For the Record

A big question in Republican political circles is whether the sudden prominence of John Connally will force Ronald Reagan to jump officially into the presidential race earlier than planned. “Reagan’s advisors will ignore that question,” say Evans & Novak, “at their peril.” . . . Big Jawn’s agents are everywhere. In the past fortnight, Sen. Thad Cochran, the first Republican to be elected to the Senate from Mississippi since Reconstruction, has declared for Connally, and Haley Barbour, Reagan’s Southern coordinator in ’76, has also signed up with Connally. . . . Alabama’s best known Republican, former Postmaster General Winton Blount, has joined Connally’s campaign staff. . . . And it’s reported that Connally’s men have made overtures to Gen. Alexander Haig suggesting a possible Connally (Texas, Baptist)-Haig (Northeast, Catholic) ticket. . . . On another front, George Bush is now putting together a powerful campaign staff made up of both conservatives and liberals. David Keene, former Reagan Southern coordinator, former staffer of Janies Buckley, will be a top aide, as will Charles Snyder, George Wallace’s campaign manager in two presidential campaigns. On the more liberal side, Bush has signed up Pete Teeley of the Republican National Committee and Susan Morrison of the Democratic National Committee as publicists. . . . Everyone seems agreed that when Jack Kemp failed to announce his candidacy on April 16, following a laudatory segment on 60 Minutes the night before, it probably meant that he had decided not to go for the Number One job. Possible alternatives, Sen. Jacob Javits’ seat, or (it now looks as if Javits will run) a vice presidential nod.

Evan Dobelle, Jimmy Carter’s campaign manager, says Carter will enter every primary next year and seek delegates in every state caucus or convention. Treasurer John Dalton hopes to have campaign chest of over $11 million by year’s end. . . . Carter faces tough going in New Hampshire next February. A Dump Carter group (New Hampshire Democrats for a New Democratic President in 1980) has been organized and will probably back a write-in campaign for Ted Kennedy. . . . New Hampshire’s Democratic Sen. John Durkin (who appears on every list of vulnerable officeholders) is hostile to Carter also. . . . And Billy Carter is out after his drying-out cure (Washington Post headline: “Billy: Water Can Be Drank Straight”). Drunk or sober, Billy is irrepressible. Asked if he was an embarrassment to his brother, he replied, “No more than some of his foreign-policy positions are an embarrassment to me.”

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Presidential Election

A big question in Republican political circles is whether the sudden prominence of John Connally will force Ronald Reagan to jump officially into the presidential race earlier than planned. “Reagan’s advisors will ignore that question,” say Evans & Novak, “at their peril.” . . . Big Jawn’s agents are everywhere. In the past fortnight, Sen. Thad Cochran, the first Republican to be elected to the Senate from Mississippi since Reconstruction, has declared for Connally, and Haley Barbour, Reagan’s Southern coordinator in ’76, has also signed up with Connally. . . . Alabama’s best known Republican, former Postmaster General Winton Blount, has joined Connally’s campaign staff. . . . And it’s reported that Connally’s men have made overtures to Gen. Alexander Haig suggesting a possible Connally (Texas, Baptist)-Haig (Northeast, Catholic) ticket. . . . On another front, George Bush is now putting together a powerful campaign staff made up of both conservatives and liberals. David Keene, former Reagan Southern coordinator, former staffer of Janies Buckley, will be a top aide, as will Charles Snyder, George Wallace’s campaign manager in two presidential campaigns. On the more liberal side, Bush has signed up Pete Teeley of the Republican National Committee and Susan Morrison of the Democratic National Committee as publicists. . . . Everyone seems agreed that when Jack Kemp failed to announce his candidacy on April 16, following a laudatory segment on 60 Minutes the night before, it probably meant that he had decided not to go for the Number One job. Possible alternatives, Sen. Jacob Javits’ seat, or (it now looks as if Javits will run) a vice presidential nod.

Evan Dobelle, Jimmy Carter’s campaign manager, says Carter will enter every primary next year and seek delegates in every state caucus or convention. Treasurer John Dalton hopes to have campaign chest of over $11 million by year’s end. . . . Carter faces tough going in New Hampshire next February. A Dump Carter group (New Hampshire Democrats for a New Democratic President in 1980) has been organized and will probably back a write-in campaign for Ted Kennedy. . . . New Hampshire’s Democratic Sen. John Durkin (who appears on every list of vulnerable officeholders) is hostile to Carter also. . . . And Billy Carter is out after his drying-out cure (Washington Post headline: “Billy: Water Can Be Drank Straight”). Drunk or sober, Billy is irrepressible. Asked if he was an embarrassment to his brother, he replied, “No more than some of his foreign-policy positions are an embarrassment to me.”