Bush Aides Hope Malta Has Sparkle : Summit: The President is aiming to end a lackluster year on a high note. He sees the meeting as a ‘powerful opportunity.’

Despite his efforts to lower expectations about his meeting with Soviet President Mikhail S. Gorbachev, President Bush is aiming for significant understandings, if not formal agreements, that would put a positive finish on an otherwise lackluster first year of his Administration.

Several Bush advisers said the President is approaching the summit with confidence that he is in a good position to reach understandings with Gorbachev on several issues, including a speedup in conventional arms reductions and a cooperative approach to addressing regional disputes and the emerging new order in Europe.

“It’s in his interest to lower expectations while at the same time planning moves that can tag the year a success after a rather mediocre beginning,” said a Republican strategist and frequent Bush adviser.

“He couldn’t ignore the drug issue or the budget deficit but couldn’t do much about either,” the adviser said. “His one big legislative objective--capital gains--went down the tube. So he turns to the foreign stage, where he may have more control, and (he) hopes anything he brings back from Malta will be played as an unexpected breakthrough.”

Speaking to White House staff members shortly before his departure Thursday, Bush acknowledged that the summit will provide “a powerful and historic opportunity” to address areas of mutual concern with Gorbachev, particularly the changes sweeping Eastern Europe.

“And in that spirit, I will extend the offered hand with confidence, conviction and real hope,” the President said.

The Saturday and Sunday meetings aboard U.S. and Soviet warships off the coast of Malta will climax a month of “expectations” game-playing by the White House. Even the President has engaged in “spin control,” a process of trying to influence news coverage that usually is left to aides.

While Bush has deplored “euphoric expectations” and denied that any deals will be made, several advisers have been busy--both publicly and behind the scenes--emphasizing that the President hopes to find common ground with Gorbachev on several subjects. The primary focus will be on the rapidly changing events in Eastern Europe that are bringing the Cold War to a close.

At a briefing for reporters, Secretary of State James A. Baker III said the President will be “exploring opportunities for mutual advantage across the board in our relations” with the Soviet Union. He said Bush will discuss at least five issues with Gorbachev: Eastern Europe, regional conflicts, arms control, the Soviet economy and Soviet political reform.

Soviet support for leftist regimes and insurgencies in Central America “remains the biggest obstacle to an across-the-board improvement in United States-Soviet Union relations,” Baker declared.

Another senior Bush adviser said the President--in pressing Gorbachev to ease up on the aid the Soviets send to Cuba and Nicaragua--”will be very tough and (will) ask why, with the new thinking and loosening of the Communist grip on Eastern Europe, there is the old thinking of promoting Marxist guerrilla activity in Central America.”

However, the political and economic reforms in Eastern Europe and the Soviet Union are almost certain to dominate the agenda of the Malta summit. With the President having reacted cautiously so far to the reforms, the meeting will be Bush’s first opportunity to put his own stamp on the historic developments.

Going into the summit, polls show that Americans have a strong sense that Bush is responding to events, rather than leading them. But so far, they approve of the President’s cautious approach, apparently because events have changed so rapidly and radically and because the changes generally have been viewed as positive.

Asked if they thought Bush had “a clear blueprint for the future” or was “mostly trying to catch up with recent developments,” fully two-thirds of respondents in a recent Los Angeles Times poll said he was following events, not leading them. Only 17% said they thought Bush had a clear blueprint.

Although critics have faulted Bush for reacting too timidly to events in Eastern Europe and elsewhere, “the public doesn’t buy that criticism,” said Bob Teeter, the President’s own pollster. “We’ve got tons of evidence to that effect,” Teeter said. “The Democrats cooked that up back in September.”

Teeter said a poll he conducted in October showed that when asked how they thought Bush had been handling his responsibilities in general, 63% of respondents said “about right,” while only 31% said “too cautious.” Only 2% said “too bold.”

Such numbers reinforce the dominant view among Bush’s advisers that the public does not want bold new adventures in either foreign or domestic policy and that it would be willing to reward the President with another term as long as nothing goes seriously awry during his watch.

Nevertheless, Bush’s advisers are concerned that the public’s attitude has made it difficult for the President to gain much credit for the changes sweeping Europe, changes that Bush personally called for in West Germany after the North Atlantic Treaty Organization meetings last May. In a speech at Mainz, he declared the need for a Europe that is “whole and free,” but said a common home is not possible as long as “the family within it is not free to move from room to room.”

These advisers see the Gorbachev summit, with the international spotlight it inevitably will throw on Bush, as his best opportunity to claim some credit for the changes.

“In terms of international politics, the President should get a big leadership plus out of this,” Marlin Fitzwater, Bush’s press secretary, said in an interview. “In fact, he’s going to a summit when the Western countries are in an incredibly strong position at the geopolitical level by virtue of the Communist countries turning to democracy and Western values.”

Fitzwater, while not suggesting that Bush would provide surprises or offer bold initiatives at Malta, noted that the President, after being widely criticized before the NATO summit for failing to advance fresh ideas or proposals, surprised critics by offering a sweeping arms reduction proposal that he declared would “transform the military map of Europe.”

NATO enthusiastically embraced the proposal--the boldest initiative of Bush’s presidency so far--setting the agenda for arms control negotiations with the Soviets for at least a year or two.

The President has stressed that he will make no agreements on arms reductions at Malta and will consult the NATO allies before considering such proposals. Even so, Bush aides said he could reach an understanding with Gorbachev that would pave the way for a formal agreement when the two leaders are expected to meet again in the United States next spring.

Bush supporters see the Mediterranean summit as almost risk-free for the President since both he and Gorbachev are supporting the changes taking place in East Europe and neither appears to have anything to gain by upstaging the other.

“I don’t see any pitfalls, only opportunities for Bush to think through with Gorbachev the problems that the Soviets have and explore how he can be helpful,” said Sen. Richard G. Lugar (R-Ind.), ranking Republican on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. “This is a very important opportunity for the President, and he is approaching it vigorously.”

Bush has consulted widely in anticipation of his six or seven hours of meetings with Gorbachev. He has conferred by telephone or in person with leaders of all the NATO countries and has had numerous sessions with his own national security advisers and with a wide range of experts from various institutions.

His advisers and supporters insist that, despite criticism to the contrary, the President has a clear idea of where he wants to guide U.S. foreign policy. But even his friends express a nagging doubt about how well he is communicating those ideas.

“I’ve never known a time when low-key professionalism was better suited to events,” said Rep. Jim Leach (R-Iowa), a longtime friend of Bush and a close ally in Congress. Leach said Bush and his foreign policy team exemplify that sort of professionalism, but he agreed with criticism that the President “is not articulating” his sense of where events are heading.

For example, Bush was widely criticized last month after he invited television cameras into the Oval Office to record his comments on the dramatic decision by East Germany to open the Berlin Wall. The President appeared pensive, almost downcast, in sharp contrast with the joyful scenes of Germans dancing atop what had been the starkest symbol of the Cold War division of Europe.

Bush’s aides were forced to spend most of the rest of the week creating openings in speeches and photo opportunities for the President to try to create an enthusiastic image.

The President’s tepid response to appeals for aid to reform movements in Poland and Hungary earlier this year also resulted in complaints--even from some Republicans--that he needed to do more.

During visits to Poland and Hungary in July, Bush offered relatively limited financial assistance--a $100-million Polish-American Enterprise Fund to help spur new business ventures and a similar $25-million enterprise fund for Hungary.

Over the next several months, as GOP leaders joined in a chorus of criticism that he was doing too little, the rapid changes in Eastern Europe forced the Administration to accept bolder measures.

But rather than come up with a new plan that he could call his own, Bush left the decision up to Congress, which earlier this month approved a plan that would provide nearly $1 billion in different types of aid to Poland and Hungary over the next several years.

The problem of communications already has forced Bush to back away from his original plan to have only a small U.S. contingent of about 20 staff members accompany him and Secretary of State Baker to the summit.

Bush changed his mind after learning that the Soviets were planning to take a large number of officials to the summit to brief the press and present their side of the proceedings. The White House, fearing Gorbachev would steal the spotlight, quickly increased the number of officials making the trip.