CAMPAIGN '68

It seems both logical and essentia l to r eview

the sta tus and fo r ward planning of the '68 Campa i gn i n

l i ght of the Kennedy assassination.

Is it really essential to the American pol i t i cal

pr oc ess to press on wi t h campa i gni ng as us ual -- while

pr e t ending to ignore some of t he cold rea l i ties of

t he da y ?

There has long been a pla i ntive cry from man y

quart e r s that the ba l l yhoo and whoopla of an American

campa i gn -- ext ended over months confuses rather t han

cla rifies the choice i n the mind of the voter. Thus,

even without today's new da ngers, a strong argument might

be made for a radically revised approach to the process

of presenting the case to t he people.

While the latest assassination does not in any way

prove that America is a sick soc i e ty -- it does re-af firm

t he fact that pass i ons run high and in some instances

r estra i nt and responsibility are lacking. There is a

clear and present persona l physica l danger to any man

campa i gni ng for the office of the Presidency wheneve r he

pr e sent s himself to an r e s t r i c t ed large crowd -- at a

rally , in a motorcade, moving through public areas on an

announced route. Tnis danger wi l l increase as the in t ens ity

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of t he campa i gn i nc r a ses .

There is good ba s s for t he argument that it is

irresponsible f or t he Pre s i dent or t he candida t es f or

Pr e s i dent to expose t hems e l ves in these ways . If t hi s

case wer e pre s ented to t he people in proper f a shi on , it

is quit e 1 kel y t hey would under stand and agree.

The people mus t be deepl y concer ned by t he probl em

of vi olence and coul d be expec t ed to r es pond with r e i ef

and Wi l l i ng a ccept an ce to a pl an es i gned to avoi d any

f ur t her calamit i e s -- or a t l ea s t to lessen t he r isk .

The plan wou ld be for t he Pres ident and/or t he

Sec r e t Se r vi c e to r eque s t forma lly that a l l can di da t es

f or Presidential nominations -- and, after the convent i ons ,

a l l candi da t e s for the Presidency -- agree to confor m to

a nu ber of speci f i c guideline s rega r di ng me t hod of cam­

pa i gning . It would be made cl ear that no restrict ion or

compromise would be " pl ac ed on con t ent -- only on f or m.

Candi date s woul d not pr es ent themselves to l a r ge

masse s of peopl e n person. Tney would, ins t ead , ut i l i ze

the ma s s communi ca t i ons medi a to ca r r y their messages to

the voters. Ma ny t echniques co uld be used for thi s -- i n­

c uding direct s peeches, telethons, televised press con­

feren ces , televi s ed coffee hours with small groups of rep­

res enta t i ve vo t er s, t elevised i nt er vi ews of a l l ki nds,

doc ument a r y- t ype pr e s ent a t i ons , use of third-person advoc:

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and und oubt edl y r~ny more approaches which would come

to mi nd .

EliminateQ would be all rallies, large public

f unctions, press-the-flesh campa ign techniques, plung­

ing through crowds, whistle-and-prop-stops.

This would not eliminate the possibility of

assassination or violence -- but it would be greatly

reduced because, in effect, the campa i gn would be con­

ducted in individual liVing rooms instead of at public

ga t her i ngs.

For the cand i da t es , the campa i gn would become

more demanding mentally and much less demanding physica lly.

This should have the effect of raising the quality of

the political dialogue.

Many potenti a l problems arise, of course. The

mai n one would be the question of allocation or purchas e

of ~'V and radio time. Even this could be fairly easily

resolved if it were not for the Wallace problem.

It will be a r gued that this puts all the emphas i s

on a candidate 's a bi l i t y to perform on TV -- and elim­

i na t es the oppor t unity to judge him through personal in­

t he - f l e sh exposure. This is not a va l id objection because

it ass umes t hat the voter now does, in fact, judge the

candi da t e on the basis of personal exposure. Clearly,

thi s is not the case. It is obviously impossible for any

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mean in~l proportion of the vot e rs to come i nt o pe r s ona l

contact wi t h a na t ional candi da t e dur i ng the cour s e of a

campa ign . It's also obvious that a ve r y large ma j or i t y

of those who do have per sonal exposure -- at ral l i e s , etc .

a r e already commi tted and thus are not j udgi ng the candi da t e .

other than tradition, there is no sound r ea s on f or

put t i ng a man conside r ed to be of presidential t i mber

thr ough the phys i cal s t r a i n and pe r s ona l danger of t he

old-time format. It shoul d be recognized t hat time s have

changed -- and t ha t the presentation of pres ident i a l

candida t e s must change , too.

This is t he i deal time to make some ma jor changes

t ha t a r e ba dly needed even without the consider ation of

danger of violence. The people mus t be fed up with pol it i cs

as us ua l acc ompani ed by terror. They would welcome s ome

leade r shi p in t h is area -- as well as in al l t he others

tha t are the is s ue foc a l po i nts of this election.

H.R. Haldeman June 9, 1968