Updating the Outmoded

Fresh from the conventions, the Senators and Representatives who convened in rump session last week had one new item of special concern on their unfinished calendar of business. In both houses, Democrats and Republicans called for early and effective reform of the nation's electoral system.

The appeal for change came first from Wisconsin Democrat Gaylord Nelson, who rose to denounce the national conventions as "antiquated and undemocratic." He proposed the formation of a 30-man bipartisan commission, including Congressmen, candidates' representatives and presidential appointees, to hammer out a reform program to be presented next August. The reforms could take any of several shapes, suggested Nelson: a national presidential primary, a streamlined convention system, or a combination of both.

Senate Majority Leader Mike Mansfield quickly reminded his colleagues of his own sweeping proposal made last June in the wake of Robert Kennedy's assassination. The Mansfield package also called for a national preferential primary, but suggested other changes as well: abolition of the electoral college, extension of the vote to 18-year-olds, and limitation of the presidency to a single six-year term.

House Minority Leader Gerald Ford took the opportunity to assail the electoral-college system as "outmoded and archaic," warning that Wallace's appearance on the ballot could throw the election into the House, where "the politicians" would choose the President. He favors instead the popular election of the President, but would preserve conventions if they were "overhauled a little" to ensure more equitable selection of delegates.

Similar "bitching periods," as one politician has termed them, have borne little fruit in other years. But this year, says defeated Presidential Candidate George McGovern of South Dakota, may be different. "The public was alternately bored by the emptiness of Miami Beach and disgusted by the disorder and violence of Chicago," he noted. "Both of these conventions told just about all there is to tell about what's wrong with the convention system itself." If the public dismay is reflected in Congress, a proposal like Nelson's might well have a fighting chance for passage.

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