Letter from Washington

The political implications of the busing issue continue to grow. Two questions will be answered in the next few months: 1) How firmly will the Democratic Presidential contenders hold to their probusing stance; and 2) will the President endorse Senator Robert Griffin’s antibusing constitutional amendment?

George McGovern, oddly enough, may be the earliest to forsake busing —on grounds analogous to those used by President Nixon in overtures to Communist China. Just as Nixon was able to change his stand, McGovern might be able to move away from busing without seeming a hypocrite. Some of McGovern’s advisers are urging such a course on grounds that any probusing Presidential candidate is doomed and that a “populist” campaign must take into account the will of the people. Which way McGovern will go is anyone’s guess, though some remember McGovern’s on-again, off-again endorsement of conservative Robert Byrd (D., W.Va.) for the Supreme Court.

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The political implications of the busing issue continue to grow. Two questions will be answered in the next few months: 1) How firmly will the Democratic Presidential contenders hold to their probusing stance; and 2) will the President endorse Senator Robert Griffin’s antibusing constitutional amendment?

George McGovern, oddly enough, may be the earliest to forsake busing —on grounds analogous to those used by President Nixon in overtures to Communist China. Just as Nixon was able to change his stand, McGovern might be able to move away from busing without seeming a hypocrite. Some of McGovern’s advisers are urging such a course on grounds that any probusing Presidential candidate is doomed and that a “populist” campaign must take into account the will of the people. Which way McGovern will go is anyone’s guess, though some remember McGovern’s on-again, off-again endorsement of conservative Robert Byrd (D., W.Va.) for the Supreme Court.