Poll Conducted 24 Hours After Bush Interview : Public Splits Evenly on Rather Fairness

Vice President George Bush and CBS News anchorman Dan Rather came out of Monday’s quarrelsome live interview on Bush’s role in the Iran-Contra scandal with the public evenly divided on the question of whether the reporter treated the vice president fairly, a poll sponsored by Times Mirror Co. showed Thursday.

The extraordinary nine-minute encounter on the “CBS Evening News” immediately set off furious controversy in political circles and was hailed as a timely windfall by lieutenants in Bush’s campaign for the 1988 Republican presidential nomination.

The Times Mirror-sponsored poll, conducted by the Gallup Organization on Tuesday evening, some 24 hours after the interview, showed 44% of the 642 respondents concluding that Rather had treated the vice president fairly in his questioning, while 44% said he had not.

Forty-eight percent, on the other hand, said they thought that Bush had “done a good job” in the biting exchange, while 37% rated his performance a “bad job.”

Rather’s Rating Declines

At the same time, the survey showed Rather’s favorable rating with the public to be in decline, reflecting what Times Mirror consultant Michael Robinson called “a highly partisan shift.”

Earlier polls taken by the company, which publishes the Los Angeles Times and several other newspapers, had showed Rather’s favorable rating to be slipping since 1985, but after the Bush encounter Monday evening, his rating dropped 18 points among Republicans, while he gained a small amount with Democrats.

The shift seemed to bear out the assertion of Bush campaign officials who saw the encounter as something of a turning point in the vice president’s effort to shed the “wimp” image encouraged by critics and to demonstrate personal toughness.

“All things considered,” said Andrew H. Kohut, president of the Gallup Organization, “this thing turns out to be something of a draw, with people about as willing to say that Rather behaved fairly as to say Bush handled himself effectively.”

Benefit Among Republicans

“But with Bush doing so well among Republicans in this particular fight,” Kohut said, “it does seem that this incident may help him with his quest for the nomination. It’s mainly Democrats who side with Rather.”

The poll was taken as a part of a continuing series commissioned by Times Mirror to analyze public attitudes toward the press and American politics.

A more extensive nationwide poll had just been completed when the Rather-Bush interview took place. Following the confrontational exchange on CBS, 642 of those questioned were re-interviewed by telephone.

Although Rather suffered in the view of Republicans, 55% of the respondents in the poll said they believed Bush should disclose more about his role in the Iran-Contra affair.

Among Republicans queried, however, 51% said they believed he had adequately answered questions on the matter. Forty percent of the Republicans in the survey called for fuller disclosure by the vice president.

On Offensive With Reporters

Even before the celebrated Rather interview, Bush had taken the offensive with reporters who continued to raise questions about his knowledge of the arms-for-hostages affair. He brushed aside questions about what he had told President Reagan about the matter, and denounced the press for what he characterized as repetitious badgering on a subject he had explained repeatedly.

In the live interview from his office on Capitol Hill, Bush angrily charged Rather with impugning his integrity and rehashing questions answered before.

At times, the vice president and the CBS anchorman nearly shouted each other down, with Rather single-mindedly pressing the Iran-Contra subject, demanding to know whether Bush would devote a press conference exclusively to the subject before the Feb. 8 Iowa caucuses.

Saying his political career should not be judged by a “rehash of Iran,” Bush asked the reporter whether he would like his television career judged by a much-publicized episode last fall when Rather stalked off the set because his telecast was threatened with preemption by the U.S. Open tennis matches.

Bush, Dole Ratings Slip

Times Mirror polls show that Bush’s favorable ratings have been declining since last September. So have those of Senate Minority Leader Bob Dole, who is widely viewed as the vice president’s chief rival for the GOP nomination.

In the most recent survey, Bush’s favorable rating has slipped from 69% in September to 52%, while his unfavorable ratings have increased from 17% to 40% in the same period.

Dole’s favorable rating has declined from 67% to 50% since September, with his unfavorable rating increasing from 15% to 25%.

The survey taken Tuesday evening showed that a whopping 78% of Americans had heard about the Monday night interview, and 29% had seen the interview or news coverage of it.

Aftershocks From Exchange

The sharp exchange produced quick aftershocks for both Rather and Bush.

The further decline in Rather’s favorable rating came after 2 1/2 years’ slippage in the Times Mirror poll.

In June 1985, the CBS anchorman enjoyed a favorable rating of 81%. By last October, it had declined to 73%, and in the wake of the Bush interview, it slumped to 66%.