70 Year Magazine Archive

For the Record

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■ John Anderson proved again in Wisconsin that he’s the Republican candidate most beloved of liberal Democrats. But even their heavy crossover vote (56 per cent of the votes in the Republican primary were cast by Democrats and independents) left him third —12 points behind Reagan, three behind Bush. . . . Wisconsin was one of four states Anderson and his handlers had pinpointed as states where he must come in first, or a very close second, to keep his candidacy credible. He spent the most money there ($456,000) of any Republican, and the most time. . . . Again in Wisconsin, as he had in Illinois, Reagan got a substantial portion of the crossover vote (33 per cent to Anderson’s 37 per cent), confirming the judgment of Washington Post political reporter Bill Peterson two days earlier that “Reagan’s support among conservative blue-collar Democrats has been one of the most under-reported phenomena of the 1980 presidential race.” . . . Reagan’s also getting support of party heavyweights—the kind of support Barry Goldwater never got. Strom Thurmond, who had pinned his hopes on Connally, has vigorously endorsed Reagan, as have fellow candidates John Connally, in Texas, and Bob Dole, in Kansas, on the eve of the primary. . . . More surprising was the endorsement of liberal maverick Sen. Lowell Weicker of Connecticut, after the Bush win there. Weicker says 1980 is not 1964; predicts that Reagan will take President Carter in November.

■ The latest Gallup, taken the weekend of March 28, still shows Carter beating Reagan in November, but the gap is narrowing: as of now it’s Carter 48, Reagan 43. . . . But all other indications are bad for Carter. He dropped 17 points in the Gallup and NBC/AP polls between January and mid-March, and 12 points in the CBS/New York Times poll. . . . Jerry Brown, who packed his bags and went home after Wisconsin/Kansas, despite the vigorous campaigning on his behalf by Tom Hayden, César Chavez, Francis Ford Coppola, and Eugene McCarthy, says he might not support Carter in November, unless “Carter shapes up” to Brown’s satisfaction.

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