For the Record

Good news, bad news: What about Republican prospects in the South? The party itself seems in bad shape for the only three gubernatorial races this year. It now looks as if the GOP may lose in Louisiana, where Democratic ex-Gov. Edwin Edwards leads Republican Gov. David Treen in the polls. in Kentucky, Democrat Martha Layne Collins is well ahead of opponent Jim Bunning, and in Mississippi it’s close, but Democratic populist Bill Allain leads GOPer Leon Bramlett. Bramlett could make it; the Democratic primary was hot, bitter, and divisive. . . . On the other hand, Ronald Reagan himself is flying high right now in Dixie. At last week’s Southern Governors’ Association meeting in Austin, Tex., Democratic Govs. Charles Robb (Va.), James B. Hunt (N.C.), and Robert Graham (Fla.) all felt Reagan was going strong, would probably win next year. . . . Analyst Kevin Phillips believes Reagan’s major gains with Southern whites will more than offset Jesse Jackson’s move to register 1.5 million new black voters in the South. A Darden research poll in Atlanta shows Reagan’s approval rating on handling of economic matters up to 54.6 per cent —from 33.4 six months earlier—with Southerners. In face-off with Walter Mondale it was Reagan 58 to Mondale 38; with John Glenn, Reagan 54, Glenn 41.

Other candidacies. Charles Smith of Glenn’s campaign staff is delighted at what Washington has started calling “the [Jesse] Jackson syndrome”: Will or won’t Jackson get into the race? “Jack-son’s indecision has stalled the automatic black endorsement of Mondale,” says Smith. “It’s bought time and we’re appreciative of that.” . . . Congressman Charles Rangel (D., N.Y.), who is less than enthusiastic about Jackson’s candidacy, remarked at recent Black Caucus gala dinner that “no one is serious about a black candidate,” but also that “no one should be critical of Jackson with McGovern in the race. McGovern is a joke.” . . . Look who’s talking. Sen. Christopher Dodd (D., Conn.) has criticized McGovern for getting into the fray because it will hurt the party’s attempt “to appeal to a broader constituency.”.… That, complains New York’s feisty mayor, Ed Koch, is exactly what the Democratic presidential field isn’t doing. Koch told Washington Post’s David Broder: “Our presidential candidates are not extremists, but they’re walking down that McGovern path of pandering to the most extreme elements of every constituency on every issue.” . . . Of interest: Recent poll of black voters shows Walter Mondale leading Jesse Jackson by 41 to 29 per cent…. John Anderson is actively raising money for his third-party candidacy— hasn’t yet got a name for his party, apparently, but he himself, he says, has been “radicalized.”…. Anderson’s candidacy not unwelcome at White House, where private polls indicate he would take 8 to 12 per cent of the vote, mostly from whoever is the Democratic candidate… Barry Commoner’s Citizens Party is scrambling for a presidential candidate. Commoner has endorsed Jesse Jackson, and Ramsey Clark—another possible sacrificial lamb —is leaning that way.

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Good news, bad news: What about Republican prospects in the South? The party itself seems in bad shape for the only three gubernatorial races this year. It now looks as if the GOP may lose in Louisiana, where Democratic ex-Gov. Edwin Edwards leads Republican Gov. David Treen in the polls. in Kentucky, Democrat Martha Layne Collins is well ahead of opponent Jim Bunning, and in Mississippi it’s close, but Democratic populist Bill Allain leads GOPer Leon Bramlett. Bramlett could make it; the Democratic primary was hot, bitter, and divisive. . . . On the other hand, Ronald Reagan himself is flying high right now in Dixie. At last week’s Southern Governors’ Association meeting in Austin, Tex., Democratic Govs. Charles Robb (Va.), James B. Hunt (N.C.), and Robert Graham (Fla.) all felt Reagan was going strong, would probably win next year. . . . Analyst Kevin Phillips believes Reagan’s major gains with Southern whites will more than offset Jesse Jackson’s move to register 1.5 million new black voters in the South. A Darden research poll in Atlanta shows Reagan’s approval rating on handling of economic matters up to 54.6 per cent —from 33.4 six months earlier—with Southerners. In face-off with Walter Mondale it was Reagan 58 to Mondale 38; with John Glenn, Reagan 54, Glenn 41.

Other candidacies. Charles Smith of Glenn’s campaign staff is delighted at what Washington has started calling “the [Jesse] Jackson syndrome”: Will or won’t Jackson get into the race? “Jack-son’s indecision has stalled the automatic black endorsement of Mondale,” says Smith. “It’s bought time and we’re appreciative of that.” . . . Congressman Charles Rangel (D., N.Y.), who is less than enthusiastic about Jackson’s candidacy, remarked at recent Black Caucus gala dinner that “no one is serious about a black candidate,” but also that “no one should be critical of Jackson with McGovern in the race. McGovern is a joke.” . . . Look who’s talking. Sen. Christopher Dodd (D., Conn.) has criticized McGovern for getting into the fray because it will hurt the party’s attempt “to appeal to a broader constituency.”.… That, complains New York’s feisty mayor, Ed Koch, is exactly what the Democratic presidential field isn’t doing. Koch told Washington Post’s David Broder: “Our presidential candidates are not extremists, but they’re walking down that McGovern path of pandering to the most extreme elements of every constituency on every issue.” . . . Of interest: Recent poll of black voters shows Walter Mondale leading Jesse Jackson by 41 to 29 per cent…. John Anderson is actively raising money for his third-party candidacy— hasn’t yet got a name for his party, apparently, but he himself, he says, has been “radicalized.”…. Anderson’s candidacy not unwelcome at White House, where private polls indicate he would take 8 to 12 per cent of the vote, mostly from whoever is the Democratic candidate… Barry Commoner’s Citizens Party is scrambling for a presidential candidate. Commoner has endorsed Jesse Jackson, and Ramsey Clark—another possible sacrificial lamb —is leaning that way.