For the Record

■ Nomination finally his, Carter’s top priority from now until November 4 is to make Reagan the issue. By concentrating on the “dangerous” Reagan, Carter strategists hope to distract attention from Carter record, which they concede (anonymously) is dismal. “We’ve come from ‘Why not the best?’ to ‘At least he’s not the worst,’ ” a Carter aide told Wall Street Journal. . . . Reaganites preparing for the onslaught. Carter “can’t campaign on his record,” Reagan campaign manager Bill Casey says, “so he probably has to resort to a campaign of personal abuse.” . . . “The Carter campaign is as mean-spirited as any you’ll see in American politics,” wrote political columnist Richard Reeves after the New York Convention. “Where the meanness comes from is obvious to anyone who watched Carter’s rise to the Presidency and the attempts to keep the office—it comes from the top, from Jimmy Carter.” . . . Mr. ADA, Joseph L. Rauh Jr., went to the Democratic Convention a Kennedy loyalist and left it a John Anderson loyalist. But Rauh explained, “I don’t feel I’m leaving the Democratic Party. Carter has rejected Democratic principles, so with John Anderson I’ll have the candidate closest to those principles.” . . . Anderson has good shot at securing endorsement of New York’s Liberal Party. Carter aides admit he must take New York to win in November, and they don’t believe he can do it if Anderson gets Liberal backing. . . . The “very, very prominent American” Anderson promised to name as chairman of his campaign? Mary Crisp, ousted in July from her post as co-chairman of GOP. Anderson: “This is the first time in American political history that a woman will be chairperson of a presidential campaign.”

■ Democratic Convention, as expected, gave Carter big boost in polls. On the eve of the Convention, Reagan had 14-point lead over Carter in the Gallup poll, 45 to 31 (Anderson, 14 per cent). But Gallup taken immediately after Convention had the two running neck and neck, 39 for Reagan, 38 for Carter (Anderson stayed at 14). . . . The GOP does well when people are asked which party can best handle most important problem facing nation: 56 per cent cited high cost of living as major problem, 30 per cent said GOP could best handle it, 27 per cent the Democrats. The question is considered key barometer of voter mood. Not since 1972—year of Nixon landslide—have the Republicans topped the Democrats. . . . Democrats around the country running scared, and the top of the ticket isn’t helping. Russell Hemenway, head of ultra-liberal National Committee for an Effective Congress, says, “It’s one of the wickedest years for Democrats I’ve ever seen.” He predicts 25 Democratic losses in the House and four or five “sure losers” in the Senate. Indiana’s Birch Bayh, Idaho’s Frank Church, Iowa’s John Culver, South Dakota’s George McGovern facing uphill fight. . . . In McGovern’s case it may come down to whether Georgia’s Herman Talmadge survives runoff vote for Democratic nomination. If Talmadge wins, he’ll retain his seat as chairman of Senate Agriculture Committee. If he loses, seat will go to McGovern (unless, of course, GOP gains control of the Senate), a point McGovern is driving home to South Dakota farmers. . . . McGovern has also got a promise from Carter to re-assess the grain embargo imposed on Soviet Union for its invasion of Afghanistan.

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■ Nomination finally his, Carter’s top priority from now until November 4 is to make Reagan the issue. By concentrating on the “dangerous” Reagan, Carter strategists hope to distract attention from Carter record, which they concede (anonymously) is dismal. “We’ve come from ‘Why not the best?’ to ‘At least he’s not the worst,’ ” a Carter aide told Wall Street Journal. . . . Reaganites preparing for the onslaught. Carter “can’t campaign on his record,” Reagan campaign manager Bill Casey says, “so he probably has to resort to a campaign of personal abuse.” . . . “The Carter campaign is as mean-spirited as any you’ll see in American politics,” wrote political columnist Richard Reeves after the New York Convention. “Where the meanness comes from is obvious to anyone who watched Carter’s rise to the Presidency and the attempts to keep the office—it comes from the top, from Jimmy Carter.” . . . Mr. ADA, Joseph L. Rauh Jr., went to the Democratic Convention a Kennedy loyalist and left it a John Anderson loyalist. But Rauh explained, “I don’t feel I’m leaving the Democratic Party. Carter has rejected Democratic principles, so with John Anderson I’ll have the candidate closest to those principles.” . . . Anderson has good shot at securing endorsement of New York’s Liberal Party. Carter aides admit he must take New York to win in November, and they don’t believe he can do it if Anderson gets Liberal backing. . . . The “very, very prominent American” Anderson promised to name as chairman of his campaign? Mary Crisp, ousted in July from her post as co-chairman of GOP. Anderson: “This is the first time in American political history that a woman will be chairperson of a presidential campaign.”

■ Democratic Convention, as expected, gave Carter big boost in polls. On the eve of the Convention, Reagan had 14-point lead over Carter in the Gallup poll, 45 to 31 (Anderson, 14 per cent). But Gallup taken immediately after Convention had the two running neck and neck, 39 for Reagan, 38 for Carter (Anderson stayed at 14). . . . The GOP does well when people are asked which party can best handle most important problem facing nation: 56 per cent cited high cost of living as major problem, 30 per cent said GOP could best handle it, 27 per cent the Democrats. The question is considered key barometer of voter mood. Not since 1972—year of Nixon landslide—have the Republicans topped the Democrats. . . . Democrats around the country running scared, and the top of the ticket isn’t helping. Russell Hemenway, head of ultra-liberal National Committee for an Effective Congress, says, “It’s one of the wickedest years for Democrats I’ve ever seen.” He predicts 25 Democratic losses in the House and four or five “sure losers” in the Senate. Indiana’s Birch Bayh, Idaho’s Frank Church, Iowa’s John Culver, South Dakota’s George McGovern facing uphill fight. . . . In McGovern’s case it may come down to whether Georgia’s Herman Talmadge survives runoff vote for Democratic nomination. If Talmadge wins, he’ll retain his seat as chairman of Senate Agriculture Committee. If he loses, seat will go to McGovern (unless, of course, GOP gains control of the Senate), a point McGovern is driving home to South Dakota farmers. . . . McGovern has also got a promise from Carter to re-assess the grain embargo imposed on Soviet Union for its invasion of Afghanistan.