For the Record

■ Howard Callaway, head of Gerald Ford’s campaign committee, says he’s not scared of the big bad wolf. He predicts a Ford win in the New Hampshire and Florida primaries and says if Ronald Reagan can’t “win in his best states how’s he going to win in his worst?” . . . But others see it differently. Connie Armitage, head of the 400,000-member National Federation of Republican Women, has come out for Reagan; says she’ll take a post on his campaign staff in January. . . . Recent Field poll in California shows Reagan making headway against Ford among people who characterize themselves as “moderates” and “liberals.” Among these voters, Reagan has come up from 31 per cent in August to 43 per cent in November; Ford has dropped in same period from 68 per cent to 55 per cent. . . . And Ford could be in bad trouble in South where the recently enacted energy bill and the Common Situs picketing bill are very unpopular. Sen. John Tower, important to Ford as head of a conservative power group on the Hill, says he will have to “rethink” his support of Ford if Ford doesn’t veto both bills. . . . Congressman Lou Frey says Ford might just as well “write off” Florida unless he vetoes the labor bill, and indicates he (Frey) might resign from the Ford campaign in Florida if Common Situs becomes law.

■ Complicating the picture: the proliferation of possible third parties and their presidential hopefuls. Eugene McCarthy is always campaigning on a third-party ticket, as are Dr. Benjamin Spock and his New Politics group. . . . Sen. Charles Mathias (R., Md.), cold-shouldered by GOP liberals when he mentioned a Republican primary race against Ford, now talks about heading a third party. . . . John Connally hints in the Conservative Digest that he might be available to head a new party if neither the Republicans nor the Democrats “are on a course that would tend to best serve the nation.” . . . And Ron Daniels of the National Black Political Assembly says his group intends to field a presidential slate at its national convention in Cincinnati in March. Possible candidates: Rep. Ron Dellums (D., Calif.), civil rights activist Dick Gregory, Georgia State Senator Julian Bond, Gary Indiana Mayor Richard Hatcher. … Not mentioned: Congresswoman Barbara Jordan (D., Tex.) who, when asked if she’d be interested in being a Supreme Court Justice, said no, she hoped to appoint one by and by. . . . And there’s always George Wallace.

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Gerald R. Ford

Ronald Reagan

Presidential Election

■ Howard Callaway, head of Gerald Ford’s campaign committee, says he’s not scared of the big bad wolf. He predicts a Ford win in the New Hampshire and Florida primaries and says if Ronald Reagan can’t “win in his best states how’s he going to win in his worst?” . . . But others see it differently. Connie Armitage, head of the 400,000-member National Federation of Republican Women, has come out for Reagan; says she’ll take a post on his campaign staff in January. . . . Recent Field poll in California shows Reagan making headway against Ford among people who characterize themselves as “moderates” and “liberals.” Among these voters, Reagan has come up from 31 per cent in August to 43 per cent in November; Ford has dropped in same period from 68 per cent to 55 per cent. . . . And Ford could be in bad trouble in South where the recently enacted energy bill and the Common Situs picketing bill are very unpopular. Sen. John Tower, important to Ford as head of a conservative power group on the Hill, says he will have to “rethink” his support of Ford if Ford doesn’t veto both bills. . . . Congressman Lou Frey says Ford might just as well “write off” Florida unless he vetoes the labor bill, and indicates he (Frey) might resign from the Ford campaign in Florida if Common Situs becomes law.

■ Complicating the picture: the proliferation of possible third parties and their presidential hopefuls. Eugene McCarthy is always campaigning on a third-party ticket, as are Dr. Benjamin Spock and his New Politics group. . . . Sen. Charles Mathias (R., Md.), cold-shouldered by GOP liberals when he mentioned a Republican primary race against Ford, now talks about heading a third party. . . . John Connally hints in the Conservative Digest that he might be available to head a new party if neither the Republicans nor the Democrats “are on a course that would tend to best serve the nation.” . . . And Ron Daniels of the National Black Political Assembly says his group intends to field a presidential slate at its national convention in Cincinnati in March. Possible candidates: Rep. Ron Dellums (D., Calif.), civil rights activist Dick Gregory, Georgia State Senator Julian Bond, Gary Indiana Mayor Richard Hatcher. … Not mentioned: Congresswoman Barbara Jordan (D., Tex.) who, when asked if she’d be interested in being a Supreme Court Justice, said no, she hoped to appoint one by and by. . . . And there’s always George Wallace.