when angry reporters demand to know How he could have Bee such a hypocrite by talking Tough and acting weakly he can shake his head ruefully and say never let your heart Rule your head in this As John Kennedy might have said sometimes compassion asks to much. Having dealt with terrorism both ways Reagan can say the bombing of Qaddafi proved which Way was More effective. Only with that subject dramatically dealt with can he even try to move on to the legacy he wants to leave his successor a Strong Start on a nuclear shield that will make it impossible for the russians to continue their offensive missile buildup. In that regard his untainted team of Weinberger and Shultz Are working in surprising coordination at last. The Secretary of defense has staked out a claim for a Broad interpretation of the abm treaty to offset the soviet narrow interpretation to restrict our testing of nuclear defense. The Secretary of state now will find a Middle ground acceptable to Sam Nunn that will enable us to do just enough testing to keep the heal on the russians to reduce their missile advantage. That Tough Csc Nice cop approach suggests there is life in this administration yet if Reagan can breathe on the spark. He has some other assets residual popu Larity and respect for the office Are working for him. Moreover investors Here and in Japan Are showing immense Confidence in the . Economy while no american forces Are fighting anywhere. Prosperity without inflation in the context of peace without surrender that used to be a seemingly impossible dream. A president with the gumption to address today s topic a will earn the right to remind his countrymen through their forgetful Media that those great goals were achieved on his watch. Newyork times a i service party run debates Good idea for 88 Campaign Gerald r. Ford and Jimmy car Ter Are convinced of their value and importance and think the country would be Well served by debates Between the democratic and Republican presidential candidates in 1988 and in future Ronald Reagan says the televised de Bates unquestionably have taken on in creasing importance but it is also Nec Essary to take into account the limitations of television As a medium for conveying the complexity of the political process. Richard Nixon says his 1960 debates with John f. Kennedy served a very useful purpose but argues that future debates should depend upon the wishes of the individual candidates and the National under no Circum stances he adds should presidential candidates debate each other during War Lime lest National secrets be inadvertently exposed. This mixture of views from Veter ans of past presidential debates is con earned in letters written to a recent con inference at Harvard s John f. Kennedy school of government. It illustrates the fact that the seemingly simple question of debates can stir a surprising volume of controversy. The Decibel level will Rise again next month when the Republican and demo Ibralic panics file Legal papers to create a joint bipartisan commission to sponsor and manage the 19s8 debates. Their Effort will be challenged by the league of women voters which sponsored the presidential debates in 1976, 1980 and 1984, and has begun planning for similar debates in 1988. The league leaders Are understandably miffed that the parties Are muscling in on their turf Nancy a Neuman the league president Points out that her organization arranged 21 Senate and 27gubernatorial debates last year and that candidates Are used to debating under our Why change the argument for change is that presidential debates have become so important and valuable a part of the election process that everything possible should be done to institutionalize them to guarantee that they occur. That clearly Means that they cannot be left to the wishes of individual candidates As Nixon suggested in his letter to the con Ference arranged by former Federal communications commission chair Man Newton n. Minow a fellow at the Harvard Institute of politics. Nixon blocked debates in 1968 and 1972, when he was leading in the polls and the tendency will be Lor other front runners to minimize their risks by doing exactly that. Walter f. Mondale. Who rarely agrees with Nixon on any thing argues that such refusals Are More Likely under party sponsorship than if the league keeps the franchise. What forces a candidate to debate Mon Daft said in an interview is the threat that his recalcitrance will be made Public by the sponsoring organization. If the parties Are handling the arrange ments a candidate would be Able to wig Gle out by having his party representative make impossible demands while appearing publicly to be that is Neuman s argument As Well. I think it would be very difficult for the parties actually to pull off a debate she said. "1 Don t think they realize the difficulty of those negotiations. There has to be an honest broker at the those Points deserve consideration As does the league s record in managing to bring the candidates together in the last three elections. But Ibe Case for party sponsorship still strikes me As a stronger one the league can cajole the candidates into debating Only after they Are nominated. In past years it has been forced into making major concessions to get an incumbent or front runner to participate. The parties by contrast Are Perma nent political institutions that control the machinery of presidential Nomi nations. When the parties write a prescription for presidential debates chances Are Good that it will be fulfilled the 1988 election offers an Ideal Lime to test that proposition. Two Yean ago when they were both members of the bipartisan private commission on National elections democratic National chairman Paul g. Kirk or. And Republican National chairman Frank j. Fahrenkopf or. Signed a memorandum pledging to seek presidential debate sponsored and conducted by their own organizations. Now the two chairmen have agreed 10 set up a tax exempt foundation with equal representation on its Board from the two panics to raise the $1 million needed to stage the debates and pay for a Small staff of managers. Precise formats would still have to be negotiated by the nominees. But with Oil the other preliminaries fixed there is a Good Chance As Kirk s adviser on this topic Richard Moe says that we wont waste most of the general election Campaign debating about neither chairman has run into objections front any of the prospective contend ers As yet. And if the precedent for party run debates is set in 1938, chances Are they will become a routine pan of future campaigns and a Good thing Loo. Ujj hts 0p Post whim i group
