For the Record

What a drumbeat there’s been in the national press about the newly discovered political power of the newly discovered evangelicals, who are said to number some 40 to 50 million. Could they put Ronald Reagan over the top? No, but they might do it to Jimmy Carter says Dr. Gallup—whose latest poll shows that among evangelicals registered to vote Carter leads Reagan 52 to 31 (Anderson gets 6 per cent). . . . Leading polls taken weekend of Sept. 12 all show Reagan and Carter just about even, given a point or two. But who’s got the Big Nine states? According to political analyst Kevin Phillips, Reagan is ahead in New Jersey, Texas, and California; Carter in Massachusetts. He says New York, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Michigan and Illinois are too close to call. … In some of these, Anderson could make the difference: In 1976 Carter carried New York by 52.2 per cent, Pennsylvania by 51.3, Ohio by 50.1, Texas by 51.5 per cent. . . . Jimmy Carter picked up one important vote last week, Mayor Jane Byrne of Chicago, but her price was high—over $100 million in federal grants to the Windy City in the last fortnight. . . . Reagan picked one up too, former Black Panther Eldridge Cleaver who voted for Carter in ’76. Cleaver says Carter has “betrayed the black people.”. . . The irrepressible Mr. Reagan can’t seem to stop ad-libbing. When his speechwriters gave him a couple of pretty good lines: “A recession is when a neighbor loses his job, a depression is when you lose your job,” he added, “and recovery is when President Carter loses his job.”

Problems left and right. Socialist William Winpisinger, president of the Machinists Union (which is nearly one million strong) has refused to endorse any presidential candidate this year; he urges his members to work in congressional races. . . . Denis Glavin of the unaffiliated Electrical Workers union is also withholding endorsement, and John Henning, head of the California AFL-CIO, talking to the Electrical workers convention in Cincinnati, suggests that labor start a party of its own. . . . Left-wing Rep. John Conyers (D., Mich.), of the congressional Black Caucus, says the time has come to examine “whether the Democratic Party is worth saving or is it time to move to a third political party.”. . . There is talk of a union between the Machinists and the unaffiliated United Auto Workers to form the backbone for a new labor party. . . . On the right, Reagan’s having his problems with the usual Republican liberal mavericks. Sen. Charles Mathias (R., Md.) doesn’t know whom he’ll vote for in November; he’s hoping Anderson will be on the ballot in Maryland; Rep. Pete McCloskey (R., Calif.) was “on the verge” of coming out for Reagan when he heard the reference to Vietnam as a noble cause “and it made me sick.” . . . According to Kevin Phillips, Sen. Lowel, Weicker of Connecticut is considering a bolt from the party. Weicker has, grudgingly, endorsed Reagan, but not Bush, or James Buckley.

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Presidential Election

What a drumbeat there’s been in the national press about the newly discovered political power of the newly discovered evangelicals, who are said to number some 40 to 50 million. Could they put Ronald Reagan over the top? No, but they might do it to Jimmy Carter says Dr. Gallup—whose latest poll shows that among evangelicals registered to vote Carter leads Reagan 52 to 31 (Anderson gets 6 per cent). . . . Leading polls taken weekend of Sept. 12 all show Reagan and Carter just about even, given a point or two. But who’s got the Big Nine states? According to political analyst Kevin Phillips, Reagan is ahead in New Jersey, Texas, and California; Carter in Massachusetts. He says New York, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Michigan and Illinois are too close to call. … In some of these, Anderson could make the difference: In 1976 Carter carried New York by 52.2 per cent, Pennsylvania by 51.3, Ohio by 50.1, Texas by 51.5 per cent. . . . Jimmy Carter picked up one important vote last week, Mayor Jane Byrne of Chicago, but her price was high—over $100 million in federal grants to the Windy City in the last fortnight. . . . Reagan picked one up too, former Black Panther Eldridge Cleaver who voted for Carter in ’76. Cleaver says Carter has “betrayed the black people.”. . . The irrepressible Mr. Reagan can’t seem to stop ad-libbing. When his speechwriters gave him a couple of pretty good lines: “A recession is when a neighbor loses his job, a depression is when you lose your job,” he added, “and recovery is when President Carter loses his job.”

Problems left and right. Socialist William Winpisinger, president of the Machinists Union (which is nearly one million strong) has refused to endorse any presidential candidate this year; he urges his members to work in congressional races. . . . Denis Glavin of the unaffiliated Electrical Workers union is also withholding endorsement, and John Henning, head of the California AFL-CIO, talking to the Electrical workers convention in Cincinnati, suggests that labor start a party of its own. . . . Left-wing Rep. John Conyers (D., Mich.), of the congressional Black Caucus, says the time has come to examine “whether the Democratic Party is worth saving or is it time to move to a third political party.”. . . There is talk of a union between the Machinists and the unaffiliated United Auto Workers to form the backbone for a new labor party. . . . On the right, Reagan’s having his problems with the usual Republican liberal mavericks. Sen. Charles Mathias (R., Md.) doesn’t know whom he’ll vote for in November; he’s hoping Anderson will be on the ballot in Maryland; Rep. Pete McCloskey (R., Calif.) was “on the verge” of coming out for Reagan when he heard the reference to Vietnam as a noble cause “and it made me sick.” . . . According to Kevin Phillips, Sen. Lowel, Weicker of Connecticut is considering a bolt from the party. Weicker has, grudgingly, endorsed Reagan, but not Bush, or James Buckley.