The Times Poll : Boost in Contra Support Sparked by North Fizzles

The immediate boost in public support for U.S. contra aid generated by Lt. Col. Oliver L. North’s impassioned testimony before Congress already has all but evaporated, the Los Angeles Times Poll has found.

At the same time, President Reagan has failed--despite a nationally televised address and several speaking appearances around the country--to bolster his own weakened standing with the public in the wake of the Iran-contra scandal, according to the poll.

People seem to agree with at least one thing the President said in his televised speech last week--”There’s nothing I can say that will make the situation right.” The Times survey found that half of those questioned still think Reagan lied about the affair, a clear majority believes it has damaged his presidency and an increasing number consider him more to blame than Congress.

As a further illustration that Reagan’s magic as the “great communicator” may be disappearing, four-fifths of those interviewed said they did not pay much attention to his nationwide address. Indeed, more than half--Republicans as well as Democrats--said they paid “no attention at all.”

And the attitudes toward Reagan of people who paid “a lot” of attention to the speech did not differ significantly from those who paid little attention, indicating the President was not persuasive.

Now, Reagan is facing a new test of his presidential influence with the upcoming fight in the Senate over confirmation of his Supreme Court nominee, Robert H. Bork.

The poll found that the battle for public opinion--which inevitably will influence Senate votes--still is to be won or lost, with two-thirds of the people holding no view of Bork.

The Times Poll, directed by I. A. Lewis, interviewed 2,040 American adults by telephone for five days ending Wednesday night. The margin of error is 4%.

The results of the survey indicated that the sharp increase in public support for U.S. military aid for the contras following North’s captivating appearances before the congressional investigating committees last month was mostly a temporary aberration.

Solid Opposition Recorded

Prior to North’s testimony, various pollsters over a two-year period had found people solidly opposed to aid for the contras, who are fighting a civil war against Nicaragua’s Marxist regime. A Times poll last February, for example, found Americans opposing contra aid by 54% to 31%, with 15% undecided. But, immediately after the charismatic Marine officer’s televised appearances in early July, a Times survey showed people to be evenly divided on the issue, 42% to 42%, with 16% undecided.

Now, however, support for the contras is fading, along with the memory of North and his testimony. In this latest survey, people opposed contra aid by 48% to 34%, with 18% undecided. Democrats objected to the aid by 3 to 1, while Republicans supported it by 2 to 1.

Even North’s star has dimmed slightly, though he still is highly popular. In the latest survey, 61% of the people held a favorable impression of him, down six points from July.

The Reagan Administration recently has been sending confusing signals about whether it intends to seek congressional approval of renewed aid for the contras after the current appropriation expires on Sept. 30. But, on Wednesday, a senior official told reporters the President will fight for continued financial support for the rebels regardless of a preliminary peace agreement signed by the Nicaragua government with four other Central American governments on Aug. 7.

Another bruising battle awaiting Reagan after he returns to Washington from his current Santa Barbara vacation is the confirmation fight over Bork. Although Bork, a conservative federal appellate judge, is well known among the Washington Establishment and within legal circles, he very much is an enigma to the public.

Most Had No Opinion

Of those surveyed, 65% had no opinion of him. People who did, however, tended to line up along politically partisan lines, with Republicans supporting him 7 to 1 and Democrats opposed by 2 to 1. Among all, 21% favored Bork’s confirmation and 14% opposed it.

Although Reagan vowed in his televised speech that the final 17 months of his lame-duck presidency will not be marked by “dust and cobwebs,” it was clear from this survey he faces a difficult challenge to regain the powers of public persuasion largely responsible for making his first term so effective.

Reagan no longer, for instance, can automatically count on making lawmakers “feel the heat if they won’t see the light” by “going over their heads directly to the people,” as he has so many times in his career, both as President and governor.

Only 18% of those surveyed said they paid a lot of attention to his Aug. 12 nationwide speech. More than half--55%--reported paying no attention at all and 26% said their attention was “not much.”

By contrast, a Times survey after a similar Reagan nationwide address last March 4 found that 47% had paid a lot of attention to that speech and only 14% had paid no attention.

Believed to Have Lied

In the latest poll, 51% believed “President Reagan has lied about the Iran-contra affair.” Only 32% felt he had not. The rest were not sure. This was roughly equivalent to Times Poll findings in July and March.

Fifty-seven percent said Reagan’s “ability to lead” had been “diminished’ by the Iran-contra episode. Of these, 7% thought it had been “destroyed.” Thirty-eight percent felt there had been “no effect.”

Although people last month tended to blame Congress more than Reagan for the Iran-contra affair, by 43% to 30%, this time both shared the blame about equally. Congress was blamed by 38%, Reagan by 36% and both equally by 10%.

Reagan recorded only a so-so job rating--51% approval, 41% disapproval and 8% no opinion. This was a far cry from the peak of his presidency. For example, a Times survey in February, 1986, found him enjoying a job rating of 65% approval and only 28% disapproval.

Nearly half the people--47%--said that the President, at age 76, “may be getting too old to keep up with all of his responsibilities.” Fifty percent disagreed with that statement. But the 47% agreement was the highest ever found by The Times. Last month, it was 44%.