Page 2
THE BATTALION
THURSDAY, APR. 29, 1976
David S. Broder
Humphrey entry into Democratic presidential
race legitimate and desirable if Carter falters
PHILADELPHIA — Even be
fore the Pennsylvania primary re
turns were in, Jimmy Carter and
Hubert Humphrey were beginning
to debate their claim to the Democ
ratic presidential nomination. The
focus was not on their qualifications
to lead their party or the country but
the tactics they have employed in
respect to the nomination.
Carter suggested repeatedly dur
ing the past week that if Humphrey
were nominated “without going
through the primary process, at a
brokered convention, it would sad
dle the Democratic Party with a se
vere political handicap.”
Humphrey replied that “if Carter
or anyone else gets nominated, there
will have to be some brokering. I’ve
never been at a convention where
somebody didn’t ask somebody for a
vote. Delegates are sent to the con
vention to make a choice. That’s
what it’s all about.”
The debate about the “brokered
convention” is an important political
question, and before it gets obscured
in the emotions of a Carter-
Humphrey contest, it might be well
to examine it on its merits.
The basic work of a political con
vention is to assemble from the di
verse elements of our loose party
structure a majority coalition capa
ble of winning the election and gov
erning the country. In that very
broad sense of the term, Humphrey
is right when he says that “broker
ing” is the very essence of the nomi
nation process. Historically, the
votes that decided the nomination
were cajoled from delegates in the
weeks, the hours or the frantic last
minutes before the roll-call ended in
convention hall.
That is how Humphrey won in
1968 without entering the primaries.
But it is also how John Kennedy won
in 1960 and George McGovern in
1972 — after beating their major ri
vals in the primaries.
There is nothing inherently im
proper about this process — particu
larly when the selection system for
naming delegates has been made as
open and accessible to rank-and-file
Democrats as it has this year.
As Humphrey has recognized, the
bargaining or brokering process will
almost inevitably yield Carter the
nomination — as it did Kennedy and
McGovern — if he emerges from the
final primaries on June 8 with a
commanding lead. That tipping
point is generally placed in the 1,000
to 1,200 vote level. Humphrey con
cedes it would be “very foolhardy” to
try to block a candidate that close to
the 1,505 votes needed for nomina
tion and says he will not be party to
such a stop-Carter effort.
Hamilton Jordan, Carter’s able
manager, thinks his candidate is well
within striking range of that goal.
But if Carter should fail to secure
more than 1,000 of the 3,008 dele
gates by the end of the primaries, is
it legitimate for someone like Hum
phrey, who has shunned the
primaries, to enter the race?
That, in turn, involves four other
judgments:
Did Humphrey have valid, unself
ish reasons for avoiding the
primaries? The answer is yes. He
had sought the presidency three
times previously — in 1960, 1968,
and 1972 — failing twice to be nomi
nated and once to be elected. He
recognized that the party might well
be better served by a new face, and
knew he could be legitimately
critized for imposing himself onto
what was initially a large field of fresh
candidates.
Was there also an element of self
ish calculation in that decision? Of
course there was. Scarred by the
previous battles, Humphrey frankly
wanted no more of the ordeal of the
primaries — the endless hours of
campaigning, the scrounging for
money. He also calculated that a
stalemate was likely and his chances
of winning second-round convention
support would be improved if he in
curred no personal enmities from
the active contestants.
But all nomination strategies are
calculated. Carter did not make 35
trips to Florida or visit 110 Iowa
towns by chance. That, too, was a
calculated decision — no better or
no worse than Humphrey’s
stratagem.
Is there an element of risk for the
Democrats in rejecting someone
who has taken his case to the people,
as Carter has? There is, indeed —
and a very serious one. Carter
clearly intrigues people. His appeal
is unique. And his themes have
struck a deep chord with some vot
ers. His rejection by the convention
would risk alienating not only the
South, which has understandable
pride in his candidacy, but
thousands of talented people his
campaign has attracted to the
Democratic Party in other sections
of the country.
But that is not the only risk. There
is also a risk in nominating a man
whose support is as thin, whose
views are as unexamined, whose
Readers’ forum
Czech
situation clarified
Editor:
I want to express my appreciation
for the way in which your reporter
quoted me (quite accurately) in the
first Battalion write-up concerning
the Czech program here at Texas
A&M University. While the second
story, written by members of the
Czech Club, is also essentially cor
rect, I would like to clarify a couple
of points. I did not say that we would
continue Czech if enough people
signed up for it. What I did say was
that if I received a petition with a
good many names attached, I would
forward it to Dr. W. David Maxwell,
Dean, College of Liberal Arts. This
offer was first made well over a year
ago. In the Fall of 1975, I met with
the Czech Club and expressed sur
prise at not having heard from their
members long ago; I also noted that
our budget and faculty recruiting
were usually settled during the fall
semester. Several weeks later I re
ceived a petition (undated).
At the convention of the Modern
Language Association meeting in
December 1975, I attempted to lo
cate someone for the possible open
ing. Only one person applied (who
would not have been desirable for
our program for a variety of reasons).
Other advertisements and corres
pondence yielded no positive re
sults.
I should like to call attention to the that continuing the program for such
following figures: in the Spring a small number of students could no
Semester of 1971, 10 students were longer be justified,
registered for Czech 128, 13 for Dr. Anne Marie Elmquist
Czech 388; in the Fall of 1971, 20 Modern Languages Dept. Head
were registered for Czech 127, 12 for
Czech 387; in the Spring of 1972, 13
in 127, 12 in 388; in the Fall of 1972,
15 in 127, 10 in 227 and 2 in 387; in
the Spring of 1973, 7 in 128, 8 in 388;
in the Fall of 1973, 15 in 127, 7 in
387; in the Spring of 1974, 11 in 128, k. CC 11 A •
6 in 388; in the Fall of 1974, 14 in -A-IIlcI.01.6
127, 9 in 227, and 4 in 387; in the
Spring of 1975, 11 in 128, and 6 in Editor:
3gg There has been a lot of criticism
lately about how Texas A&M
You will notice that Czech 227-228
has hardly ever had the required ten
students for the course to be taught
even though it was offered, thus exp
laining the number of those taking
Czech 387-388 which are variable
credit reading courses. Obviously,
even though Czech courses were of
fered for many years, the enrollment
was minimal. The above figures are
totals for all Czech courses during
the period indicated.
The decision to phase out Czech
was not made without a great deal of
soul searching. A committee of the
senior professors in the Modern
Languages Department and I de
cided on the weight of the evidence
changing. As a senior last year, I was
among the first to complain that few
people greeted each other anymore.
However, it was only after I re
turned to A&M after a few months’
absence that I could properly com
pare it to the ‘real world.’ Even if it
isn’t as friendly as it used to be, it is
still the friendliest place around. I
was reminded of this when, soon
after I arrived in College Station, my
car got stuck in the mud. Im
mediately four Aggies stopped indi
vidually to help me, and I was out in
no time; This is hardly typical of
most places. So, Aggies, appreciate
each other’s company . The rest of
the world isn’t quite so special.
Melissa Martin
Cbe Battalion
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Editor Jerry Needham
Managing Editor Richard Chamberlain
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Elect
BRADLEY SMITH ’68
JUDGE
COUNTY COURT-AT-LAW
* Best qualified by background, training and experience for the job.
if Dedicated to fair, reasonable and equal application of the Law.
Bradley Smith, a Texas A&M and U.T. Law School graduate, has the legal training plus proven
ability and integrity as a practicing lawyer and Assistant District Attorney for judge of this important
County Court-at-Law, so close to the people. His assistance to the TAMU Women’s Awareness
Committee in establishing a Rape Crisis service for rape victims is just one demonstration of his interest
in the people of Brazos County.
VOTE MAY 1 It is important that you help elect
BRADLEY SMITH
JUDGE, COUNTY COURT-AT-LAW
Political advertising paid for by Bradley Smith, Box 3387, Bryan. Texas.
links with major Democratic con
stituencies are as weak, and whose
record is as equivocal as Carter’s.
Humphrey’s strengths and weaknes
ses are well known; Carter’s are not,
and there is risk either way for the
Democrats.
Finally, can Humphrey serve a
useful purpose by contesting Carter,
even if the likelihood is great that
Carter will be the nominee?
In my judgment, this is the most
important question and the answer is
yes. A Humphrey-Carter debate on
the role and policies of the national
government would force the Geor
gian to define, far more precisely
than he has done so far, his purposes
as President.
And if Carter were forced into a
“brokering” process, he would have
to negotiate relationships with his
political peers — with governors,
members of Congress, party offi
cials, interest group leaders — that
he has shunned so far. Having those
relationships would make him a bet
ter candidate and a safer potential
custodian of presidential power than
he is today.
For those reasons, it seems to me
not only legitimate but desirable for
Humphrey to seek the nomination if
circumstances permit.
Dairti
Queen
Located on S. Texas
Ave. between
K-Mart and Gibsons
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