Letter from Washington

Does he look familiar, that gentlemen bouncing gently on the springboard? That’s former Texas Governor, former Secretary of the Treasury, former indictee John Connally. A small but enthusiastic crowd was on hand at the Houston airport when he returned, acquitted in Washington of charges that he accepted a $10,000 bribe in connection with a Nixon Administration decision in 1971 concerning milk price supports. Those who know him know he is hankering to plunge again into politics. It is now clear that the big winner from Connally’s decision to switch to the Republican Party is . . . Senator Henry Jackson. Today Jackson is the preferred candidate of the more conservative Democrats. But Jackson, who does not sparkle, would be hard pressed to compete with the Connally sparkle if Connally had remained a Democrat. As a Republican, Connally is firmly outflanked on the right by Ronald Reagan. And although being acquitted beats being convicted, being indicted is not a plus.

■ NR contributor Lou Harris, the pollster, says: “Former California Governor Ronald Reagan could destroy President Ford’s chances of winning the presidential election in 1976, if Reagan leaves the Republican Party and runs on a conservative ticket . . . he could receive as much as 21 per cent of the vote. . . .” Harris and Gallup appear to be polling pretty much the same public (vide “Capitol Issues”). In a two-man trial heat against a man on a white horse (Edmund Muskie), Ford ties 45 to 45, with 10 per cent jumping off tall buildings. But in a Ford-Reagan- Muskie trial heat, Muskie wins with 39 per cent of the vote, Ford gets 29 per cent, Reagan 21 per cent, 11 per cent jumping.

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Does he look familiar, that gentlemen bouncing gently on the springboard? That’s former Texas Governor, former Secretary of the Treasury, former indictee John Connally. A small but enthusiastic crowd was on hand at the Houston airport when he returned, acquitted in Washington of charges that he accepted a $10,000 bribe in connection with a Nixon Administration decision in 1971 concerning milk price supports. Those who know him know he is hankering to plunge again into politics. It is now clear that the big winner from Connally’s decision to switch to the Republican Party is . . . Senator Henry Jackson. Today Jackson is the preferred candidate of the more conservative Democrats. But Jackson, who does not sparkle, would be hard pressed to compete with the Connally sparkle if Connally had remained a Democrat. As a Republican, Connally is firmly outflanked on the right by Ronald Reagan. And although being acquitted beats being convicted, being indicted is not a plus.

■ NR contributor Lou Harris, the pollster, says: “Former California Governor Ronald Reagan could destroy President Ford’s chances of winning the presidential election in 1976, if Reagan leaves the Republican Party and runs on a conservative ticket . . . he could receive as much as 21 per cent of the vote. . . .” Harris and Gallup appear to be polling pretty much the same public (vide “Capitol Issues”). In a two-man trial heat against a man on a white horse (Edmund Muskie), Ford ties 45 to 45, with 10 per cent jumping off tall buildings. But in a Ford-Reagan- Muskie trial heat, Muskie wins with 39 per cent of the vote, Ford gets 29 per cent, Reagan 21 per cent, 11 per cent jumping.