Readings in the Roosevelt Room

By Hugh Sidey

At the end of almost every working week, Richard Wirthlin stuffs his battered brown briefcase full of the feelings of thousands of Americans and heads for the White House. The President's pollster stops first at the Oval Office, where he tells Ronald Reagan what his fresh probings of the nation's roots --grass, sage and swamp--have yielded. Then he heads across the hall to the Roosevelt Room for lunch with the senior staff and more talk about the presidency and the people.

A few days ago, when Wirthlin had settled in between the portraits of the Roosevelts, Teddy and Franklin, he began his rundown in a soft voice, dropping figures into place to form a political mosaic. His small audience listened first in silent astonishment, then puzzlement. The news was just too good.

Reagan's job approval, which soared to 79% after the U.S. attack on Libya, has settled in the mid-70% range, the highest sustained rating since pollsters began asking the question in 1946. Support of young people is an astonishing 79%. Republican Party dedication has deepened. Wirthlin's numbers show that support for the G.O.P. is equal to that for the Democrats, even though voter- registration figures indicate a sizable margin favoring the Democratic Party.

One participant in the meeting thought, "Careful, we are getting up there where the air is pretty thin." But there was more. Out of 45 issues examined in the polls--such as unemployment, tax reform, the budget and trade--not one was identified as a top concern by more than 12%. Thus despair in the farm and energy belts barely dents the national mood.

Wirthlin found that David Stockman, the bitter diarist who claims in his new book that the Reagan revolution failed, may be all wet. Americans feel Reagan's successes in reducing taxes and increasing opportunities are sound enough to rate as a revolution--or at least as a job very well done.

The public perception of the Reagan record has benefited all levels of government, according to Wirthlin. Americans once again have faith that our public institutions can cope with problems. National confidence is where it was in 1972, before Watergate shattered people's trust. These may be the first data indicating clearly that we have at last put that tragedy behind us.

Wirthlin's encouraging figures are, of course, ephemeral, subject to devastation by almost any crisis. His real message goes beyond the mere data. "The President plays better offense than defense," says the pollster. "He has to keep going. Sometimes the changes he proposes are not as important as the fact that he takes action. He cannot expect that all the winds will continue to blow his way."

The group in the Roosevelt Room already has priorities: win tax reform in the summer, then battle to keep the Republican Senate in the fall. Move from there to budget restraint, welfare reform, insurance against catastrophic illness. Above all, keep moving.

That is not a hard prescription for Ronald Reagan. To keep moving is his nature. Furthermore, his standing with the public is bolstered by a mighty reserve: Nancy. A special Wirthlin reading on the personal appeal of the big power players, which he dubs the "thermometer rating," with temperatures from 1 to 100, shows the President at 66, Nancy at 65. The nearest Cabinet officer is way down at a chilly 51.