Battling to take on Reagan

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One problem in publicizing Glenn's positions is that some of his Senate votes, while defensible and perhaps appealing to the political center, grate on the liberals who turn out heavily in Democratic primaries and caucuses. Mondale has been calling attention to Glenn's vote last sum mer to produce a more sophisticated type of nerve-gas bomb, which is anathema to many voters worried about the arms race. Glenn thought that new bombs would be less subject to accidental leakage than the outdated weapons now in the U.S. arsenal, a stand illustrative of his penchant to focus on narrow details of issues. One gag making the rounds is that while some people cannot see the forest for the trees, Glenn cannot even see the trees; his vision discerns only branches and twigs.

Glenn's outstanding campaign weakness, however, is the mirror image of Mondale's strength: organization. Glenn's staff is universally regarded as inadequate, and its internal squabbles are becoming visible to outsiders. In so crucial and early a state as New Hampshire, Glenn's aides not only are outnumbered by Mondale's but have done an ineffective job of scheduling their candidate's appearances. Complains one party insider: "Glenn comes up here, but he is almost invisible." Glenn's own New Hampshire coordinator, Rick Jenkinson, concedes, "If the primary were held now, we would certainly lose." The primary, of course, will not be held for another five months; in New Hampshire and elsewhere, Glenn still has time to organize, but that time is getting short.

The other candidates are reduced to hoping that either Mondale or Glenn falters badly in the early primaries and caucuses; if one of the dark horses has run respectably, he could then emerge as a plausible alternative to the leader. It seems like a slender hope: they are more likely to run afoul of a little-noticed election law under which a candidate who fails to win at least 10% of the vote in two consecutive primaries is cut off from federal matching funds 30 days later. He can requalify only by taking 20% of the vote in some subsequent primary. With primaries coming so rapidly in March, the law could close down some campaigns in a hurry, or shut shakily financed candidates out of vital contests that they dare not enter for fear of getting less than 10%.

Cranston, 69, has a surprisingly strong organization and a grind-it-out campaign style. "He's like a turtle," says admiring Iowa Democratic Chairman Dave Nagle. "You turn away, then turn back and see he's moved six inches." Cranston's unequivocal support for a freeze on nuclear weapons has made him popular with peace groups, but it has also created the impression that he is running a one-issue campaign. Moreover, it is an issue that lost some of its force when the Soviets shot down the Korean jetliner.