POLITICS: Coming Down the Stretch to Nov. 5

In the penultimate week of campaigning, struggling Republicans could discern scant hopes of avoiding serious defeat at the polls on Nov. 5. Their supporters were either apathetic or were deserting to the other side; their candidates lacked funds and ways to escape the crippling legacy of Watergate and the crushing issues of inflation, unemployment and the President's proposed 5% surtax. Said one presidential adviser: "All over the country there is an uneasiness, a feeling that a lot of problems are not being solved, and voters are taking it out on the party in power."

Anticipating Victory. On the other line of the ballot, Democrats confidently anticipated scoring the most overwhelming off-year victory since 1958. At present, 58 Senators, 248 Representatives and 32 Governors are Democrats. Even White House aides expect a net Republican loss of two or three Senate seats, at least 35 House seats and three or four statehouses. But Democratic strategists hope to do much better than that. They envision a net gain of perhaps six Senate seats, as many as 50 House seats and six governorships.

Despite the prevailing scent of Republican disaster, Gerald Ford continued doggedly to pursue a wearying campaign schedule that will have taken him to 15 states by Election Day. Along the way, his speeches have become increasingly partisan, while his crowds have remained sparse and unenthusiastic. Even some Republican candidates have avoided appearing with him, believing that association could cost them votes. But according to aides, Ford believes that he may be giving some help to at least a few candidates. More important, explains one adviser: "He doesn't want people saying he didn't give his last ounce of devotion to the cause."

On Tuesday, a day after thousands of cheering Mexicans had showered him with carnations during his get-acquainted meeting with Mexican President Luis Echeverria Alvarez, Ford flew to Oklahoma, which gave Richard Nixon 75% of its vote in 1972. Ford arrived in Oklahoma City at the same time that the Republican-oriented Daily Oklahoman published the results of a random survey of 2,900 voters, showing Republican Senator Henry Bellmon trailing Democratic Challenger Ed Edmondson by 13 points and Republican Gubernatorial Nominee James Inhofe lagging behind Democrat David Boren by 49 points.

Ford went first to a $500-a-plate Republican breakfast, where only 51 tickets had been sold. That night in Cleveland, his tepid audience at a $500-a-plate dinner totaled about 250, half what had been expected. Among the missing was Republican Gubernatorial Candidate James Rhodes, who opposes Ford's proposed surtax.

In his speeches, Ford argued that a Democratic landslide could produce a "legislative dictatorship" that might cause federal spending to "go out of sight." He further warned: "If we get the wrong kind of Congress, peace could be in jeopardy." Democratic National

Chairman Robert Strauss called Ford's words "irresponsible" and accused him —in an obvious exaggeration—of reverting to the abusive campaign tactics of Nixon and Spiro Agnew in 1970. Said Ford of his critics: "They may not have seen anything yet."