The Sky Is Falling on Washington!

The Sky Is Falling on Washigton

So it may seem to Jimmy Carter as he plunges further in polls

Not until late this month, at the earliest, is the falling Skylab expected to shower the earth with red-hot debris. From the White House last week, it may have looked as if Skylab were arriving early. President Carter's public standing in the polls was still dropping, to an all-time low for him of 37% in the latest nationwide Gallup survey and to an almost unbelievable 11% in Mervin Field's California Poll. The gasoline lines that seemed to be lessening in California began appearing in New York. A new round of Middle East oil price increases heralded still worse days ahead, both in the gas lines and for the nation as a whole (see ECONOMY & BUSINESS).

Apparently without any new ideas for confronting the nation's economic troubles, Carter did his best to sound confident. At a press conference, his 50th since taking office, Carter declared that he had "no intent to back down" on the Administration legislation blocked in Congress. He added that he is undismayed by the stampede among Democrats to draft Ted Kennedy as their candidate for President in 1980: "No President can expect to have unanimous support." His "difficult" decisions on energy, inflation and foreign policy, Carter said, have cost him votes, "and if I should ever modify my positions away from what's best for the country in order to pick up support, then I would not deserve to be President."

Far from accepting any blame for the drift in Washington, Carter called on the public to complain to Congress. "The American people are beginning to feel that their own Government can't deal adequately with crucial issues, like inflation and like energy," said Carter, just as though he had little part in that Government. Until the public gets aroused, he added, "we're going to have difficulty in Washington getting action taken."

Two days later, Carter tried to patch up relations with the oil industry. He hastily assembled 15 executives in the Cabinet room for a session that a White House aide said would plot "how we can best manage the projected gasoline shortfall this summer." The President also wanted to know why prices were rising so fast. For two hours, the oilmen gave him their version of the crisis. The gasoline retailers blamed the oil producers for zooming prices at the pumps. Sniped Victor Rasheed, president of the Virginia Retail Dealers Association: "There has been some price gouging, perhaps, by the oil companies." The oil producers, in turn, blamed the problem on a shortage of crude, chiefly caused by cutbacks in pumping by the OPEC nations. Gulf Oil Corp. Chairman Jerry McAfee urged "that we avoid finger pointing and name calling that does nobody any good."

Carter reminded the executives that was decontrolling domestic oil prices n phases, beginning last Friday, and expected that they would pump more crude Tom their U.S. wells in return. Everyone at the meeting agreed with Energy Secretary James Schlesinger that the U.S. would "remain on the ragged edge of supply" for five to ten years. There was no agreement, however, on the short-term outlook for gasoline. The White House insisted that the shortage will ease in June, but three major oil companies have already cut allocations to dealers for that month by 10% below 1978 deliveries.

Next day, Carter spent an acrimonious 90 minutes in the same room with 27 representatives of consumer and environmental groups. They attacked his decision to decontrol domestic oil prices as inflationary and a boondoggle for the oil industry. They urged him to change his mind. Equally adamant, the President told them to "abandon your efforts." Then, according to a participant, he went on to attack Mobil Oil Corp. as "the most irresponsible company in America." Mobil wants Carter to continue price controls on existing domestic oil production but let oil from future discoveries be sold at the world price.

Carter tried to regain support among House Democrats, who were partly responsible for scuttling a watered-down version of his stand-by gasoline rationing plan and who have threatened to overturn his plan to decontrol oil prices. The President took eleven of the leaders and their wives to Camp David for an evening of blunt talk. Two key figures were missing from the session: House Speaker Tip O'Neill and Majority Leader Jim Wright, who pleaded other engagements.

Carter's political lieutenants, meanwhile, were pulling and tugging his reelection campaign organization into shape and trying to make his troubles sound like virtues. Boasted Evan Dobelle, chairman of Carter's campaign committee: "We haven't done one thing in this Administration that has gotten us votes. Every issue that Jimmy Carter has taken on has lost us votes." For weeks, the President's aides have spent their weekends on what they call "commando raids," trying to line up political talent and funds for him across the country. They have raised more than $750,000 but have signed on few party pros, most of whom are remaining uncommitted until Ted Kennedy comes forth with a definite yes or no on his own plans for 1980. Carter's operatives have also opened campaign headquarters in two key states: Iowa, which will hold the first presidential caucus, on Jan. 21, and New Hampshire, which will have the first state primary, on Feb. 26. In both states, however, Carter runs far behind Kennedy in the polls. Said New Hampshire Democratic Chairman Romeo Dorval of Carter: "The people want to have confidence in their leaders, but right now they don't have any."

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