Letter from Washington

Among the items of information that Special Prosecutor Leon Jaworski is seeking from the White House, and that the White House is refusing to surrender, is information that Jaworski thinks might suggest that the Nixon Administration “sold” ambassadorships in exchange for large campaign contributions. Mr. Nixon’s former personal lawyer, Herbert Kalmbach, last month pleaded guilty to the charge of having promised an ambassadorship to a cousin of Senator Stuart Symington (D., Mo.) in exchange for a $100,000 campaign contribution. This is one charge regarding which the Nixon Administration’s supporters are justified in saying that “the rules have been changed”: no one thinks the Nixon Administration is the first one guilty of selling ambassadorships.

George Bush, Republican National Chairman, reports that GOP county chairmen believe “honesty in government” (Watergate) will be, at most, the third most important issue in this fall’s elections. The cost of living will be first, the energy crisis second. Seventeen per cent of the county leaders insist that Watergate will not hurt Republican candidates at all. Another 31 per cent think it will hurt, but only a little bit. Only 11 per cent say Watergate will hurt candidates in their area “a great deal.” . . . Republican county chairmen also have been polled regarding their current choice for the 1976 GOP presidential nomination, and it is Ronald Reagan by a length and a half. Reagan is the choice of 39 per cent, a remarkable 15 points ahead of Gerald Ford, second with 24 per cent support. Others: Nelson Rockefeller, 12 per cent; John Connally, 7 per cent; Barry Goldwater, 6 per cent; Elliot Richardson, 4 per cent; Charles Percy, 3 per cent; Howard Baker, 2 per cent; Mark Hatfield and James Buckley, 1 per cent.

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Among the items of information that Special Prosecutor Leon Jaworski is seeking from the White House, and that the White House is refusing to surrender, is information that Jaworski thinks might suggest that the Nixon Administration “sold” ambassadorships in exchange for large campaign contributions. Mr. Nixon’s former personal lawyer, Herbert Kalmbach, last month pleaded guilty to the charge of having promised an ambassadorship to a cousin of Senator Stuart Symington (D., Mo.) in exchange for a $100,000 campaign contribution. This is one charge regarding which the Nixon Administration’s supporters are justified in saying that “the rules have been changed”: no one thinks the Nixon Administration is the first one guilty of selling ambassadorships.

George Bush, Republican National Chairman, reports that GOP county chairmen believe “honesty in government” (Watergate) will be, at most, the third most important issue in this fall’s elections. The cost of living will be first, the energy crisis second. Seventeen per cent of the county leaders insist that Watergate will not hurt Republican candidates at all. Another 31 per cent think it will hurt, but only a little bit. Only 11 per cent say Watergate will hurt candidates in their area “a great deal.” . . . Republican county chairmen also have been polled regarding their current choice for the 1976 GOP presidential nomination, and it is Ronald Reagan by a length and a half. Reagan is the choice of 39 per cent, a remarkable 15 points ahead of Gerald Ford, second with 24 per cent support. Others: Nelson Rockefeller, 12 per cent; John Connally, 7 per cent; Barry Goldwater, 6 per cent; Elliot Richardson, 4 per cent; Charles Percy, 3 per cent; Howard Baker, 2 per cent; Mark Hatfield and James Buckley, 1 per cent.