For the Record

Of fifty Democratic state chairmen polled just before the GOP Convention, 24 said they thought Reagan would carry their states in November, 15 gave Carter the victory, one gave his state to John Anderson, ten thought it was a toss-up. … A Los Angeles Times poll points to a certain squishiness in Anderson’s support. Only 55 per cent of those who say they now support Anderson are “pretty certain” they will vote for him come Nov. 4. . . . Reagan’s naming of Anne Armstrong and James Baker to important party posts right after the Convention was an obvious gesture toward the Ford-Bush segment of the party, but also, say the pols, smart politics. Mrs. Armstrong, who now becomes co-chairman of the RNC—replacing the not-lamented Mary Crisp —is an excellent campaigner, and well respected by party pros. James Baker ran Bush’s campaign this year, Ford’s four years back. Reagan’s stalwarts of the Right, Sen. Paul Laxalt and Rep. Jack Kemp, were present at the Armstrong-Baker welcoming party. . . . Left a bad taste: the only active GOP presidential candidate not invited to speak to the Convention was Philip Crane.

Meg Greenfield, editorial page editor of the Washington Post, concludes in column right after the Convention that Jimmy Carter is not going to be able to run against a caricature of Reagan as “a preposterous old gun-smoke gaga.” In the past few months and during the Convention, says Greenfield, Reagan proved that he was stronger, brighter, more resilient, and also more adept politically than his younger opponents. . . . Meanwhile, the Reagan camp is reaching out to regular Democratic constituencies. . . . Jesse Jackson of PUSH warns the Democrats they can’t depend on all-out support among black voters. “Reagan and Bush,” he says, “are not being suicidal about the black vote.” . . . The Congressional Quarterly reports union leaders are worried that many rank-and-file blue-collar voters may turn out for Reagan in the fall. The Quarterly cites Reagan’s strong showing among union voters in the New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Illinois, and Wisconsin primaries. . . . During the GOP Convention, Sen. Robert Dole and GOP National Chairman Bill Brock had an “amicable” meeting with UAW President Douglas Fraser, who has been disenchanted with Carter for some months now. … A poll of blue-collar workers in Detroit showed 50 per cent plan to vote for Reagan. . . . For the first time in its 81-year history the Veterans of Foreign Wars has endorsed a presidential candidate, RR. . . . But there is also dissatisfaction in the ranks over the Bush selection. Phyllis Schlafly says Reagan has thrown away “a lot of support,” and Paul Weyrich of the New Right complains that Reagan turned “to the Eastern Establishment.” . . . There’s no doubt at all that the Reagan-Bush ticket has lost the Communist vote. Pravda already senses “the musty smell of cold war from Detroit.” . . . Here at home the Daily World calls Bush “Reagan’s Man from the CIA,” and CP presidential candidate Gus Hall grows positively apoplectic: The Convention, he says, “was nothing short of a right-wing cold-war crusade, a shameful orgy orchestrated by the most extreme right-wing, racist, anti-labor, anti-people, military-monopoly forces in our country.”

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Presidential Election

William F. Buckley Jr.

Of fifty Democratic state chairmen polled just before the GOP Convention, 24 said they thought Reagan would carry their states in November, 15 gave Carter the victory, one gave his state to John Anderson, ten thought it was a toss-up. … A Los Angeles Times poll points to a certain squishiness in Anderson’s support. Only 55 per cent of those who say they now support Anderson are “pretty certain” they will vote for him come Nov. 4. . . . Reagan’s naming of Anne Armstrong and James Baker to important party posts right after the Convention was an obvious gesture toward the Ford-Bush segment of the party, but also, say the pols, smart politics. Mrs. Armstrong, who now becomes co-chairman of the RNC—replacing the not-lamented Mary Crisp —is an excellent campaigner, and well respected by party pros. James Baker ran Bush’s campaign this year, Ford’s four years back. Reagan’s stalwarts of the Right, Sen. Paul Laxalt and Rep. Jack Kemp, were present at the Armstrong-Baker welcoming party. . . . Left a bad taste: the only active GOP presidential candidate not invited to speak to the Convention was Philip Crane.

Meg Greenfield, editorial page editor of the Washington Post, concludes in column right after the Convention that Jimmy Carter is not going to be able to run against a caricature of Reagan as “a preposterous old gun-smoke gaga.” In the past few months and during the Convention, says Greenfield, Reagan proved that he was stronger, brighter, more resilient, and also more adept politically than his younger opponents. . . . Meanwhile, the Reagan camp is reaching out to regular Democratic constituencies. . . . Jesse Jackson of PUSH warns the Democrats they can’t depend on all-out support among black voters. “Reagan and Bush,” he says, “are not being suicidal about the black vote.” . . . The Congressional Quarterly reports union leaders are worried that many rank-and-file blue-collar voters may turn out for Reagan in the fall. The Quarterly cites Reagan’s strong showing among union voters in the New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Illinois, and Wisconsin primaries. . . . During the GOP Convention, Sen. Robert Dole and GOP National Chairman Bill Brock had an “amicable” meeting with UAW President Douglas Fraser, who has been disenchanted with Carter for some months now. … A poll of blue-collar workers in Detroit showed 50 per cent plan to vote for Reagan. . . . For the first time in its 81-year history the Veterans of Foreign Wars has endorsed a presidential candidate, RR. . . . But there is also dissatisfaction in the ranks over the Bush selection. Phyllis Schlafly says Reagan has thrown away “a lot of support,” and Paul Weyrich of the New Right complains that Reagan turned “to the Eastern Establishment.” . . . There’s no doubt at all that the Reagan-Bush ticket has lost the Communist vote. Pravda already senses “the musty smell of cold war from Detroit.” . . . Here at home the Daily World calls Bush “Reagan’s Man from the CIA,” and CP presidential candidate Gus Hall grows positively apoplectic: The Convention, he says, “was nothing short of a right-wing cold-war crusade, a shameful orgy orchestrated by the most extreme right-wing, racist, anti-labor, anti-people, military-monopoly forces in our country.”