REPUBLICANS,ARMED FORCES: Miami Beach Bingo

REPUBLICANS

Even as the Democrats set themselves to the task of selecting a presidential candidate, the Republicans were thrust into the quandary of choosing a new convention site. Until recently, G.O.P. leaders were busily making plans for an Aug. 21 convention in San Diego. But a massive problem soon cropped up in the person of Peter Graham, 42, new operator of the San Diego International Sports Arena, where the convention was to have been held.

A Vancouver, B.C., businessman and archetypal eccentric millionaire, Graham took a 45-year lease on the sports palace last August. He promptly canceled a production of Jesus Christ Superstar, a guaranteed drawing card, because, he said, he was a "Christian." Last November, on the day he was to sign the original $49,000 rental contract with Republican organizers, he showed up one hour and 20 minutes late, then buried his face in his hands and told his startled audience, "I just can't go through with it today." The contract was eventually signed and then renegotiated for $75,000 to provide for an additional week that the Republicans had requested.

It soon became apparent to the G.O.P. that the cost of installing the temporary facilities for delegates and the press would run close to $ 1,000,000. On top of that, Graham began to insist that the G.O.P. invest heavily in permanent structures such as a new ticket booth, two permanent television anchor booths and a closed-circuit television-monitor system. That would have brought the total cost of the convention to around $1.5 million. Richard L. Herman, vice chairman of the party's committee on arrangements, finally blew up. Graham refused to budge. As he blandly explained last week: "I didn't seek the convention. The Republicans are the guide dogs of their own destiny." One Administration official pithily summed up the sentiments of frustrated Republicans: "Graham is an absolute nut."

With Graham compounding their already complex problems, such as local fund raising, hotel space and the shadow of the ITT affair, the Republicans reluctantly abandoned San Diego, Richard Nixon's "lucky city" and sentimental first choice. The logical alternative seemed to be Miami Beach, where the Democrats will caucus beginning July 10. An immediate problem was a Buick dealers' convention, slated for the August slot the Republicans were loath to change. Buick quickly agreed to move, and will likely end up in San Diego, where the prevailing joke round town is: Wouldn't you really rather have a Buick? Miami Beach officials were reluctant to offer the Republicans a bid, possibly because they thought they were simply being used as a lever to reduce Graham's price. Florida's perturbed Governor Reubin Askew met with Miami Beach city leaders last week to iron out the difficulties.