The Nation: Carter Faces the 'Fuzziness' Issue

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Similarly, on the problem of unemployment, Carter stresses that jobs should be created primarily through private enterprise, which pleases people who support free enterprise; at the same time, he says that in at least some instances the Government should be the employer of last resort, which placates Liberals. His supporters argue that the country would benefit from a President who can "bring together" conflicting constituencies by giving something to each of them.

On other issues Carter is maddeningly vague. He promised repeatedly to reduce the number of Government agencies from 1,900 to "no more than 200"; yet he refuses to say how he would accomplish the feat, except to stress the need for consolidation. Similarly, Carter strongly advocates both tax reform and welfare reform, but has provided few specifics. He insists that such massive reform efforts would require considerable study after he entered the White House. But many suspect that he already has more details than he is willing to admit and is simply trying to avoid being tripped up on specifics as George McGovern was in 1972 and Ronald Reagan was earlier this year.

New Version. There are those in the Carter campaign who think the fuzziness charge is beginning to hurt their candidate, and they want him to shift to a more issue-oriented campaign. Last week he did just that, though he denies that it was done to satisfy his critics. Campaigning before large crowds in Oregon the day after the Michigan and Maryland primaries, Carter unveiled a new version of his basic speech, stressing government reorganization, tax reform, welfare reform, nuclear arms reduction and the need for long-range federal planning, but offering few specifics. The reason that he is still the front runner today, he said, is because "the voters agree that my positions on the issues are theirs also."