Nation: Playing the Florida Game

Carter and Kennedy face off in a quirky contest

Some day it may be a case history in the politics of much ado about nothing; of the latter-day American penchant to be first, even if it is with the least, to launch the presidential sweepstakes; to invent a game if there is no game in town. Welcome, fans, to Florida's theater of the absurd, where on Oct. 13 an unannounced candidate for re-election (Jimmy Carter) is pitted against an unannounced challenger (Edward Kennedy) in a dog-and-pony show without substance beyond what is made of—or...

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