■ On the eve of the Iowa caucus—the opening gun of the 1980 presidential campaign—the nation’s newspaper editors think Jimmy Carter will be the Democratic candidate. Of 85 who responded to a questionnaire, 67 think Carter will get the nod, 64 think he would be the Democrats’ “strongest” candidate; only 12 voted for Kennedy, although 19 thought he’d be the strongest. . . . According to Dr. Gallup (Jan. 4-8 polling) the people agree. Carter’s lead over Kennedy is now the highest ever, 51 to 37 per cent (as against 48 to 46 per cent in December). . . . Kennedy was probably hurt rather than helped by one unexpected endorsement. Col. Qaddafi of Libya thinks that Kennedy “would be better than the present U.S. President” (which says not much for brother Billy’s lobbying skills). . . . Carter was undoubtedly helped by the endorsement of Muhammad Ali, who has been named to head the Athletes for Carter committee. Ali (always the greatest) says that his (count ’em) 75 million supporters will vote for Carter’s re-election. (In 1976, 81 million votes were cast.) . . . Columnists Evans & Novak don’t see a Carter win. They look for “a bloody battle down to the wire, with Kennedy still holding a slight but perceptible edge.” . . . Kevin Phil- Jips sees the possibility for a quick kill if Carter can win three early ones— Iowa, Maine, and New Hampshire— which, he says, could set up victories in two big ones, Illinois (Mar. 18) and New York (Mar. 25).
■ Back to those newspaper editors. Despite the polls, despite every other sign, they pick George Bush over Ronald Reagan as the Republican candidate by a narrow 28 to 25 vote, with Connally third (12), Baker fourth (3), and Gerald Ford fifth (1). But 72 of them think that Reagan is the “strongest” candidate the GOP could field. . . . Democratic National Chairman John White picks Reagan as the front-runner, with Bush (not Connally or Baker) Number Two. . . . On a 1 to 20 scale, Kevin Phillips says Reagan has 11 out of 20 chances of winning the nomination, Bush 3, Connally 2, and Baker 1. . . . Iowa looks good for Reagan. He leads Bush 50 to 14 in the latest Des Moines Register poll; the Iowa Pro-Life Political Action Council has endorsed him and recommended, but not endorsed, Robert Dole and Phil Crane; and by December, only 28 per cent of Iowa voters thought Reagan too old to run, as against 38 per cent five months earlier. . . . In Massachusetts, a group headed by retired naval officer Sherman Reed has put Gerald Ford on the ballot for the Mar. 4 primary. There will also be a write-in movement for Ford in New Hampshire because, say his supporters, they were unable to raise the $500 filing fee!
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