CAMPAIGN ’88 : Pollster Says Democrats Project Weak Image

A Democratic pollster, warning that his political party has “failed fundamentally” to project strength in its national security policies, told Democratic strategists in Washington on Wednesday that “the notion of Democratic weakness has insinuated itself so deeply into the American consciousness that Republican candidates don’t even need to attack their Democratic opponents by name.”

John Marttila, one of several pollsters who conducted a yearlong, bipartisan study of the nation’s national security views, said Democratic candidates must convince American voters that they value American economic and military strength and that they share Americans’ caution in dealing with Moscow, rather than simply emphasizing their willingness to negotiate arms control agreements.

Spread of Nuclear Arms

Democrats should capitalize on evidence that Americans increasingly are focusing on trade imbalances, terrorism and the spread of nuclear weapons to the Third World as key national security threats, Marttila said in a briefing at the Center for National Policy, a Democratic think tank. In two separate surveys, more Americans rated such issues “very” or “extremely” serious than those who expressed grave concern about the buildup of superpower nuclear arsenals or about Soviet aggression around the world.

“The surveys suggest we are on the verge of a landmark national security debate in America,” Marttila said, adding that the GOP’s leading candidates are vulnerable on such issues outside the U.S.-Soviet relationship.

But Marttila warned the Democrats against underestimating the depth of support for the Reagan Administration’s “Star Wars” missile defense program. Noting that there has been “steadfast, ongoing support for ‘Star Wars,’ ” Marttila said the opposition of most Democrats to the President’s program could be a significant political liability next November.