■ Ronald Reagan has doffed his hat and is set to toss it into the ring. Reagan boosters are now certain their man will meet Gerald Ford in the New Hampshire primary (March 2). . . . Ford aides say their man sees no threat from Reagan or anybody else on the Right for several reasons: ever since Mayagüez his stock has been rising with conservatives; Reagan doesn’t have a “Vietnam-type” issue; and more conservatives have been joining the Ford team in recent weeks. . . . Authoritative sources deny the Washington Post report that Clif White is the latest recruit to the Ford team. White, mastermind of the Goldwater nomination, was wooed, they say, but not won. . . . Ford hasn’t asked for it, but his candidacy is getting assistance from his San Clemente constituency. Prominent Republicans such as Barry Goldwater, Strom Thurmond, Hugh Scott, and Howard Callaway have all got phone calls from Richard Nixon stressing that conservative attacks on Ford’s foreign policy constitute “a gift to the Democrats” and (you figure it out) would “turn the Party back toward obsolete and dangerous isolationism with serious consequences for the nation and the cause of world peace.”
■ When Congress returns in September its top priority will be restoring its public image. Gallup has Ford leading Congress 52 per cent to 29 per cent; Harris says Ford’s ahead 41 per cent to 22 per cent; and Sindlinger has Ford ahead by a whopping 59.3 per cent to 12.6 per cent. . . . The White House will try to exploit legislative disarray in upcoming battles. The first test will come on energy. Ford is expected to veto the congressional extension of oil- price controls. Although the extension passed both the House and Senate by more than the two-thirds vote required to override, the White House is applying the pressure, and some switches are expected. . . . The lines are also drawn on tax cuts. Treasury Secretary William Simon’s proposal to reduce the tax on dividends has been attacked by House Majority Leader Tip O’Neill of Massachusetts for suggesting tax cuts for “corporations and stockholders” instead of “the workers and consumers who support this country.” Democrats, for their part, want to extend the $9 billion of 1975 tax reductions into 1976, figuring it won’t hurt their chances at the polls. . . . Also set for September is House consideration of consumer agency, which the Senate has already approved. The measure is expected to pass the House and be vetoed by the President. The only question is whether Congress can override.
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