For the Record

Florida straw vote confirmed what GOP analysts have been saying. Reagan, the front-runner, has comfortable lead on second-place John Connally. Big surprise is George Bush, who is snapping at Connally’s heels. Reagan got 36 per cent of the straw vote; Connally, 26; Bush, 21. Connally admitted “we didn’t come quite as close as I thought we might but we built a good organization. If anyone is going to stop Reagan, it’s going to be me.” . . . Bush’s third place in Florida came after first places in straw votes in Iowa and Maine. . . . Washington Post poll shows Reagan scoring as well with rank-and-file Republicans who consider themselves moderates or even liberals as he does with conservatives. In the poll, 41 per cent of all Republicans identified with Reagan. Nearest competitor is a distant Howard Baker, with 20 per cent. . . . Major criticism of Reagan so far is not his age but his flubs when he departs from The Speech.

It’s going to take a lot of doctoring to revive Camelot. Ted Kennedy’s debut got a sour reception not only from Wall Street Journal but also from New York Times and Washington Post. Mary McGrory, a JFK diehard, was cool; Jimmy Breslin, brutal. . . . Carter strategists privately concede there is little their man can do to win the nomination; Kennedy will have to lose it, which, they insist, he will: “The Kennedy candidacy is flawed. It just won’t fly.” . . . Other Democrats say nomination will go to Kennedy only after a long and brutal fight and when a Carter nomination is no longer a possibility. . . . Left wing of Democratic Party seems resigned to Kennedy. At Washington meeting of Democratic Agenda, socialist Michael Harrington, nominal head of group, declared Carter has “gone past the point of no return” with the left wing of his Party. What about Jerry Brown? Harrington: He “gave up any chance to win the Left” with his “off-the-wall” economic policies.

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Presidential Election

Florida straw vote confirmed what GOP analysts have been saying. Reagan, the front-runner, has comfortable lead on second-place John Connally. Big surprise is George Bush, who is snapping at Connally’s heels. Reagan got 36 per cent of the straw vote; Connally, 26; Bush, 21. Connally admitted “we didn’t come quite as close as I thought we might but we built a good organization. If anyone is going to stop Reagan, it’s going to be me.” . . . Bush’s third place in Florida came after first places in straw votes in Iowa and Maine. . . . Washington Post poll shows Reagan scoring as well with rank-and-file Republicans who consider themselves moderates or even liberals as he does with conservatives. In the poll, 41 per cent of all Republicans identified with Reagan. Nearest competitor is a distant Howard Baker, with 20 per cent. . . . Major criticism of Reagan so far is not his age but his flubs when he departs from The Speech.

It’s going to take a lot of doctoring to revive Camelot. Ted Kennedy’s debut got a sour reception not only from Wall Street Journal but also from New York Times and Washington Post. Mary McGrory, a JFK diehard, was cool; Jimmy Breslin, brutal. . . . Carter strategists privately concede there is little their man can do to win the nomination; Kennedy will have to lose it, which, they insist, he will: “The Kennedy candidacy is flawed. It just won’t fly.” . . . Other Democrats say nomination will go to Kennedy only after a long and brutal fight and when a Carter nomination is no longer a possibility. . . . Left wing of Democratic Party seems resigned to Kennedy. At Washington meeting of Democratic Agenda, socialist Michael Harrington, nominal head of group, declared Carter has “gone past the point of no return” with the left wing of his Party. What about Jerry Brown? Harrington: He “gave up any chance to win the Left” with his “off-the-wall” economic policies.