For the Record

John Sears, political aide to Ronald Reagan, reported on the Wednesday after the New Hampshire senatorial race conservative Louis Wyman lost that Reagan would now tone down his conservative image, and “run as a man” (whatever that means) in the primaries. . . . A week later, at meeting of California GOP state central committee—at which the pro-Ford forces tried to freeze Reagan out—Reagan spoke to the Women’s Caucus, dished out give-’em-hell old time conservative religion talk, made them stand up and cheer . . . Evans & Novak, commenting on Reagan’s appeal to the California GOP rank and file, say Ford strategists now believe the President will have to hit the early primaries hard lest Reagan arrive at June California primary with impressive showings in New Hampshire, Florida. . . . The respected Mervin Field poll in California shows that Ford has turned a nine-point deficit vis-à-vis Reagan there in May to a seven-point lead in August. But Rockefeller is doing much less well with Californians who prefer Reagan to Rocky as vice presidential candidate, 39 to 26 per cent. (Next in line, in this order, are Howard Baker, Charles Percy, John Connally). . . . Incidentally, nationally Rockefeller is opposed as Ford’s runningmate 47 to 34 per cent by voters at large; Independents oppose his nomination 44 to 35 per cent. Importance of that: the recent Gallup that showed only 21 per cent of the people identify themselves as Republicans these days (as against 44 per cent Democrats and 35 per cent Independents) also showed that the Independents lean toward the Democratic Party by a margin of 2 to 1. Last spring it was 3 to 1. No help for Rocky there. … A late Sindlinger-Kevin Phillips rundown of voter sentiment on Right-Left lines shows conservatives 36 per cent, moderates 36 per cent, liberals 18 per cent, radicals under 2 per cent—a gain of eight points for conservatives since January.

The frontal attack having failed, legislators and administrators are trying other ways to do away with unpopular school busing. . . . In Louisville, Kentucky Governor Julian Carroll is suing the Federal Government in district court, seeking to force Washington to pay for the court-ordered busing and guarding of 22,000 children in Jefferson County this year. “I don’t believe the U.S. Congress will want to pay the bill,” says Carroll, “[so it may] turn to alternatives and pass a constitutional amendment to prohibit forced busing.” . . . In Washington itself the House has passed an amendment (it may not survive the Senate, let alone a presidential veto) that would forbid the use of gasoline to bus students to any school beyond the one nearest their homes. Billed as a fuel conservation measure, the House bill, if enacted into law, would save four million barrels of gas a day (in school year). . . . David Matthews, the new head of HEW, feels the schools should be desegregated but says “a better way” than busing must be found to do it. . . . Amira Baraka (LeRoi Jones) is the latest black leader to come out against busing. The emphasis, says Baraka, should be on “quality education,” not on busing.

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Presidential Election

John Sears, political aide to Ronald Reagan, reported on the Wednesday after the New Hampshire senatorial race conservative Louis Wyman lost that Reagan would now tone down his conservative image, and “run as a man” (whatever that means) in the primaries. . . . A week later, at meeting of California GOP state central committee—at which the pro-Ford forces tried to freeze Reagan out—Reagan spoke to the Women’s Caucus, dished out give-’em-hell old time conservative religion talk, made them stand up and cheer . . . Evans & Novak, commenting on Reagan’s appeal to the California GOP rank and file, say Ford strategists now believe the President will have to hit the early primaries hard lest Reagan arrive at June California primary with impressive showings in New Hampshire, Florida. . . . The respected Mervin Field poll in California shows that Ford has turned a nine-point deficit vis-à-vis Reagan there in May to a seven-point lead in August. But Rockefeller is doing much less well with Californians who prefer Reagan to Rocky as vice presidential candidate, 39 to 26 per cent. (Next in line, in this order, are Howard Baker, Charles Percy, John Connally). . . . Incidentally, nationally Rockefeller is opposed as Ford’s runningmate 47 to 34 per cent by voters at large; Independents oppose his nomination 44 to 35 per cent. Importance of that: the recent Gallup that showed only 21 per cent of the people identify themselves as Republicans these days (as against 44 per cent Democrats and 35 per cent Independents) also showed that the Independents lean toward the Democratic Party by a margin of 2 to 1. Last spring it was 3 to 1. No help for Rocky there. … A late Sindlinger-Kevin Phillips rundown of voter sentiment on Right-Left lines shows conservatives 36 per cent, moderates 36 per cent, liberals 18 per cent, radicals under 2 per cent—a gain of eight points for conservatives since January.

The frontal attack having failed, legislators and administrators are trying other ways to do away with unpopular school busing. . . . In Louisville, Kentucky Governor Julian Carroll is suing the Federal Government in district court, seeking to force Washington to pay for the court-ordered busing and guarding of 22,000 children in Jefferson County this year. “I don’t believe the U.S. Congress will want to pay the bill,” says Carroll, “[so it may] turn to alternatives and pass a constitutional amendment to prohibit forced busing.” . . . In Washington itself the House has passed an amendment (it may not survive the Senate, let alone a presidential veto) that would forbid the use of gasoline to bus students to any school beyond the one nearest their homes. Billed as a fuel conservation measure, the House bill, if enacted into law, would save four million barrels of gas a day (in school year). . . . David Matthews, the new head of HEW, feels the schools should be desegregated but says “a better way” than busing must be found to do it. . . . Amira Baraka (LeRoi Jones) is the latest black leader to come out against busing. The emphasis, says Baraka, should be on “quality education,” not on busing.