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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (July 25, 1979)
V Viewpoint The Battalion # Texas A&M University Wednesday July 25, 1979 Carter’s speech reminiscent of his pollster’s 1975 oration By DAVID BRODER WASHINGTON — As we near the end of Week Three of Jimmy Carter s self- created drama of his struggling-to-be- born-again presidency, it more and more comes to resemble the daring but ulti mately unsuccessful tactic used by a prom inent Republican three summers ago. Camp David and its aftermath is prov ing to be for Jimmy Carter what “the Schweiker ploy” was for Ronald Reagan. Reduced to its political essence, it is a bold — almost desperate — bid to buy time in a rapidly eroding situation. Recall the circumstances in the summer of 1976. Reagan had been battling Gerald Ford for months, but was falling further and further behind in the convention vote count, as the White House applied the squeeze to wavering delegates. Unless something happened, Reagan was going to be counted out. At that desperate juncture (on the very day, in fact, when the CBS vote count would have put Ford over the top for the first time), John Sears, Reagan’s manager, pulled Sen. Richard S. Schweiker of Pennsylvannia, a moderate Republican with labor backing, out of his hat as Reagan’s running mate. The tactic threw enough dust in spectators’ and players’ eyes that Reagan was able to keep his flic kering chances alive right into the Kansas City convention hall, where they finally died. In Carter’s case, the crisis was provoked by polls which showed him falling further and further behind Sen. Edward M. Ken nedy as the choice of Democratic voters for the 1980 nomination and even for the first time losing trial heats to possible Re publican nominees like Reagan. Home from two unexciting summits, surveying his deteriorating domestic pros pects, Carter recognized that one more unsuccessful energy speech might just nail shut his political coffin. So he tried his ver sion of the “Schweiker ploy,” staged the Camp David “domestic summit,” came back with a pair of strong speeches, and then shook up his Cabinet and White House staff by getting mass resignations. The outcome of this maneuver is un known. But Carter, like Reagan before him, has confused some people, and dis concerted others who thought they knew his character and now find him suddenly altered. As a result of throwing dust in people’s eyes, he had bought time to ma neuver and fight for survival. I have commented previously in this space on the personal courage it took for Carter to recognize that his presidency was teetering toward failure and to act to rescue it. What probably needs to be un derlined, by way of balance, is the essen tially political character of Carter’s tactic. That is demonstrated by the fact that, in seeking to shift public concern from the old-hat energy issue to a broader “national malaise,” Carter was quite literally read ing from the script of his personal pollster, Patrick Caddell. I was going through some files two nights after the Carter speech and came across an address Caddell had given in November 1975, at a Democratic issues conference in Louisville, Ky. Some strangely familiar themes and phrases leaped out at me. Caddell in 1975 declared that America faced “a crisis of confidence in the political process and the future of the nation.” Car ter in 1979 said “a crisis of confidence ... is threatening to destroy the social and polit ical fabric of America. ” Caddell in 1975 said, “We are reaping the harvest of more than a decade of na tional psychological trauma.” Carter in 1979 said, “These changes did not happen overnight. They came upon us gradually, over the last generation.” Caddell in 1975 said, “Americans always believed that this country was ruled by the ballot, not the bullet ... Then came Dallas and all the horror which has followed.” Carter in 1979 said, “We were sure ours was a nation of the ballot, not the bullet — until the murders of John and Robert Kennedy and Martin Luther King, Jr.” There were similar parallelisms, in structure and phrasing, in subsequent paragraphs in both speeches dealing with Vietnam, Watergate, inflation, the economy and — yes — the energy crisis. Both Caddell and Rich Hertzberg, Car ter’s speechwriter, told me that Caddell’s Louisville address of 1975 had not been consulted in the preparation of Carter’s 1979 speech. But it is no accident that in laying the stress where he did, Carter was returning to the themes which led Cad dell, in 1975, to decide that the then long-shot ex-governor of Georgia had the best chance of any candidate to win the presidency in a shell-shocked nation. Both Carter’s admiration for Caddell and Carter’s ability to absorb and inter nalize the polling data Caddell feeds him are well-known. In this crucial case, they seem to have achieved a complete synthe sis of viewpoints and language. The introspection on the mountaintop and consultation with more than 100 lead ers brought Carter to the exact under standing of the American dilemma which his pollster had reached almost four years before. By scrambling back to that political hard-rock, Carter has gained some time for further tactical maneuver. Whether he has gained any more than time remains to be seen. (c) 1979, The Washington Post Com pany the small society by Brickman <3 013^ tm era c=3 a t=n £23 C^ 3 223 C23 C22i C23 o 3^ 3 © Cpj^CpXLef/ ?j \o gj [HI n WHAT &BTT TH£ Fm_!^THAT ^ /^THlN^ |2£AL Washington Star Syndicate. Inc. 7-2S- Screens only thing between you and the ultimate ‘buzz’ Headline hopping I WISH I’D SAID THAT, DEPT. — John Lofton, Jr., editor of the American Conservative Union’s monthly magazine “Battle Line,” has been quoted recently in two other publications. Both of those quotes were Lofton’s comments on government workers and their real cost to taxpayers. Mr. Lofton, not known for mincing his words, has some rather acerbic advice for our nations leaders with regard to the hun dreds of thousands of bureaucrats occupying our nation’s capital. First, as reported in The Wall Street Journal, Lofton offers his own version of the odd-even system, so popular now in many states ex periencing gasoline shortages. Says Lofton: “Starting right away, if not sooner, all Energy Department employees whose last names begin with letters A through Z should stay home on odd numbered days of the month; these same employees should also stay home on even numbered days.” Not to be outdone by the Journal, the editors of “Epic,” the bi monthly publication of the Fiscal Policy Council, Inc., carried Lof ton’s response to Sen. James Sasser’s (D-Tenn.) proposal that would reduce by $500 million the amount allocated to the Executive Branch for travel in fiscal 1980. But that is the wrong approach. Said Lofton: “The danger posed to the Republic is not from federal employees who are in the air traveling, but from federal employees on the ground ... The real danger to the American taxpayer is not from a GS-16 guideline writer at HEW who is airborne somewhere over Kansas. The danger is when that GS-16 is in his office beavering away. From a cost-effective standpoint, the most harmless bureaucrat imaginable is one who is away from Washington.” It’s a shame in these energy-conscious times that students living in older apart ment complexes are not able to turn off their air-conditioning to conserve electric ity. The lack of window screens makes apartments paradise for flies and grasshoppers. Under the existing College Station building code, every dwelling unit has to have screens. However, some apartment managers have said they don’t want to spend the extra money to purchase and install them. A public hearing was held two weeks ago. The managers were there, but student representatives were not. Based on the managers’ side of the issue, the city council is considering an amend ment to the building code which would allow managers to charge students desir ing screens a deposit to insure their safe return. Mayor Lorence Bravenec compares the deposit to having to pay for indoor plumb ing. “The council could be convinced that students want to live in screened apart ments and probably wouldn’t amend the ordinance as planned,” he said. The screens should be standard as the existing code suggests. Most students can not afford to pay an added $20 for window screens when they are already faced with their regular apartment and phone depos its. The council is not planning to take ac tion on the proposed amendment until their first August meeting. Bravenec suggests that students desiring screens make their wishes known to the council before then. Only student input can make the coun cil change its mind. Consider the savings in your electricity bills if you were able to turn off your air-conditioning for a few hours or days without being annoyed by bees, flies or other insects that would otherwise invade your domain. —K.L.R. Letters to the Editor Beware one-way streets Editor: Mosher Lane has been changed from a two-way street to a one-way street running west from Bizzell Street. I was one of the unfortunate numbers who didn’t know about this change and received a ticket for traveling in the wrong direction on that I 50LVLP THE ID PRODLfM IN THE CAFETERIA street. As I await my appearance before the Appeals Board, I often wonder why the University Police neglected to inform the students, faculty, and staff of this change. I checked with Keith Taylor, Bat talion campus editor, and he checked with the University News Service. Both in quiries yielded the same result: the Uni versity Police Department did not release any statement regarding the change on Mosher Lane. Now I would not complain about the matter had it been made public knowl edge, but the fact is that the information was withheld from the general public. It is true that there is a one-way sign at the corner of Mosher and Bizzell. There is also a “Do Not Enter” sign at the other end of Mosher Lane but it is not highly visible because of the parking situation on weekends. Couldn’t the University Police Department have informed the students about the change when the parking per mits were issued? This would have been the best time to let the students know about it. But I suppose that it was in the best interest of his department that Capt. Mattux did not release any information about the change. As for me, my fate rests on the decision of the Appeals Board. —Cornelius Guillory, ’79 Readers’ Forum Guest viewpoints, in addition to Letters to the Editor, are welcome. All pieces submitted to Readers’ forum should be: • Typed triple space • Limited to 60 characters line • Limited to 100 lines per Top of the News NATION Oklahoma girl bitten by rabid skm in A 7-year-old Oklahoma City girl has become the latest victim of a rabies epidemic that state officials say is the worst in at least 25 years. Donna Martel Boone was bitten on the back of her right hand last week while she attempted to pet a skunk in her grandparents’ Pilot Point, Texas, yard. The girl’s father beat the animal to death with a garden hoe after it bit the girl and then charged towards him. Officials determined Monday the animal was rabid. Both the girl and her mother told hospital offiials the animal was “acting weird” and foam ing at the mouth before the child was bitten. Dr. Gary Williamson of John Peter Smith Hospital in Fort Worth said the child had shown no signs of having contracted the disease. A determination as to whether the girl has rabies will not be possible until she completes a painful, 21-shot series of anti-rabies injections, Williamson said. Robber shoots self, dies instantly A young robber in Long Beach, Calif., pointed a gun at his victim and pulled the trigger, but nothing happened. The gunman then looked down the barrel, pulled the trigger again, and the bullet discharged. John W. Elliott, 20, a Canadian from Ontario province, died instantly with a bullet hole through his left eye. Police said Elliott walked up to William Bullard, 45, on a darkened street Sun day before dawn. The gunman struck Bullard twice with a 38-caliber revolver and Bullard fell to the ground before Elloit shot himself. CORFU' creeping n< Tuesday th Dr. Jerr) (ration told informatior might wash miles from Louise C (ration says cutter and computer £ and speed The nev\ assembled grounds an long, 25-m “The prc nothing go< real warn in Carroll c ec United Pi DENVER - ’shore oil an xas topped t Florida man seeks stay of execution^m, nearly record hig With less than 48 hours to live, condemned Florida murderer Howard Virgil Lee Douglas is seeking a stay of execution from the federal courts. Douglas’ attorneys, their appeals exhausted in the state courts, went before U.S. District Judge Ben Krentzman Monday to ask him to stay the electrocution, scheduled for 7 a.m. Thursday, while they challenge the constitutionality of his murder conviction. Douglas, 43, was convicted in 1973 of shooting to death Jessie Atkins in Pok County. The jury recommended life imprison ment instead of the death sentence. But Circuit Judge William K. Love ignored the recommendation and handed down the death sen tence, which Douglas’ attorneys claim amounts to double jeopardy. S. Geologic^ The increase ercent increa: n the Outer CS) and a d< ficials at the Denver said Gas produc arly 93 perce Eight plead ‘innocent’ to vote buying Rep. Claude "Buddy” Leach, D-a., and seven co-defendants pleaded innocent in Lake Charles, La., Tuesday to charges they conspired to buy votes in last year’s congressional election. Leach stood before a microphone in federal district court and slowly replied “not guilty” to each of the 30 counts read by U.S. Magistrate Joseph Tritico. The arraignment of all eight defendants lasted one hour and was followed immediatey by closed pretrial hearings before U.S. District Judge Earl Veron. Carter gives ‘survivors’ pep talk President Carter has completed his Cabinet shake-up, but soon will announce some White House staff changes “to broaden and di versify his in-house advisers beyond his tight Georgia circle. The president, in his shirt sleeves, gave some 300 employees Monday a pep talk in the aftermath of the stunning blows that found the Camp David “Domestic Summit.” Powell relayed word to reporters of Car ter’s remarks, which included a question and answer session, and reported the president said “they shouldn’t be fearful of the process” and that anyone who met the standards of competency, hard work and loyalty had nothing to worry about.” Powell also announced Car ter would hold a nationally televised and broadcast news conference Wednesday night. Pollster: pessimism began in 60 s President Carter’s pollster sion of confidence in America and now has reached serious simism about their own lives dramatically. Caddell said the alluded in his address Sunday ment’s ability to soften. Patrick Caddell said Tuesday the ero- began during Vietnam and Watergate proportions. He said Americans pes- and the nation’s future has increased personal pessimism — to which Carter — may be something beyond govern- ue un United Pr HOUSTON ins running r tes service ist one grade B limiting pi p Automob tlrted Tuesda) |xas stations. JBut the AA Ing interstat pis and rura lei supplies £ ke few probl jpt at night ir This week’s itywas in sli at fewer sta ’ht and mo pe limiting j Station oper based their i by were ope y or were r< [turday and S Still, 23 pei bre open afte d 39 percer m. Saturda aristi and L cted increasi Prices agaii larly 2 cents ek. Curren HATE LA (J Let Frani Aunt Lau ifleman at Andersc F.Lee Bailey to testify in libel suit Retired Philadelphia lawyer Morris Passon filed a $3 million libel suit in Norristown, Pa. against F. Lee Bailey, saying Bailey accused him of the 1958 murder of his wealthy brother-in-law Max Kravitz in published newspaper and magazines reports. Kravitz’ wife, Ethel, was convicted of the slaying and sentenced to 20 years in prison. She had Bailey file an appeal when she was paroled after eight years. Passon charged Bailey leaked information to the press in 1967 “to create a climate of suspicion as to the guilt of Morris Passon to make it appear that his client Ethel Kravitz was innocent.” Bailey’s attorney indicated he will call his famous client to the stand Monday to testify in his own defense. The Battalion USPS 045 360 LETTERS POLICY Letters to the editor should not exceed 300 words and are subject to being cut to that length or less if longer. The editorial staff reserves the right to edit such letters and does not guarantee to publish any letter. Each letter must be signed, show the address of the writer and list a telephone number for verification. Address correspondence to Letters to the Editor, The Battalion, Room 216, Reed McDonald Building, College Station, Texas 77843. Represented nationally by National Educational Adver tising Services, Inc., New York City, Chicago and Los Angeles. Hie Battalion is published Monday through Friday from September through May except during exam and holiday periods and the summer, when it is published on Tuesday through Thursday. Mail subscriptions are $16.75 per semester; $33.25 per school year; $35.00 per full year. Advertising rates furnished on request. Address: The Battalion, Room 216, Reed McDonald Building, College Station, Texas 77843. United Press International is entitled exclusively t(f use for reproduction of all news dispatches credited to! Rights of reproduction of all other matter herein rese Second-Class postage paid at College Station, TX ’ MEMBER Texas Press Association Southwest Journalism Congress Editor Karen! News Editor Debbie Pai Sports Editor Seanl City Editor Roy Bn Campus Editor Keith Ta) Staff Writers Robin Thomp Louie Arthur, Carolyn Blosser, Boggan Photo Editor Clay Cocb Photographer Lynnf Cartoonist GregSprc wm taas Opinions expressed in The Battalion are those of the editor or of the writer of the article and are not necessarily those of the , University administration or the Board of Regents. The Battalion is a non-profit, supporting enterprise operated by student 1 as a university and community newspoptf Editorial policy is determined by the editif 'M a