No Right-On for Reagan

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The right still cannot bring itself to criticize Reagan directly. Conservatives will not accept the thought that the President, running for his place in the history books, is no longer absolutely wedded to their ideological agenda. Instead, they complain that the Administration more than ever is filled with mushy compromisers who will not let Reagan be Reagan. There is also suspicion about creeping "Nancyism," the First Lady's supposed efforts to have her husband become known as a peacemaker.

In this vision, the prime villain is the chief of staff -- indeed, almost any chief of staff. The far right had no love for James Baker and mistrusted Donald Regan, but it now thunders that Howard Baker is the worst of the lot. BRING BACK DON REGAN urges a headline in a recent issue of the weekly Human Events, over an editorial charging that "Baker and his merry crew, by filling the President with doubts about his capacity to lead and then spreading 'concern' about that capacity to the media, are emasculating his presidency." It adds: "If the President continues to embrace Baker's advice, he may yet end his eight years in office as the man who not only permitted the Soviets to establish a major beachhead on the American continent but also presided over the greatest increase in the welfare state since Lyndon Johnson gave us the Great Society." Responds Baker: "My responsibility is to carry out ((Reagan's)) wishes and policies."

The deepest reason for the ultra-conservatives' dismay may be a fear that time is running out. With only 17 months of his term remaining, Reagan in their eyes has yet to effect any permanent change in the nation's direction; Weyrich expresses a worry that "almost everything that President Reagan has accomplished can be swiftly undone by a single session of a heavily Democratic Congress." Even if a Republican successor is elected, the hard right cannot be sure that he will be able, or for that matter want, to carry the so-called Reagan Revolution to fruition. Its hero, Congressman Jack Kemp, ran fourth among Republicans in the latest Yankelovich poll for TIME. The leaders, Vice President George Bush and Senator Robert Dole, have never won the full trust of movement conservatives.

But the right is not as impotent as it feels; its activists dominate many a Republican primary and caucus. Bush and Dole are both maneuvering to allay their suspicions, in part by distancing themselves from Central American peace initiatives. Indeed, every one of the six Republican contenders has, to some extent, positioned himself slightly to the right of Reagan on certain issues. That may be necessary to win the loyalty of primary activists, but it may not be the best recipe for victory next fall.