The Patrician and the Preacher

For Pete du Pont, the 1988 playbook writes itself. Right now the former Republican Governor of Delaware rates no more than an asterisk in the polls, and that only because of his name, ambition and prior public service. But last week, an hour after becoming the first major politician to announce his presidential candidacy, Du Pont set out on the familiar path of aspirants who need miracles: he was en route from Wilmington to the first skirmish sites. "I'm in Iowa and New Hampshire," he observed cheerfully, "from here to eternity."

For Pat Robertson, the plan is as intricate as a biblical genealogy. The televangelist from Virginia, though campaigning for months with a prophet's passion, wants to hold on as long as possible to his electronic pulpit at the Christian Broadcasting Network. Once he is a formal candidate, he will have to step down because of federal equal-time requirements. At the same time, he must try to energize the diverse evangelical community behind him. So last week he rented Constitution Hall in Washington for an elaborate production of music and exhortation beamed by satellite to invited audiences at 216 sites. Having repeatedly said he needed divine guidance about seeking the nomination, he now solemnly reported, "I know God's will for me in this crucial decision."

But he will not take the plunge just yet. Instead, he gave his supporters a year to round up 3 million signatures from voters who pledge that "they will pray, that they will work, that they will give toward my election." In a finale that no secular politician would risk, Robertson asked every member of the audience, live and remote, to give $100 on the spot. A check, cash or a credit-card number would do.

Despite the many contrasts between Du Pont and Robertson, their announcements reflected the status of the Republican Party in the last stage of the Reagan era. Conservatives who differ only marginally on most issues control the nominating process. Both Du Pont, a nuts-andbolts pragmatist, and Robertson, an ideologue preoccupied with moral issues, are trying to challenge Vice President George Bush from the right.

That may prove more difficult for Du Pont, 51. One of the heirs to the family chemical fortune, he has a Princeton engineering degree, a Harvard law diploma and an aversion to the use of his full name: Pierre Samuel du Pont IV. His squarejawed phiz recalls Nelson Rockefeller, another millionaire Republican who inched to the right but never erased his progressive image. As a member of the U.S. House for three terms (1971-77), Du Pont compiled a moderate voting record. His views began to change, he says, during his successful tenure as Governor, when he adopted a species of supply-side policies that worked well in Delaware.