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Carter succeeded in his astonishing run through the Democratic primaries by defeating a crowded field. Now he is one-on-one with Ford, and the techniques that succeeded for Carter before —the atmospherics of "decency," "love" and "trust" and "I'll never tell a lie" —will undoubtedly have to change. His essential message in the primaries was very nearly spiritual, having much to do with American morale. In TV debate with Ford, he would have to be more specific.
Many voters in the primaries understood Carter to be fairly conservative; yet at the New York convention, he chose a deeply liberal running mate, Mondale, and virtually dictated many parts of a party platform considerably to the left of the Carter image.
Voters on Nov. 2 can make a very clear ideological choice—at least on the basis of the two parties' platforms. Examples:
THE ECONOMY: The Republicans want a commitment to end deficit spending as a means of reducing unemployment. They reject wage-price controls and "make-work" public employment programs, favoring instead tax incentives for investment and relying on the private sector for new jobs. The Democrats want a strong domestic council to moderate wage and price increases by jawboning, and would link the minimum wage to the cost of living. Their platform also pledges the Government to take on necessary tax and spending measures to reduce adult unemployment to 3% within four years—the intent of the Humphrey-Hawkins bill. It would be inflationary and a nightmare to enforce, but less so than before it was recently revised. Carter supports the bill, but has serious doubts about it; in particular, he is cool to the idea of public employment.
ABORTION: Republicans endorse "a constitutional amendment to restore protection of the right to life for unborn children." The Democrats oppose any such amendment.
SOCIAL SERVICES: The G.O.P. opposes a compulsory national health insurance program, but supports extending private insurance to cover all Americans for catastrophic illness. The party also opposes a guaranteed annual income. The Democrats favor a federally financed, comprehensive national health insurance program, and a plan for minimum-income guarantees for the poor and aged.
DEFENSE: Republicans want development of new missile-launching submarine forces and the B-l bomber, and would increase the size of the armed services. The Democrats propose a reduction of from $5 billion to $7 billion in defense spending and would postpone any decision on production of the B-l bomber until February 1977.
The Republican platform is, to a large extent, a Reagan manifesto to which the Ford forces acquiesced in the interests of party harmony. Still, about the only part of the platform that Ford will have trouble living with is the foreign policy plank's implied rebuke of detente with the Soviet Union. One large question for the Ford campaign now is to what extent the Reagan forces are satisfied and will actively work for the ticket. William Rusher, publisher of the National Review and an ideological force behind the idea of a third-party breakaway, admitted last week at the Kansas City convention: "I don't think we're going to find many bolters in this hall."