Letter from Washington

Presenting . . . the leader for our troubled times. Representative Mo Udall (D., Ariz.), who wants to be President, led a brief fight to prevent Mr. Ford from enlarging the White House staff. The heavily Democratic House of Representatives defeated Udall 234 to 157. On the other hand, there is always Oklahoma’s Fred Harris, who quit the Senate in 1972. He ran a brief “populist” campaign for President in 1972 but he had a passion for chartered jets, so the Wall Street liberal who was bankrolling him grounded him. This year Harris is off and running again, driving across the country to meet the people. He has issued a press release stating he will fight the good fight in the Iowa primary, which will be something to see because Iowa has no primary.

George McGovern, a glutton for punishment, has been visiting New Hampshire, a glutton for punishment, to see if the grass roots are lusting for him. He went there to face an unbiased audience—a handful of his most ardent supporters from 1972. According to McGovern’s deepest political thinker, Alan Baron, “Most of them say, We don’t think you should do anything right now.” In what may be the understatement of the century, Baron says of McGovern: “No one is pushing him into the race.” Baron says that McGovern thinks “it would be an uphill fight against President Ford.” Meanwhile, back at the old Washington homestead, former Georgia governor, peanut farmer, submarine commander Jimmy Carter is poaching. He has been meeting with old McGovern campaign aides, trying to convince them that he is the Man of Destiny in the 1976 race. Carter won this tepid mini-approval from a former McGovern worker: “He makes a good impression as someone who might help to stop Wallace this time, even if you wouldn’t want him to be President of the United States.”

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Presidential Election

Presenting . . . the leader for our troubled times. Representative Mo Udall (D., Ariz.), who wants to be President, led a brief fight to prevent Mr. Ford from enlarging the White House staff. The heavily Democratic House of Representatives defeated Udall 234 to 157. On the other hand, there is always Oklahoma’s Fred Harris, who quit the Senate in 1972. He ran a brief “populist” campaign for President in 1972 but he had a passion for chartered jets, so the Wall Street liberal who was bankrolling him grounded him. This year Harris is off and running again, driving across the country to meet the people. He has issued a press release stating he will fight the good fight in the Iowa primary, which will be something to see because Iowa has no primary.

George McGovern, a glutton for punishment, has been visiting New Hampshire, a glutton for punishment, to see if the grass roots are lusting for him. He went there to face an unbiased audience—a handful of his most ardent supporters from 1972. According to McGovern’s deepest political thinker, Alan Baron, “Most of them say, We don’t think you should do anything right now.” In what may be the understatement of the century, Baron says of McGovern: “No one is pushing him into the race.” Baron says that McGovern thinks “it would be an uphill fight against President Ford.” Meanwhile, back at the old Washington homestead, former Georgia governor, peanut farmer, submarine commander Jimmy Carter is poaching. He has been meeting with old McGovern campaign aides, trying to convince them that he is the Man of Destiny in the 1976 race. Carter won this tepid mini-approval from a former McGovern worker: “He makes a good impression as someone who might help to stop Wallace this time, even if you wouldn’t want him to be President of the United States.”