Timber

The representatives of seven candidates for the presidency of the U.S. drew straws in Washington last month. They were deciding in what order they would appear on Presidential Timber (Fri. 10:30 p.m., CBS), a new TV show designed to give each candidate 30 minutes on the air to use in whatever way he wants. CBS supplies the time, a moderator (Bob Trout), the set and the technical staff. Everything else, from studio audience to ideas, is up to the candidates.

Last week Tennessee's Senator Estes Kefauver was the first of the seven to take over on Presidential Timber. He brought his sprightly wife and 81-year-old father with him, as well as an album of family photos, some news films of Frank Costello on the witness stand, and a folksy informality of manner that gave the show more the air of a social visit than an appeal from a political platform. None of Kefauver's rivals is likely to top him in homespun amiability. What he lacks in TV forcefulness is compensated for by a persuasive, if plodding, earnestness.

Oklahoma's Senator Robert Kerr has not yet decided how to attack his TV assignment. The Eisenhower forces, whose date is May 16, have been handicapped by not being certain whether the general will be in the U.S., or will even want to appear on the show. The only decision they have made is that their program will not be like the TV rally put on at Madison Square Garden last February by Hollywood and Broadway enthusiasts.

Other Timber prospects: P:California's Governor Earl Warren will appear this week on a dignified, panel-type show for a question-and-answer period with newsmen.

P: Candidate Harold Stassen intends using two actors to play an "average" husband & wife who will ask questions culled from the letters written him by citizens interested in his views. P: When Georgia's Senator Richard Russell moves on to Timber's platform, he will leave behind him such adornments of the Southern political scene as hillbilly singers and guitarists. With a combination of film clips and interviews, Russell hopes to cover his career and background as well as his stand on the major issues. P: Senator Robert Taft will use Moderator Bob Trout as an interviewer.

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