■ Wheels within wheels: Eugene McCarthy’s startling decision to step down from Senate Foreign Relations Committee in favor of hawk Gale McGee had one little-noticed side effect: it kept Sen. Edmund Muskie—who wanted the spot—off. . . . (And if McCarthy has hopes for ’72, Muskie would be one of his important rivals.) . . . Sen. Mike Mansfield, asked if he was mystified by McCarthy’s step, replied: “I sure as hell was.” . . . Also interesting: Sen. Fred Harris who succeeds Larry O’Brien as chairman of Democratic National Committee and whose appointment is regarded as a Humphrey victory was one of the busiest bees in rounding up the crucial votes for Teddy Kennedy as Majority Whip. . . . One thing nearly everyone on the Hill agrees on: Teddy showed spectacular flair in winning the the Whipship and is now in line to succeed should Mansfield decide to step down. . . . Sen. Harris, meanwhile, says that the National Committee will take over the primary deficits of the Humphrey and Robert Kennedy campaigns provided HHH and EMK speak at a few fund raising dinners. (This is A Unity Move.) . . . The Guardian, which has no doubt about what Teddy is up to, is already campaigning against him: “We oppose Edward Kennedy for President in 1972. We urge radicals to begin desanctifying him now while there is plenty of time.”
■ On Republican side, Minority Whip Hugh Scott (he beat out conservative Roman Hruska) voted with the Democrats in the 90th Congress more often (58 per cent of the time) than his Democratic colleague from Pennsylvania, Joseph Clark. . . . According to the ACU the Republican with the worst voting record in the House is Rep. Charles W. Whalen (Ohio): he voted with Democrats on 23 of thirty key roll calls. . . . Hawks might like to know: the book on Richard Nixon’s desk the week preceding the inaugural was Robert Conquest’s The Great Terror, on the Stalin purges of the thirties. . . . On Nonproliferation: Sen. Barry Goldwater against ratification of the treaty on the grounds that it would have “absolutely no value” in preventing other nations from developing their own nuclear arsenals. . . . Goldwater, by the way, got biggest hand at a dinner at Women’s National Press Club in Washington for new and returning legislators. His opening gambit: “This time I was the choice not the echo. After what happened to me in ’64 I feel like the only kamikaze pilot who ever made a round trip.” . . . Everett Dirksen, in Dirksenian terms, telling Mr. Nixon he has a free hand on the Paris talks. I would not, says Dirksen, object if Nixon decides he has to resume the bombing if Hanoi stalls much longer in Paris. . . . Washington sources think it likely that Nixon will take his time about choosing a new ambassador to Stockholm as sign of displeasure with Sweden’s recognition of Hanoi. Amb. William Heath returned to the States the day the statement was made. Sweden also is upgrading its Havana consulate to ambassadorial level. . . . Norwegian cabinet, at meeting January 14, reported it saw “no reason at this time to make any changes in Norway’s relationship to North Vietnam.” . . . Denmark, like Norway a NATO ally, is not expected to recognize Hanoi.
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