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One out of ten panelists backing Ford has doubts about him because of his pardon of Richard Nixon. Voicing many of these suspicions, Marie Flaherty, the wife of an insurance salesman in St. Petersburg, Fla., said: "I think it was planned between Ford and Nixon." The pardon also rankles with two out of three panelists supporting Carter. Said Dorothy Duncan, a conservative Democrat from Salem, Va.: "Nixon should have been treated like any other man and gotten the punishment that any other man would have gotten." In addition, six out of ten Carter supporters shared the complaint of Isabelle Sullivan, a blue-collar Democrat from Geneva, N.Y., that "Ford does use his veto power so much—and not for the good of the country." But only one out of six Ford supporters has similar misgivings about the vetoes.
According to the panelists, Ford's chief strengths are experience, honesty, sincerity and reliability. Said Harvey Hartter: "I think he's done a good job with what he had to work with." Added Lorraine Tally, a young conservative Republican from Oklahoma City: "He's been in Government for a number of years. He's very strong—able to make decisions."
The Issues. Although the campaign thus far appears to center mostly on the candidates' personalities and their abilities to handle the presidency, issues do matter to about a third of the panelists. Further, when all of the panelists were asked to describe the issues of greatest concern to them, half mentioned the nation's economy. Said Agnes Jueschke, a moderate Democrat from Edgewater, Colo.: "I would like to see more employment. I would like to see all the prices stabilized."
But the panelists showed little interest in the other issues. Only one out of six, most of them Republicans, mentioned foreign affairs and national defense as an important issue. One out of ten brought up Government spending and a balanced budget. Terrell Swimer, a restaurant owner in St. Augustine, Fla., thought that a Republican President could "cut out some of that spending —we'll never get out of debt." Fewer than one out of ten panelists said their votes would depend on issues such as the candidates' positions on abortion, amnesty for draft dodgers and welfare reform.
The Mood. One reason why voters were paying more attention to personalities than issues may be their somewhat ambivalent mood about conditions in the country. While almost two out of three panelists feel that things are going fairly well these days, they are almost evenly divided on whether the worst is behind the nation. Most Ford supporters think that this is the case; most Carter supporters are worried about what lies ahead. Said Mrs. De-Wilde: "Industry is beginning to build. Housing developments are going up. This is a good sign that the worst is behind us." On the other hand, Nellie Hohnke, a Carter supporter from Kalamazoo, Mich., maintained that "the war is at least behind us, but I don't think the economy will get any better unless there are some changes." Whether the mood of the electorate swings will have an important bearing on the election. Increased optimism about the future would probably help Ford. But any growth in voters' worries about the future would greatly benefit Carter.