Out to Stop Kennedy

Now the battle is in the open, and Teddy's troubles will grow

"I see the events of the past week through a looking glass," one of President Carter's top aides said last week. "The challenger has become the incumbent, and vice versa."

The aide had a point. No sooner had Senator Edward Kennedy become an all but announced candidate for the Democratic nomination than he began stressing financial prudence and backing away from his image as a big-spending liberal. Jimmy Carter, on the other hand, did not seem at all uncomfortable in his oldtime role as underdog. At his Washington election headquarters, campaign workers sported buttons defiantly proclaiming: WE DID IT BEFORE. WE'LL DO IT AGAIN.

Many of the initial reactions to Kennedy's campaign maneuvers had made it sound as though the nomination were his for the asking (House Speaker Tip O'Neill virtually said as much). But Carter made it clear last week that he would not be steamrollered out of the race. And although there has been much talk about Kennedy's charisma and his high standing in the polls, he is by no means invincible. On the contrary, he may prove vulnerable on a number of points ranging from his liberal economic views to his personal life. To start the counterattack, Carter's aides gathered at a meeting with some 20 Democratic officeholders who support the President. Among those who showed up for the after-dinner session, held in the Watergate apartment of Democratic Troubleshooter Robert Strauss: Congressmen Dante Fascell of Florida, Bill Alexander of Arkansas, Mario Biaggi of New York, John Murtha of Pennsylvania, Bill Hefner of North Carolina; Detroit Mayor Coleman Young, Georgia Governor George Busbee, New York Lieutenant Governor Mario Cuomo and California State Treasurer Jesse Unruh. The politicians urged the President to declare his candidacy at once to keep support from slipping to his rival. "Kennedy needs to know what he's up against," said Alexander. Advised Cuomo: "Holding back just clouds the Carter record.

It encourages rumors and allows a sense of tentativeness to grow up around the campaign."

But Carter wanted to hold off, for some practical as well as political reasons. He wants to appear in his presidential role as long as possible before he descends into the political arena. And if he became an active candidate, his presidential trips might be ruled campaign excursions. Then he would have to pay for them out of his own funds. So rather than make an immediate announcement, the strategy group decided on holding a Carter rally in Washington in late October. Some 200 "Democratic heavies" would attend, White House aides said --a risky undertaking if lots of the heavies stay away.

Once again Hamilton Jordan is in charge of the campaign. But the White House Chief of Staff has more worries than he did in 1976. For one thing, his own reputation has been damaged because of repeated allegations concerning cocaine use. He may even have to face a special prosecutor appointed to investigate the accusations. He must also be careful not to work in the White House for the President's reelection, since that would be a violation of campaign law.

When he wraps up his administrative duties for the day, Jordan often goes to Campaign Director Tim Kraft's Georgetown home for a long evening of political plotting.

Jordan feels he is solidly supported by Kraft, a shrewd and nimble tactician who is fiercely dedicated to Carter. Last week when Kraft arrived at the dingy, crowded campaign headquarters above a topless-bottomless pub called Sabrina's Salaan, six blocks from the White House, his broad grin under the Pancho Villa mustache was a welcome sight for some 100 harried workers. "We never thought this would be a Cakewalk," warned Kraft. The rather amateurish staff has now acquired a few seasoned professionals, including Robert Keefe, who ran Senator Henry Jackson's 1976 campaign. Some of the more experienced hands are being sent to regional offices around the country. Financing is still difficult because of Carter's political weakness, but his aides have managed to bank $2 million so far, and they expect to reach $3.4 million by the end of the year.

In a switch from 1976, the Carter campaign is seeking all the public endorsements it can get. Said Democratic National Chairman John White, who met with Carter last week to assure him of support: "It's only when you can't get endorsements that you say they're unimportant. If you can get them, they are." Jack Watson, Carter's liaison to state and local officials, started phoning Governors, mayors and legislators in an effort to line them up. By week's end, he had snagged at least one useful endorsement: Los Angeles Mayor Tom Bradley.

The President is also handing out federal favors in a way that might have shocked Carter the pure-minded challenger in 1976. He appointed William Dunfey, a New Hampshire businessman, to the United Nations delegation. He named Jean Hennessey, Democratic National Committeewoman in New Hampshire, to a $47,000 part-time post with the U.S.-Canadian International Joint Commission. He plans to mail to of 4.5 million New households a little packet containing tips for cutting heating bills and a plastic gadget that can be inserted in nozzle of a shower to reduce water consumption. The will foot half the $3 million the other half will be paid by private businesses now being contacted by the White House the Energy Department.

The White House is working strenuously to keep the labor unions from defecting to Kennedy. So far, no major union leader has joined William Winpisinger, head of the International Association of Machinists, in declaring for the Senator.

Though they may prefer Kennedy, the labor leaders have reason to move carefully. The United Auto Workers are hoping for a federal bailout of the troubled Chrysler Corp. The National Education Association is pleased that Carter is pushing for a Department of Education. The garment unions are grateful for getting protection against low-cost imports. Says a Carter staffer a bit hopefully: "The myth that Kennedy has only to snap his fingers and labor hops is just not true.

While building up the President, his supporters will attack Kennedy, who they think is vastly overrated. Treasury Secretary G. William Miller said last week that Americans will vote for their pocketbooks in 1980, not for a "beauty contest." An aide backed Miller up: "Eventually, Kennedy will be forced to discuss dollars and cents, and when he does, we'll peel him like an onion." Said a White House economist: "Kennedy's economic philosophy would sink of its own weight if exposed."

Kennedy was not providing an easy target as he started his own maneuvering last week. Edging closer to a formal candidacy by accepting a White House offer of Secret Service protection,* he gave a series of interviews that sounded a more centrist tone than usual. He insisted he did not want to spend any more money than the President, though he would spend it differently: less for defense, more for domestic social programs. He said he would remove both the new aircraft carrier and the MX missile from the fiscal 1980 budget. Though he remained committed to his national health insurance plan, he claimed that it would cost an additional $28.6 billion a year, while his critics contended that the price tag would be closer to $45 billion. Kennedy also favored eliminating what he calls "tax expenditures"; that is, tax breaks for various groups. He would abolish deductions for such business expenses as first-class airfare.

Behind the scenes, Paul Kirk, a Washington attorney who is a longtime friend of Kennedy's, started coordinating campaign activities. Young activists with dreams of Camelot II sought him out for jobs. One of the dilemmas facing a Kennedy campaign is what to do about all the earnest amateurs who have started draft-Kennedy movements around the country. As an experienced professional wedded to the old ways of doing business, Kennedy wants to place professionals in charge of local groups, but he does not want to bruise feelings. The draft movements also offer financial advantages. As long as they are not personally connected to Kennedy, they can raise (and spend) as much money as they want, according to a ruling of the Federal Election Commission. Once they are affiliated with his campaign, they can collect only a maximum of $1,000 per person.

Both sides are girding for an absurdly early first battle in Florida. On Oct. 13, Democratic county caucuses will pick delegates to a state convention on Nov. 18, when a straw vote will be taken on the presidency. The Kennedy forces do not expect to win the straw vote, which has no official standing, because nearly half the dele gates will be chosen by party regulars loyal to Carter. But Kennedy would like to come out ahead in the caucus selection, which would be a blow to Carter in a state where the President is still popular.

To prevent such a setback, the President is pouring money, manpower and perks into Florida. Last week, Rosalynn Carter visited the state for the second time in 21 days. Self-contained and smiling, she could barely suppress her irritation when questioned about Kennedy's growing support: "I don't find the growing support. What we do is not predicated at all on what Senator Kennedy does. It doesn't matter what he does." Citing her husband's "solid record" of accomplishment, she noted the nation was not at war, 8 million more Americans were employed and progress was being made toward a balanced budget and peace in the Middle East. Her Jimmy, she emphasized, was the first President to offer comprehensive energy legislation.

"That's what I call leadership," she said. All she has to do is convince the nation .

* By law, this protection is given only to officially declared candidates who have become eligible for federal financial aid, but Carter made an exception at the request of Kennedy's aides. No other candidates are expected to get Secret Service protection before Jan. 1.

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