Washington reporters thrive on the kind of high political drama that is the stuff of this week's cover story on President Reagan's Frank Merriwell rescue of his plan to sell AWACS planes to Saudi Arabia. As members of TIME'S Washington bureau discovered, the political arithmetic becomes vexingly complex when so much is at stake. Every day trade-offs are offered, bargains are made, alliances break up and form again. As the momentum shifts back and forth, counting noses becomes more and more difficult. For White House Correspondent Laurence Barrett, who tracked the tactics of the Reagan forces during the campaign and who interviewed the victorious President the morning after the Senate vote, it is "a matter of artful intuition, a case of deciphering the winks George Church with Betty and nudges of the handful of insiders who have a real fix on what's happening. You have to watch not only the noses, but those who are counting the noses." Adds Correspondent Evan Thomas, who helped cover last week's climactic Senate debate: "You sometimes have to distinguish between what you see and hear and what is really going on. The tension was palpable as the roll was called, but the issues had long since been argued, and most of the deals struck, in less public surroundings." Correspondent Johanna McGeary, who has been covering the AWACS story on the Hill since last spring, agrees: "The real battle for the Senators' hearts and minds was waged in the private offices and back rooms of the Capitol."

For TIME'S Nation staff in New York, the tension remained high right to the end. During Wednesday's final Senate vote, they gathered around television sets, and Reporter-Researchers Betty Satterwhite Sutter and Robert Burger, who checked the cover story, tallied the totals ballot by ballot. Senior Writer George Church, who wrote the story, was impressed by President Reagan's ability to turn the tide that had seemed to be running so strongly against him. "If I'd bet on the outcome, I would have lost," he says. "You should never underestimate the persuasive power of the President, or of the number of people who will go along with him just because he is the President." Concurs National Editor John Elson: "The AWACS question was badly mishandled by Reagan and his staff. It is basically a blunder that they retrieved. But it is obviously extremely risky ever to bet against this President."

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