Act of Faith

Anderson declares he's in

For the past six months, tall, white-haired Republican Congressman John Anderson of Illinois has spent much of his time careering around his home state in a battered, red Pontiac station wagon. His mission: to discover whether he had enough support to enter the presidential race. Last week his hopeful answer appeared inevitable when his wife Keke bought him a new, dark blue suit. Proudly wearing it, Anderson, 57, the chairman of the House Republican Conference and thus third-ranking member in the leadership, became the seventh G.O.P. candidate.* Said the ten-term Congressman: "I have been in the leadership for ten years. After watching Carter, I have no reservation about my ability to do the job."

Anderson's bid is obviously a long shot. He himself concedes that it is an "effort built on faith." Bright and articulate, the Harvard Law School graduate and former foreign service diplomat is little known outside Washington, and his staff consists mainly of a dozen young volunteers.

To make matters worse, Anderson has a generally liberal voting record in a party that is increasingly conservative. Although he is conservative fiscally, he voted against the antibusing amendment and for extension of the Equal Rights Amendment. He supports freedom of choice on abortion and opposes the death penalty. In foreign affairs, he has consistently supported the Panama Canal treaties and normalizing diplomatic relations with China. "I don't care whether you call me a conservative or a liberal, so long as you give me credit for having ideas," he says.

Anderson argues that his views represent a strength rather than a weakness: "I believe in the center, I believe in the good sense of the people, and I don't think they want to stray very far from the center." He hopes that his many rivals will divide the conservative vote, while he will be the voice of liberal Republicans in the early New England primaries and then in his native Middle West. If he could make a strong showing, he might just convince the party regulars that only a moderate is "electable." That is hardly likely, however.

* The others so far: former Texas Governor John Connally, former CIA Director George Bush, Senator Robert Dole, Representative Philip Crane, Los Angeles Businessman Benjamin Fernandez and Perennial Candidate Harold Stassen.

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