Dick Loves Ted

Richard Milhous Nixon loves Spiro Theodore Agnew, warts and all. But why? With all his vituperative attacks on the Viet Nam Moratorium. Agnew has violated the President's Inauguration Day dictum to speak softly. He has incurred a bad press and shortened some congressional tempers. Certainly. But those who have been most offended are in the main liberals, who are down on the Administration anyway. As Republican National Committee Chairman Rogers Morton said: "I think he's helping us more than hurting us."

Of course, Nixon knows that Agnew is not perfect. The President privately admitted that he thought Agnew had used "clumsy language" in some of his speeches. Nixon is described as "mildly upset" with the Vice President for his address on Oct. 19 in New Orleans, in which Agnew called the Moratorium supporters an "effete corps of impudent snobs." But it was a mild pique, and Nixon went out of his way last week to praise Agnew publicly. Assessing Agnew's performance in office when they both appeared at a Republican National Committee conference, Nixon declared: "He's done a great job."

No Muzzle. White House aides who had been deployed in the Midwest brought back glowing reports of the favorable reaction to Agnew's assaults on the peaceniks. Letters and telegrams flowed into the vice-presidential office at a ratio of 3 to 1 in favor of his statements. The Administration views Agnew as a valuable weapon in its continuing efforts to keep the South safe from George Wallace. Nixon's own speeches, of course, are muted in comparison with Agnew's, and if the contrast makes the President appear the cool-headed moderate--well, that's political imagery. Every Administration needs a large target to draw fire away from the boss.

The surest sign of the presidential imprimatur is the fact that the White House has put no muzzle on the Vice President. In fact, said an Agnew aide, "We have a constituency of one to please and we wouldn't be doing this unless we were told to do so by the man." The aide said Nixon ordered Agnew to continue the assault. Agnew spent three days last week honing an anti-Moratorium address for a Republican fund-raising dinner in Harrisburg, Pa. Delivered before a highly partisan audience, Agnew's speech was a smashing success. In 26 minutes he was interrupted 23 times by applause. In many respects, the presentation was a defense of his earlier tirades. "A little over a week ago," Agnew told the party faithful, "I took a rather unusual step for a Vice President. I said something." And again: "I have no regrets. I do not intend to repudiate my beliefs, recant my words, or run and hide."

Rotten Apples. On the contrary, Agnew flailed away again at the peace drive. While he drew a fine line between those who led the Moratorium and those who merely participated in it, he brutally castigated politicians who supported M-day. Said he: "They are ideological eunuchs whose most comfortable position is straddling the ideological fence." With this indiscriminate indictment. Agnew condemned many of the nation's leading political figures, including several in the Republican Party.

Equally unsettling was the Vice President's attack on the more militant dissident leaders. Describing them as "parasites of passion," "merchants of hate" and "vultures," Agnew said: "We can afford to separate them from our society with no more regret than we should feel over discarding rotten apples from a barrel." He did not specify how this purge would be accomplished.

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