That is why we see our policy swing-voters coming up with the cynical notion of using the contras as our bargaining chip. The Republican senatorial swingers - Cohen, Kassebaum and Rudman - have warned the President that in the coming showdown, they will vote to withdraw all aid unless a negotiated settlement is pressed.

Sounds high-minded; but what would such settlement entail? A New York Times editorial laid out the goals: (1) a Sandinista promise to refrain from importing Soviet and Cuban bases, advisers and missiles; (2) a promise not to launch takeovers across Nicaraguan borders; (3) a promise to behave on human rights, and maybe even allow a tame opposition party to function.

The Nicaraguan Communists have made and broken such promises before; in return for a fresh set of promises, the bargaining chippers would betray the Nicaraguan resistance. That would not only invite the subversion of El Salvador, but would send an unmistakable message of U.S. irresolution to any indigenous anti-Communist force depending on us in Angola or Afghanistan. The weakness in that sellout plan is laid out in the Times editorial: '' [ The President ] could rightfully ask his critics to support the use of force should the Sandinistas betray their security promises.''

Fat chance. Project ahead to a Gary Hart administration, with the Nicaraguan resistance disbanded forever and Dictator Ortega's Managua in lockstep with Havana and Moscow. In go a few medium-range missiles, capable of taking out Miami and Houston, which Managua will vehemently deny importing lately. Does anybody seriously foresee President Hart dispatching U.S. ships to blockade Nicaragua and bombers to destroy the installations and kill the Soviet advisers?

Or put yourself in a more hawkish administration. President Kemp goes on television to denounce the subversion of Honduras and El Salvador by Nicaraguan-sponsored guerrillas, cites the great negotiated compromise of 1987 and asks Congress for a formal declaration of war. Democrats in Congress, joined by Cohen-Kassebaum-Rudman swingers, would instantly choke up: War? Send in the Marines to an endless quagmire to protect a few corrupt dictators? What are you, some kind of jingo nut?