"I think I'm on pretty solid ground," said President Gerald Ford at his press conference last week, citing a poll snowing that 81% of Americans shared his opposition to a gasoline tax increase. Actually, the President was on very dubious ground in invoking public opinion to buttress a view that most experts ranging from his own in the White House to even those in the automobile industry who will be hurt by such an increase now believe is wrong. A President who simply followed public sentiment would be a cipher in the office, as Harry Truman recognized:...
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