REPUBLICANS: Now the Republican Rumble

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Reagan also exploited what hardly had been a burning issue until he picked it up: U.S. control of the Panama Canal. He started blasting the fact that both the Nixon and Ford Administrations had been negotiating a new treaty with Panama on the canal and its tenmile-wide zone, which the U.S. secured under gunboat pressure in 1903. Sensibly, Ford is willing to yield outright domination of the canal, but the move would be gradual and not completed until the next century (TIME, April 26). Even then, according to the Ford-Kissinger position, the U.S. would retain passage rights, share operational duties, and help defend the canal.

Repeatedly and erroneously, Reagan has insisted that the Canal Zone is "just as much sovereign U.S. territory as Alaska." In fact, no treaty ever granted the U.S. complete sovereignty. Washington has been paying an annual user fee of $2.3 million to Panama, and that country's General Omar Torrijos Herrera, a military dictator, has been maneuvering to restrain outraged Panamanians from rioting over this vestige of Yankee imperialism. Wrong-headed as it is, Reagan's jingoism on the canal has apparently struck a nerve among parts of the electorate, arousing post-Viet Nam sentiments that the U.S. should not be pushed around in its own hemisphere by, in Reagan's words, "a tinhorn dictator." Insists Reagan: "The Latin American countries have a respect for macho. I think if the United States reacts with firmness and fairness, we might not earn their love, but we would earn their respect."

Despite his lack of experience in foreign affairs, Reagan feels capable of bringing similar toughness into effective dealings with the Soviet Union. He concedes that "it may sound rather ridiculous as a comparison," but claims that his experience as negotiator for the Screen Actors Guild in Hollywood's earlier days ("I sat opposite some rather opinionated figures there, the old robber barons who created the picture business") prepares him for bargaining with world leaders.

As he hammered at his issues, Reagan's following grew. His acting experience served him well. He was punchier, funnier, more dramatic than Ford, yet at the same time he seemed cooler, more professional and dignified than the President. Unlike Ford, he usually refused to kiss babies or buss baton twirlers. Last week in Nebraska and Louisiana, he stood back as enthusiasts held up infants for a smooch, explaining: "I come in contact with so many people in the course of a day, and there are so many strange bugs going around." Groused a disappointed father in Shreveport: "Damn. The kid has already had all those bugs, but he's never been kissed by a presidential candidate."

The often aloof Reagan also passes up many waiting crowds. In Fort Wayne, Ind., he rushed past a cheering group of well-wishers. "We've been waiting 20 minutes in the freezing cold," complained one woman. Reagan pointed to his wristwatch to indicate he was running late—but he actually was on schedule. In his chartered yellow Hughes Airwest DC-9 (nicknamed the Big Banana), he rarely loosens his necktie or takes off his suit coat.