The Future Begins on Nov. 4

Carter and Reagan offer the voters a difference that really matters

Amid the whirlwind of emotions over the late-late TV showdown debate and the American hostages, U.S. voters will go to the polls on Nov. 4 to make an irrevocable choice with which they will have to live for at least four years. Despite the confusion caused by the shifting positions of the presidential candidates and the hyperbole and innuendo of a disappointing campaign, Jimmy Carter and Ronald Reagan offer, in many ways, clear-cut and contrasting choices. Whatever other complaints the 1980 American voter may have (and there are many), he cannot complain that he has been confronted with Tweedledum and Tweedledee.

The conservative California Republican and the centrist Georgia Democrat are locked in a dead-even struggle that could affect the role of the Federal Government in domestic affairs, create a clean split in political philosophy between the two major parties, profoundly affect the nation's economy and energy directions, and deeply influence the role America plays on the global stage, thus raising the prospect of increased international tension.

There are striking similarities between the campaign Carter ran in 1976 and the one Reagan is conducting this year. Then Carter was opposing Big Government, just as Reagan is today. The former Georgia Governor wound up settling for some civil service reforms and deregulation of the airline and trucking industries. But these were modest improvements in making the Government work rather than any real dismantling of the existing power structure.

Reagan would try harder—a good deal harder. He sincerely believes that "the permanent structure" of Washington bureaucracy stifles free enterprise and individual initiative. He is deeply—and instinctively—committed to "getting the Government off the backs of the people." When Reagan vows to reduce the regulatory role of Government, eliminate such recent bureaucratic creations as the departments of Education and Energy, and wipe out countless petty federal forms that businessmen must fill out, he can be counted on to fight hard to do just that.

Despite talk of a new "pragmatism" in Reagan's thinking, he has not really abandoned any of the fundamental beliefs he has held for many years. For purely political purposes, he has made some token shifts, such as favoring federal aid for both New York City and the Chrysler Corp., but both are questions that have already been firmly resolved. Reagan really is not a moderate on any major domestic issue, although, as his record as Governor shows, circumstances can force him to change his policies.

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