#prowar

Discouragement Found Many of the replies to the Times survey reflected discouragement that this investment of men and money did not seem to be achieving visible progress rather than any basic quarrel with the aims of the investment

The survey indicated the seriousness of the political problem Vietnam poses for the Democratic party’s national ticket a year before President Johnson will seek re-election to a second full term.

Unless the public sentiment shown by the survey changes materially in 1968, Mr. Johnson will clearly be running in the face of criticism from two directions: those who think his policy is too belligerent and those who do not think it is belligerent enough. Dwindling support can be expected between these extremes.

All 50 Governors, 100 Senators and 433 Representatives were asked if there had been any change in sentiment on the war.

Anonymity Option The officials were given the option of responding anonymously. Replies were received from 33 Governors, 64 Senators and 146 Representatives.

While reporting a marked shift in public reaction, few of the officials questioned said that they had changed their views on Vietnam. Of 243 interviewed, only 40 said that they had switched, 30 of them to a stronger peace posture and 10 to insistence on further intensification.

None of the men who reported shifts in their personal positions on the war were major political figures, with the exception of Senator Thruston B. Morton, Republican of Kentucky, the former Republican national chairman, who has moved from supporting the President to advocating disengagement.

A significant number of those interviewed reported a discernible polarization of Vietnam sentiment, with the large middle group that formerly accepted the war tending to split into two vocal critical factions, one advocating every possible peace effort and the other an all-out offensive for victory.

Administration officials said they had been receiving similar reports of growing concern over the war. Cabinet officers, who report regularly to President Johnson on findings in their travels, have told him that there is growing disgrun-tlement about Vietnam.

Some of these officials attribute the decline in support for the President to a lack of progress in the war, to weariness and disillusionment, to resentment because the war prevents important domestic spending and to unhappiness over the proposed 10 per cent tax surcharge.

There was no indication, however, that these Cabinet officers were . moving away from strong support of the President’s policies.

Three of the five leading Republican Presidential possibilities responded to the survey. Gov. George Romney of Michigan and Senator Charles H. Percy of Illinois provided direct statements, and the views of Gov. Ronald Reagan of California were described by aides.

Governor Rockefeller of New York did not respond. There have been recent reports that he is preparing to move away from his long-held position of full support for President Johnson’s Vietnam policies.

Former Vice President Richard M. Nixon was not included in the survey, which was restricted to current officeholders.

‘Never a Popular War’ Senator Percy said the Southeast Asian conflict “has never been a popular war, but it has never been as unpopular as it is today.’’ He said he was particularly disturbed by the decision to bomb so close to China because “I do not believe the risks are worth the possible gain.”

Governor Romney said he believed that "people are taking a more searching look at Vietnam than ever before,” citing the increasing number of Republicans like Senator Morton who are speaking out against Administration policy.

According to aides, Governor Reagan believes military prosecution of the war should be pushed more strongly, with more military and less civilian control.

A typical comment on the erosion of the formerly large bloc of opinion in general support of the President came from Representative Donald M. Fraser, a Minnesota Democrat.

“In recent months there has been a noticeable polarization of views in my district.” he said.

“Fewer and fewer people seem to support the Administration's policy. The mood appears increasingly to be one of ‘win or get out.’ But even the ‘win’ outlook seems to be losing supporters in favor of more determined efforts to get out.”

The public officials that responded to the survey were about 3-to-2 Democratic. Of the 243, 145 identified themselves as general supporters of the President and 52 as clear-

cut critics, with the remaining 44 somewhere in the middle.

Their findings fell into the following categories:

69 of the officials did not detect any recent weakening of support for the war.

64 reported broad general opposition.

80 discerned a strong sentiment for negotiation or withdrawal.

30 reported criticism that military action had been too limited to win.

The public opinion polls also indicate a growing lack of confidence in the way President Johnson is handling the war; His most recent approval rating was 33 per cent in the Gallup Poll and 31 in the Harris Poll.

The word that appeared most often in explanations of declining Vietnam support was “frustration,” a combination of shame that American military might was unavailing, a feeling of helplessness to affect events and a growing conviction that the President had not been entirely frank about the) war.

“At the White House they gave a group of us Governors a thousand reasons why they couldn’t bomb Haiphong Harbor," Gov. David E. Cargo of New Mexico, a Republican, recalled.

“Yet four days later it was done. I just about died when I heard that.”

A number of the Congressmen reported a kind of merger between the hawks and doves in their districts, the hawks arguing the “win or get out” thesis but beginning to recognize that the first alternative appeared increasingly unachievable.

The single specific factor most often cited as a basis for the shift of opinion against the war was the growing casualty list. This appears to be particularly true in the smaller states and communities where combat fatalities have more personal impact.

"I fly the flag at half-mast for all the soldiers whenever they’re buried here,” Gov. Tim Babcock of Montana observed. "I see it down the pole quite a bit. Of course, this is not encouraging at all: the longer it goes, the more discouraging it becomes.”

Both Senators and Representatives said they believed that President Johnson’s request for a tax increase had crystallized sentiment against the war, although as the men who must vote such an increase, they are probably more conscious of such resistance than the Governors.

Representative William F. Ryan, Democrat of Manhattan, summed up the frustration complaint as follows:

“Everyone is frustrated. The ‘why not win’ group is frustrated by failure to achieve an easy and immediate victory. Those who have generally tended to support the Administration’s policy are frustrated by the complicated nature of the war and its seeming endlessness.

“Those who have consistently opposed the war, frustrated and angry, now feel that protests and demonstrations have had little or no effect and see the only recourse to be the defeat of President Johnson."

Some of the Congressmen said that they believed the shift in sentiment against the war began last spring, when the American troop commitment was stepped up again and control of the pacification program was largely shifted to American personnel.