The Kennedy Challenge

Monday, Nov. 05, 1979
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irreparably damage the party's chances of holding on to the White House. To Democratic National Chairman White, the Carter-Kennedy fight is much like two railroad locomotives hurtling toward each other.

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Says he: "It sure creates lots of excitement, but what you are left with in the end is a big train wreck." Other party pros argue that the primary fight will guarantee a bigger turnout of Democratic voters in November and a stronger commitment to the party's nominee among those who do turn out. Says Kentucky Senator Wendell Ford: "It's like cats in the night. You think they are fighting and killing each other, but all you get later on is more cats."

The Democratic struggle is forcing Republicans to reassess the free-for-all in their own party. Many G.O.P. leaders fear that a Carter victory would make him much harder to beat in November. Says G.O.P. National Chairman William Brock: "He would have successfully met the question of his leadership and taken some of the wind out of issues that we would like to have first crack at." But the prospect of a Kennedy victory poses even more imponderables for Republicans. If the Democratic tide runs toward Kennedy, would the G.O.P. want to field its aging front runner, 68-year-old Ronald Reagan, against a much younger, dynamic Senator? At the moment, many party pros say no. That answer would seem to give an advantage to John Connally, 62, who is Kennedy's equal as a tub thumper. If Connally turns out to be unacceptable to rank-and-file Republicans, they might turn either to Howard Baker or George Bush. Both lack flair as campaigners, but they have long experience in Washington, they have no scandal in their backgrounds and their views are only moderately conservative.

However the G.O.P. contest comes out, it promises to be as action filled as the fight between Carter and Kennedy. After that will come what House Speaker Tip O'Neill grimly calls "an s.o.b. of an election."

*Kennedy prefers to be called Ted, though a few longtime friends use Teddy. His sisters still call him by his childhood nickname, Eddie.