For the Record

The big political news of the fortnight was Sen. Sam Nunn’s withdrawal from presidential race. Whom did it benefit? Albert Gore? Jesse Jackson? Jack Kemp? The GOP? All, to some extent. . . . Look for Gore, the only Southerner in the race, to move gently right to try to pick up Nunn’s constituency. But will he be convincing? Christian Science Monitor analysis points to his close ties with labor, his prep-school-cum-Harvard background. Says political analyst Richard Scammon: “He has his feet in Tennessee and his heart in Berkeley.” Says analyst Stephen Hess: “Gore is not an unalloyed Southerner.” . . . When Monitor asked Barry Goldwater: “Do any Democrats look strong in ’88?” Goldwater replied: “Yes, but they are not running,” referring to Nunn and former Virginia Gov. Charles Robb. . . . Nunn’s pullout, says Cliff Lorick, executive director of Georgia’s Republican Party, “drives home to Georgia Democrats that there is no room in the national Democratic Party for a conservative who calls himself a Democrat. They don’t have a seat at the table.” . . . Alabama Secretary of State Glenn Browder predicts low turnout of Democrats in his state on Super Tuesday, which he says “will work to the advantage of Jesse Jackson and the Republican Party.” … It could also help Jack Kemp, who hopes to benefit from crossover vote of Southern Democrats who believe “in those values and principles of a strong defense and peace through strength.” . . . Patrick Buchanan feels Paul Laxalt’s skedaddle will help Kemp in that it narrows the number of conservatives in the race. . . . Another major boost for Kemp was last week’s endorsement by Sen. Gordon Humphrey of New Hampshire.

Is there a dime’s worth of difference between the parties, as George Wallace used to ask? You bet. Last week’s ACU congressional ratings show Robert Dole at 91 per cent, minimally more conservative than Jack Kemp (89), while Paul Simon and A1 Gore are most conservative of Democrats, weighing in at 9 per cent, with Joseph Biden at 5, and Richard Gephardt, zero. . . . No Democrat is catching fire. The NEA, like the AFLCIO, couldn’t come up with endorsement even after each of the seven Democratic contenders was interviewed by NEA president Mary Hatwood Futrell. They also filled out questionnaires. NEA official Ken Melley says endorsement will probably come after Super Tuesday (March 8) when the field will have been winnowed. . . . Incidentally, Gephardt last week pointed out that if he falters on March 8 he will still have time to file for re-election to Congress. . . . Ex-Speaker Tip O’Neill has spoken: Simon, he says, is “the only liberal in the race.” . . . Rosalynn Carter says Jimmy is “the only man qualified to lead the Western World.” Only problem: Jimmy isn’t interested.

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Presidential Election

The big political news of the fortnight was Sen. Sam Nunn’s withdrawal from presidential race. Whom did it benefit? Albert Gore? Jesse Jackson? Jack Kemp? The GOP? All, to some extent. . . . Look for Gore, the only Southerner in the race, to move gently right to try to pick up Nunn’s constituency. But will he be convincing? Christian Science Monitor analysis points to his close ties with labor, his prep-school-cum-Harvard background. Says political analyst Richard Scammon: “He has his feet in Tennessee and his heart in Berkeley.” Says analyst Stephen Hess: “Gore is not an unalloyed Southerner.” . . . When Monitor asked Barry Goldwater: “Do any Democrats look strong in ’88?” Goldwater replied: “Yes, but they are not running,” referring to Nunn and former Virginia Gov. Charles Robb. . . . Nunn’s pullout, says Cliff Lorick, executive director of Georgia’s Republican Party, “drives home to Georgia Democrats that there is no room in the national Democratic Party for a conservative who calls himself a Democrat. They don’t have a seat at the table.” . . . Alabama Secretary of State Glenn Browder predicts low turnout of Democrats in his state on Super Tuesday, which he says “will work to the advantage of Jesse Jackson and the Republican Party.” … It could also help Jack Kemp, who hopes to benefit from crossover vote of Southern Democrats who believe “in those values and principles of a strong defense and peace through strength.” . . . Patrick Buchanan feels Paul Laxalt’s skedaddle will help Kemp in that it narrows the number of conservatives in the race. . . . Another major boost for Kemp was last week’s endorsement by Sen. Gordon Humphrey of New Hampshire.

Is there a dime’s worth of difference between the parties, as George Wallace used to ask? You bet. Last week’s ACU congressional ratings show Robert Dole at 91 per cent, minimally more conservative than Jack Kemp (89), while Paul Simon and A1 Gore are most conservative of Democrats, weighing in at 9 per cent, with Joseph Biden at 5, and Richard Gephardt, zero. . . . No Democrat is catching fire. The NEA, like the AFLCIO, couldn’t come up with endorsement even after each of the seven Democratic contenders was interviewed by NEA president Mary Hatwood Futrell. They also filled out questionnaires. NEA official Ken Melley says endorsement will probably come after Super Tuesday (March 8) when the field will have been winnowed. . . . Incidentally, Gephardt last week pointed out that if he falters on March 8 he will still have time to file for re-election to Congress. . . . Ex-Speaker Tip O’Neill has spoken: Simon, he says, is “the only liberal in the race.” . . . Rosalynn Carter says Jimmy is “the only man qualified to lead the Western World.” Only problem: Jimmy isn’t interested.