The Contra Account Runs Dry

As Ronald Reagan feverishly lobbied lawmakers to renew aid to the Nicaraguan contras last week, he found himself cast in a strange, ill-fitting role. Not so long ago, the President displayed an uncanny knack for dazzling Congressmen with his charm and righteousness, even as he squeezed painful concessions out of them. But last week the once cocky cajoler seemed humble, even desperate. To some he was a figure of pathos. "I felt almost bad for him," said Democratic Congressman Roy Dyson of Maryland, one of several lawmakers who met with Reagan in the Oval Office last week. "I remember the power he had and the influence he had. There wasn't anything new he could tell us."

In the twilight of his presidency, Reagan has reason to fear that one of his most cherished foreign initiatives is slipping away. The House's 219-to-211 vote against granting an additional $36 million in aid to the contras does not mean the immediate end for the rebels. But with military supplies dwindling fast, the contras cannot hold out much longer. Says General Fred Woerner, commander in chief of the U.S. Southern Command in Panama: "We're talking in terms of a few months."

As last week's roll call drew near, Congress's exasperation with the whole issue was palpable. Since December 1982, lawmakers have voted on the contras 15 times. Whether the immediate question was the mining of Nicaraguan harbors or the many permutations of the Boland amendment, which blocked military aid to the contras, each vote sparked ugly, divisive battles. Last year's Iran- contra scandal has only added to the bitterness. In the past, Reagan was able to win over key swing votes in White House arm-twisting sessions. Last week, however, many undecided Congressmen refused even to meet with the President. "I told him I'm going to make this decision in the quietness of my own thought processes," said Wes Watkins, an Oklahoma Democrat. "I've got a 17- year-old son," Watkins told Reagan during a tense phone call. "I want him to know what we stand for as a country and that we don't believe in carrying on covert and illegal activities." Watkins ultimately voted for the package.

In a surprising move, network television turned its back on the Great Communicator. ABC, CBS and NBC refused to broadcast a presidential address on the eve of the vote. Network executives said there was no news in Reagan's 20- minute plea, and in fact, the speech was full of familiar hyperbolic rhetoric: "Nicaragua is being transformed into a beachhead for aggression against the U.S." In a follow-up address, Indiana Democrat Lee Hamilton offered the prevailing House view. The U.S., he said, should wait and see if Nicaragua sticks with the peace process set in motion by last summer before restoring military aid to the contras. "Now is the time to put the Sandinistas to the test," Hamilton said, "and to take risks for peace."

In Managua, President Daniel Ortega cast a skeptical eye on the House vote. "Nicaragua cannot let down its guard," he warned. Rather than promoting the peace process, Ortega condemned the governments of El Salvador and Honduras for lending assistance to the contras. Rather than offering an olive branch to the opposition parties, Ortega called on them to "straighten out."