Letter from Washington

Many White House staffers are bewildered by what they view as Gerald Ford’s inscrutable campaign strategy. Reagan is running ahead in Florida and New Hampshire, they believe, primarily because of his personal appearance blitzkrieg. If Ford is to stop him, they argue, he has to mount a similar drive, and mount it soon. But influential Ford advisors insist that the President’s campaign appearances will remain minimal. The reason: these advisors feel Ford is no match for Reagan as a speaker. They recall, for instance, the President’s disastrous performance during the congressional campaign of ’74. Most of the candidates he spoke for lost, and, during the last weeks of the campaign, congressional staffers were begging the White House to dissuade Ford from appearing in their districts. Then there’s the problem of issues. Ford, like Reagan, is attacking runaway spending and the bloated bureaucracy. But Ford is nominally in charge of that bureaucracy and thus, by attacking it, gives the impression that he can’t control it. In desperation, Ford staffers have finally seized on a limited-appearance, chalk-talk approach, in which Ford explains his budget to local officials, something the White House has been busy publicizing as a Ford plus, pointing out that no President since Truman has shown such a grip on federal facts and figures. Snorts one Reagan supporter: “They talk about making him appear presidential, as if that’s some external quality you can apply with a brush. If the only way they can apply presidentiality is by showing us that Ford understands his own budget, then they’re in even more trouble than we thought.”

Slip of the tongue? Questioned at a recent press conference about the effect of the Supreme Court decision on campaign spending, Nelson Rockefeller replied, “I’m not the only one running for office.” Which office? Rocky refused to elaborate, but long-time Rockefeller aides have been saying in private for some time now that he’s definitely gearing up for one more run around the presidential track. A series of ten speeches on national affairs has been scheduled by the Veep’s office, none of which at this stage mentions Gerald Ford’s accomplishments. Rockefeller, say loyalists, has never been in better shape to run. As Vice President he maintains high national visibility, without the handicap of being involved with unpopular programs and policies, a position he recently solidified by cutting all decision-making ties with the Domestic Council. And the Supreme Court decision on campaign spending means that he can rely heavily On family financing. As of now, the word is that if Reagan takes Ford out in Florida and New Hampshire and runs well in Illinois, Rockefeller will then announce.

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Many White House staffers are bewildered by what they view as Gerald Ford’s inscrutable campaign strategy. Reagan is running ahead in Florida and New Hampshire, they believe, primarily because of his personal appearance blitzkrieg. If Ford is to stop him, they argue, he has to mount a similar drive, and mount it soon. But influential Ford advisors insist that the President’s campaign appearances will remain minimal. The reason: these advisors feel Ford is no match for Reagan as a speaker. They recall, for instance, the President’s disastrous performance during the congressional campaign of ’74. Most of the candidates he spoke for lost, and, during the last weeks of the campaign, congressional staffers were begging the White House to dissuade Ford from appearing in their districts. Then there’s the problem of issues. Ford, like Reagan, is attacking runaway spending and the bloated bureaucracy. But Ford is nominally in charge of that bureaucracy and thus, by attacking it, gives the impression that he can’t control it. In desperation, Ford staffers have finally seized on a limited-appearance, chalk-talk approach, in which Ford explains his budget to local officials, something the White House has been busy publicizing as a Ford plus, pointing out that no President since Truman has shown such a grip on federal facts and figures. Snorts one Reagan supporter: “They talk about making him appear presidential, as if that’s some external quality you can apply with a brush. If the only way they can apply presidentiality is by showing us that Ford understands his own budget, then they’re in even more trouble than we thought.”

Slip of the tongue? Questioned at a recent press conference about the effect of the Supreme Court decision on campaign spending, Nelson Rockefeller replied, “I’m not the only one running for office.” Which office? Rocky refused to elaborate, but long-time Rockefeller aides have been saying in private for some time now that he’s definitely gearing up for one more run around the presidential track. A series of ten speeches on national affairs has been scheduled by the Veep’s office, none of which at this stage mentions Gerald Ford’s accomplishments. Rockefeller, say loyalists, has never been in better shape to run. As Vice President he maintains high national visibility, without the handicap of being involved with unpopular programs and policies, a position he recently solidified by cutting all decision-making ties with the Domestic Council. And the Supreme Court decision on campaign spending means that he can rely heavily On family financing. As of now, the word is that if Reagan takes Ford out in Florida and New Hampshire and runs well in Illinois, Rockefeller will then announce.