Political Boost : Budget Vote a Hard-Fought Dole Victory

A note of triumph crept into Majority Leader Bob Dole’s voice as the Senate began voting early Friday on a defict reduction compromise that had taken him five months to put together. “This is the moment of truth,” he declared. “This is it.”

For Dole, the 50-49 vote represented a hard-fought personal victory--the crowning achievement of his brief tenure as majority leader and an important political boost for a man who is thinking about running for President in 1988.

As he put it: “I learned it’s kind of an exciting job if you win.”

After weeks of arduous, behind-the-scenes negotiations, the Kansas Republican disproved skeptics who believed that it would be impossible to bring President Reagan and the diverse elements of his party together into a meaningful budget compromise.

‘Doubting Thomases’

“He’s a hero,” said Budget Committee Chairman Pete V. Domenici (R-N.M.). “For those doubting Thomases, this ought to dispel their doubt once and for all.”

Even the Democrats--all but Edward Zorinsky of Nebraska opposed Dole’s budget--admired his style. “He was superb,” Sen. Daniel Patrick Moynihan (D-N.Y.) said. “That man is presidential.”

What made the victory even sweeter for Dole was that Vice President George Bush, a potential rival for the GOP presidential nomination, had been forced to cast the tiebreaking vote. Thus, whatever political fallout develops from cutting federal programs and freezing Social Security benefits will fall on Bush as well as Dole.

A leading GOP strategist, refusing to be identified by name, predicted that Bush’s vote for the package would prove more damaging to his presidential aspirations than his earlier tiebreaker in favor of producing chemical weapons.

‘A Big Gamble’

From the day that Dole was elected majority leader last January, he made it known that deficit reduction was his No. 1 priority. Virtually everyone told him it was a risky strategy in view of the President’s refusal to cut defense spending and the reluctance of his fellow Senate Republicans--21 of them seeking reelection in 1986--to trim programs such as Social Security.

“It was a big gamble for Dole,” political scientist Norman Ornstein said.

The way Dole went about winning the support he needed for the compromise was almost as surprising to the political experts as the outcome. Known for his acerbic wit, the new majority leader had been expected to play the role of a hardball political wheeler-dealer, twisting his colleagues’ arms until they surrendered in pain.

Instead, Dole used a softer touch. On Friday, he boasted that none of the four Republicans who voted against the package--whom he undiplomatically described as the “four losers”--had not been “harassed or harangued.”

Made Hundreds of Deals

What Dole did was to make hundreds of deals with fellow senators that ultimately earned him the necessary votes. Last-minute holdouts who agreed to vote in favor of the package were permitted to offer amendments that would allow them to go on record in favor of an issue important to their home states.

It was just 20 minutes before the final vote when Dole lined up his crucial 49th supporter: Sen. Bob Kasten (R-Wis.).

Dole encountered an even more difficult task at the White House. A moderate Republican with a reputation for independence, he met with considerable suspicion when he tried to sell defense budget cuts to Reagan’s staunchly conservative staff.

The psychological low point for Dole occurred several weeks ago after the President agreed to lobby Congress for deficit reduction and instead spent most of his time pressing for approval of aid to the Nicaraguan rebels, known as contras.

But Dole got an opportunity to prove his loyalty to Reagan by winning Senate approval of the aid--just as he had done earlier when he fought an emergency agriculture bail-out bill opposed by Reagan and angered his farm-state constituents.

“By taking on the farm issue and contras aid,” Ornstein said, “Dole built up credits with the President and the Administration that he did not have five months ago.”

Two senators were hospitalized and unable to vote--John P. East (R-N.C.), who is being treated for hypothyroidism, and J. James Exon (D-Neb.), who had his gall bladder removed.