THE CANDIDATE FROM alleging), but even so it was not such

a good face anymore. All that was

left was a Dorian Gray kind of
DISNEYLAND boyishness, a shellacked illusion of
youth which both magazines, myste-
riously, extolled. "A citizen-politician
with a Cinerama grin," said News-
week; "a fresh face in Presidential
politics," said Time.
Citizen-politician? Fresh face? So
profound is Reagan's public presence
that, after eight years as go,vernor of
the nation's most populous state, he
retains his amateur standing in poli-
tics; even as he threatens Stassen's
record as a stalker of convention
aisles, he strikes the same gallant
pose that served so well len years
ago. Like other inexplicably popular
figures of the TV age, he is the sort
of man who can always brush the
promises off his jacket, straighten his
tie, and step unrnussed from the
wreckage of his office, ready to look
another camera in the eye. As long
Ronald Duck for President as he doesn't have to extemporize,
he seems to be talking turkey. He is
by Barry Farrell neat, forceful, Rotary elegant, a pow-
erful campaigner who can tell Pat-
to haunt us In California there is always that and-Mike jokes in a light brogue.

H
ERE AGAIN
with our own grim myths edge, that margin to allow for ex- Wife Nancy is a Christmas-tree angel
comes another humble cesses, and sending Reagan to Sacra- like Pat,' another wholesome product
merchant's plucky son, mento was just a lapse into backlash, from First Lady Farms.
another staunch believer a sour folly; keeping him there was
in "roots" and the retail ethic, who -rnore of the order of a manageable
once upon a time washed dishes, "FRESHNESS" of Rea-

T
nuisance, like having an old uncle in HIS
who fought to make the football the attic shouting into trunks and sa- gan's was his prime selling
team at school. Only this one sits at luting dusty mirrors. When he left the point when he won Cali-
conference tables fifty years later statehouse a year ago, it was as though fornia in 1966. He was, of
sketching memories of himself in he had been humored and put away. course, only fifty-five then,
shoulder pads and jersey. This one Yet, in a season when the call to but his apple-cheeked appearance
follows his horoscope and gets his greatness has summoned forth a crew was never contradicted by the matu-
ideas from one-page "mini-memos" who wouldn't make appealing pall- rity of his thought. His political
provided by his staff. This one bearers at a sober citizen's funeral, background was restricted to six
munches jelly beans and addresses his Reagan's confession of candidacy the terms as president of the Screen Ac-
wife as "mommy." Think of him as week before Thanksgiving was taken tors Guild, where he was known
Nixon without the savvy or self-pity; to be so august an event that both mainly as a hard-line anti-Commu-
another pious boyhood pauper in Time and Newsweek were already on nist who supported the Hollywood
whom God has confided the friend- the newsstands with his face on their blacklists and, for a while, carried a
ship of suntanned millionaires. covers. Time's kindly oil portrait .32. It was not until 1954, when he
Ronald Duck. That he should be showed him as he might exist in the became the host of General Electric
regarded as a serious candidate for mind of a sentimental moviegoer- Theater, that Reagan entered what
President is a shame and embarrass- pink-cheeked and earnest, blue of was to be his real academy of pol-
ment for the country at large to swal- eye, the crow's feet almost surgical. itics. Touring the country for GE in
low. His appeal is to the fed-up and Newsweek's life-size color photo- the Fifties, promoting high morale
grudging aged white Christian chil- graph, however, used such fearless among workers, adding a touch of
dren of America-and they are ev- focus that it could just as well have glamour to stockholders' meetings,
erywhere. But here in California, been a tribute to mortuary science. he gradually developed his command
whcre Reagan's eight years as gov- Puckers assailed the mouth and muz- of "The Speech"; this set piece is an
ernor seemed a thoroughly convinc- zle; the lips were curved in a stingy attack on every social program en-
ing demonstration that mediocrity grin; even the ears were wrinkled. acted since 1933. All Reagan's pos-
and peevishness don't pay, his un- . The face may have owed nothing to tures derive from his days as GE's
diminished place in national politics Max Factor or the makers of Grecian front man, and 'so do his commit-
is a fact that perplexes and dismays. Formula (as Time was at some pains ments and friendships. The finished
 THE CANDIDATE FROM DISNEYLAND
product, the candidate, is as much a holding him in check through all but Reagan's strategy in the coming
creature of GE as Ken is of MatteI. one of his years in Sacramento, he primaries is based on making Ford
Reagan's first inaugural address accomplished less than any previous look like an appeaser in his relations
captured the flavor of his sandbox governor when it came to turning his with such alien powers as Russia,
conservatism. "For many years now," ideas into law. China, and New York. "New York
he told the voters, "you and I Reaga~ never let anything inter' symbolizes what's wrong," Reagan
have been shushed like children fere with his strict 9-to-5·:3.tl sched- recites to his audiences. "Too power-
and told there are no simple an- ule, but the frustrations of office ful union leaders and news media,
swers to the complex problems. often showed in his rhetoric. "If it timid elected officials, wild spending,
which are beyond our comprehen- takes a bloodbath, let's get it over mismanagement, dirty streets, por-
sion. Well, the truth is there are sim- with," he said during the disorders nography, and a general decline in
ple answers." But no sooner had he at Berkeley. "Mad dogs" was his civility." Real Americans, the ones
installed bulletproof glass' in the name for ghetto organizers. Welfare from Ohio and Texas, "just plain
windows of his office-among his was "this cancer eating at our vi- don't like New York. New Yorkers
first official acts-=-than the simple tals." When Northern Califocnians will have to' eat several courses of
answers ran out. His sallies against spoke out against the logging in- humble pie." This is pure Reagan
higher education and health services terests, Reagan stole from Agnew, humanism, honed a bit perhaps by a
were mean-spirited but empty, and saying, "A tree is a tree-how many year spent lecturing, lending his
soon the government was oozing out more do you need -to see?" And name to his staff-written newspaper
from under him. Inflation alone did when the SLA demanded free food column, and reading his daily
not account for the great rise in the for the needy in ransom for Patty five·minute radio sermonettes. As
cost of state government during his Hearst, Reagan joked that "an out- a so-called undeclared candidate,
tenure-s-from $4.6 billion to $10.2 break of botulism" might be good unfettered by federal election laws,
billion a year-and many of his early' medicine for those who came to take he used these activities to raise $1
supporters were saddened to find that it. There was always some enemy on million for himself while also quali-
this foe of big government had in- the near horizon-mad dogs, un- fying for federal matching, funds by
creased the average individual tax savory intellectuals, headshrinkers, building campaign chests in more
burden from $426 to $728 per year. welfare cheats-just as now, in pre- than twenty states. Meanwhile, his
His exercise of office was an exercise tending to the Presidency, Reagan writers have been able to improve
of power alone-the power to veto, pictures himself as David, and Ford their grasp on a wide range of con-
to cut enemies' funds, to speak and to; . as Goliath, the citizen against the temporary problems, creating a set
be heard. With a hostile legislature compromised professional. of beliefs that would choke a man
who understood their implications.
Yo.c~·dUew cautian The grand theme of Reagan's cam-
paign is what he calls "a program of
to the whuI with M_lfa. creative federalism for America's
third century." The operative word
here is "creative," one of Reagan's
favorites, a word that conveniently
lacks political definition. The con-
cept was suggested to him during his
first California· campaign by his
friend the Reverend W. S. McBirney,
whose ultra-right Voice of American-
ism broadcasts gave Reagan a model
for his own sermonettes. On McRir-
ney's advice, Reagan called his first
administration "The Creative Soci-
Whenpeople relate to each other, a responsivecamera can help you ety," but what "creative" turned out
relate to them. to mean was only that, in pursuit of
You'recomfortablewitha MinoltaSR-Tfrom the momentyoupickit small economies, back-ward patients
up.This is the 35mm reflexcamera that lets youconcentrate on the in mental hospitals were told to start
picture, because the viewfindershowsallthe informationfor correct
exposureand focusing.Youneverhaveto lookawayfromyour subject, dressing themselves and making their
so you're readyto catch that once-in-a-li-fetime
photo. own beds; what it might mean on a
Andwhen subjects call for a different national scale can be inferred from
.perspective, MinoltaSR-T Reagan's opposition to Social Secu-
cameras accept a system of rity, welfare, and medical care for
interchangeable lenses, from
"fisheye"wideangle to super- the aged.
telephoto. Leta MinoltaSR-T Reagan's horoscope said, "Time
helpcapture the pictures in to sew up important financial deal,
your mind's eye. For more infor- ask favors," on the day he announced
mation,see yourdealer or write his intention to run; later that day,
MinoltaCorp.,lOI WilliamsDr.,
Ramsey,N.J. 07446. In Canada: in Miami, the campaign was official-
111
AnglophotoLtd., P.Q. Minolta SR-'
"A,." •...•...•....~ •...•....•
or-::ll fnr-
ly christened when a young man
\lr\llr r'r"Inno.\I
 pointed a plastic gun at the plastic old Western movie kept crossing his . The liberals,
politician. Suddenly Ford's advisers mind as he faced the mighty chal-
were said to be worried, and with lenge. The fort is under attack by
good reason-within a week, the

Gallup poll showed Republicans fa-
vored Reagan to Ford, 40 to 32. Rea-
gan's people had solid footing in the
big primary states, and even where
they had no footing one sensed a
regressive tug at work in a nation of
empty-spirited bystanders, as though
bewilderment had become an under-
tow, drawing men of substance down
into the vortex and leaving the sur-
face to the sponges and the corks,
Reagan, of course, could bob there
with the best of them, appealing to
all the victims of middle-class rage.
The candidate was ready with a
demure explanation for his tireless
quest. He said that a scene from an
THE DEMOCRATIC
SUPER·BOWL
Looking for a winner in July
OR THE DEMOCRATS this
L
Apaches. The old colonel is dying.
He calls the young captain to his
side. He tells him that this may be
his only chance to rise to such fate-
ful circumstance.
This eerie metaphor may require
some translation. It goes without say-
ing that Reagan, at sixty-four, sees
himself as the young captain, and it's
clear enough who the Apaches are-
mad dogs, unsavories. But who, pre·
cisely, is the dying colonel? Is it
Goldwater, whose mandate Reagan
presumes to be fulfilling? Or does
one detect an ashen face peering out
from the curtains at San Clemente? 0
Barry Farrell is Harper's contributing editor That's what his candidacy looks like:
for the West Coast.
by R. M. Koster chance. He's ~ Mormon, and that
lines and scrap with the Republicans.
AST SUMMER some party
professionals thought Sar-
gent Shriver might mobilize
an army of ex-Peace Corps
.Volunteers and ex-Poverty
Program workers. There are thou-
sands of these bright and dedicated
young adults secreted round the
country. How many would rally to
their former chief? Very few, if any,
it turns out. Some semipros thought
Shriver would inherit the Kennedy
team and draw Kennedy fans. This
hasn't happened either. Shriver
doesn't get a play-off spot.
Milton Shapp for Vice-President.
delegates for barter in the Garden.
He'll win some in Pennsylvania,
where he's been a first-rate governor.
In New York he might take part of
the Jewish vote from Jackson. Shapp
may even think he's a Presidential
possibility; politics has crazed sound
minds before. But he's not in the
running.
Fred Harris is. He's one of the
best campaigners in the race and the
only true populist. He wants to break
up the interlocking fat-cat director-
ate that owns and operates the coun-
try. He wants to end perpetuated
privilege and give the common man
a break. Harris is the thinking man's
George Wallace. Now, if the great,
abused lower middle class felt like
thinking, Harris would be a front-
runner, but like most people they'd
rather not. So Harris appeals main-
ly to the young, to intellectuals, and
to those compassionate and/or
guilt-ridden affiuents who dream of
social justice. With this base, how-
ever, Harris has' a chance to make
the play-off.
Morris Udall has a little better
hurts him with the blacks. He's
backed right-to-work legislation, and

F year, politics is the con-

tinuation of pro football
by other means. There are
asmany candidates for the
party's Presidential nomination as
teams in an NFL conference, but few
will survive the next three months of
brutal competition before live crowds
and TV cameras. During the primary
season each will try to establish him-
self as the choice of the whole party.
14 They'll battle across ideological
But liberals will struggle mainly that hurts him with organized labor.
against liberals for the support of But he's no zealot, so he doesn't
liberal voters. The conservatives will scare anyone the way Fred Harris
vie for the conservative vote. And·. does. He's a liberal whom conser-
two Southerners will take on Wal- vatives can live with. He looks like
lace down in Dixie. The survivors, a President-he looks, in fact, like
the three division champs, will meet Lincoln. He campaigns well and has
at Madison Square Garden in July- the best sense of humor in politics-
along with at least one wild-card can- not a bad quality in a man who may,
didate who won't go through the this time next year, be in a position
primaries. Who's going to make the to blow the world up. Udall can en-
play-offs? tertain the voters. His hopes depend