REPUBLICANS: Now the Republican Rumble

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Once the houselights go on and Reagan faces a crowd, however, he is all charm and good humor. Given an old football helmet last week at the University of Notre Dame (where red, white and blue banners proclaimed WELCOME BACK GIPPER), Reagan turned the event into a neat jab at his opponent: "When I played football, I wore one." He disarmed an audience there hostile to his stand against legalizing marijuana, arguing that marijuana is the successor to alcohol as "the crutch" of the younger generation, adding: "But wouldn't it be nice if some time there was a generation that didn't need any crutch at all." His young audience burst into cheers. Reagan can twist even a flub into a recovering quip. Asked if a President's term should be limited, he stumbled:

"There has been talk about a single six-year sentence—er, term." When the laughter died down, he said: "You can see I have no illusions about the job."

Reagan's more serious formal lines are also delivered with well-timed zip.

ON GOVERNMENT SPENDING: "The Government in Washington is spending some $7 million every minute I talk to you.*There's no connection between my talking and their spending, and if they'll stop spending, I'll stop talking."

ON NATIONAL HEALTH INSURANCE:

"I'm against it. I don't think you can socialize the doctor without socializing the patient."

ON WASHINGTON: "I don't believe Washington is the answer. I think Washington is the problem. Big Government makes small people, and what we need is big people making Government smaller."

The Reagan crowds respond readily to his smooth style. Ford, on the other hand, often gets a rousing reception when introduced as the President, but audiences lose enthusiasm as he reads his speeches—actually more thoughtful and more varied than Reagan's standard pitch. Ford is more effective when he ad-libs or answers questions from reporters or audiences. But that poses a problem. The questions are often on points Reagan has raised—which lets his opponent control much of the campaign dialogue. The current Ford strategy is to curtail such questioning and keep his speeches shorter and sharper; at the urging of his young photographer, David Kennerly, he has even hired Don Penney, a New York show-business gagwriter, to turn out jokes and witty lines. He intends to largely ignore Reagan, while various "advocates"—Cabinet members and friendly Congressmen —take more direct aim at the challenger. They intend to portray Reagan as an extremist on domestic issues and as dangerous in world affairs.