Nation: Watching a Campaign the Way You Watch a Movie

He is the guru of the modern political campaign, the ex pert who pinpoints which voters a candidate has the best chance to woo and what image and issues might win them. Yet the art and emi nence of the candidate's pollster have flowered so recently that there are only four or five pros at the top of the trade.

Among them: Reagan Strategist Richard Wirthlin and Carter Adviser Pat Caddell.

Their differences go well beyond the fact that Wirthlin, 49, is old enough to be the 30-year-old Caddell 's father, and is known in...