WASHINGTON INSIGHT

BORROWING REAGAN: He no longer makes public appearances, but former President Ronald Reagan’s affliction with Alzheimer’s disease is not shielding him from the entreaties of 1996 presidential politics. Republican candidate Bob Dole succeeded last week in landing a photo-op with Reagan. And former First Lady Nancy Reagan has been asked to allow her husband to be filmed in preparation for a tribute to Reagan at next month’s Republican National Convention in San Diego. The filming would be by a crew under the direction of Phil Dusenberry--maestro of the convention videos and TV advertisements that propelled the 40th president’s 1984 reelection. Some loyalists, however, prefer to have the tribute use images of the younger Reagan only. If elected, Dole would be the nation’s oldest first-term president. He turns 73 on July 22. “I suspect the true motive there is to make Dole look vigorous and energetic, compared to a now-debilitated Ronald Reagan,” said one friend who is close to the family. The extraordinary access to the 85-year-old former president is being brokered through Nancy Reagan by onetime Reagan aide cum Dole presidential advisor, Michael K. Deaver.

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OUTFOXED: Sen. Arlen Specter (R-Pa.) didn’t win many new friends last week when he abruptly announced that he may seek the resignation of Defense Secretary William J. Perry for the military’s failure to better protect the American servicemen targeted by terrorists in Dhahran, Saudi Arabia, two weeks ago. So when Specter, chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, scheduled a hearing into the tragedy, the Senate Armed Services Committee set up a rival session for the same day as Specter’s panel and commandeered Perry and Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman John M. Shalikashvili to testify. The result: As the Armed Services Committee proceedings were broadcast nationally this week, Specter and his panel were left out of the limelight to hear only from lesser notables.

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COSMIC APPEAL: On a trip to California last week, Vice President Al Gore strolled to the back of Air Force Two and overheard NASA administrator Daniel S. Goldin in conversation about the search for extraterrestrials. As Goldin mused that technology may be available relatively soon to determine if life exists in the vast beyond, Gore was asked what message he would send to newly discovered creatures. His instant reply: “Vote for Clinton-Gore!”

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CREDIT DISPUTE: Did three Yanks “rescue” Russian President Boris N. Yeltsin from a near loss to the Communists? That question has been echoing in Moscow ever since several American news organizations, including The Times, carried stories about the work done by three consultants with ties to Gov. Pete Wilson. The three consultants, George Gorton, Joseph Shumate and Richard Dresner, say they had been working secretly with Yeltsin’s daughter since February. The question has now become a transatlantic media battle, with Moscow’s prominent English daily, the Moscow Times, deriding Time magazine, which put the three consultants on its cover in a story by Michael Kramer, who has until now specialized in American politics. Kramer, who spent several weeks with the Americans in Moscow, said Wednesday that he believes the Gorton team gave sound and consistent electoral advice to Yeltsin’s fractured and disorganized campaign staff. “Who the hell knows where all the credit belongs, but I did see them bring some rigor and discipline to what was basically an undisciplined operation.” Kramer said he feels particularly bruised by a New York Times article that made it sound as though Time fell for a self-promotion scheme by the American consultants.