The Nation: On to Wisconsin and New York

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NEW YORK. The state has no "beauty contest," and the Rube Goldberg provisions of its primary law make next week's election a nightmarish free-for-all. At last count, no fewer than 830 contestants were seeking 274 delegate seats at the July convention. Complains Lawyer William vanden Heuvel, Jimmy Carter's co-chairman in New York: "It's just an outrage. It's a disgrace that such things can go on in a democratic society. The situation is byzantine. It's Balkanized. It makes oldtime Bulgarian politics look progressive."

A low turnout would help Jackson, who has the strongest campaign apparatus and plans to spend up to $600,000 on the campaign, six times Carter's budget. Jackson started organizing a year ago, concentrating on labor (his latest campaign button reads: JACKSON MEANS JOBS) and Jews, who like his strong support of Israel and Soviet Jews. To enhance his appeal, Jackson is proposing a federal takeover of welfare, increased federal aid to education, a broadened federal housing program and a federal guarantee of municipal bonds.

But Jackson has struck few sparks among New Yorkers. Moreover, Udall's organization has improved remarkably in recent weeks. So has his newly brisk campaigning style, blending toughness with old-fashioned liberal compassion. Recently, he told a group of receptive black businessmen in Harlem: "A few young hoodlums in sneakers must not be allowed to terrorize a city." Running in third place, Carter lacks money and organization in New York. Still, he and Udall together may be able to deny Jackson his goal of winning more than half of the delegates and thus giving his campaign an enormous boost toward the crucial primary on April 27 in Pennsylvania.