The President's Post-Election Agenda

THE Nixon-Agnew fall campaign, by what it stressed and what it ignored, glazed the Administration with a more conservative patina than its actual policies warranted. The approach lost more than it gained. Further, the President goes into his second two years with most of his program still unrealized. Hence Richard Nixon the policymaker and administrator now has considerable causeand opportunityto edge back toward the middle.

He is not, of course, about to embrace the Democratic liberals or make a willy-nilly alliance with the G.O.P. left. For the sake of both appearances and tactics, the President must hold his right flank. Among the first politicians he saw after the election were leaders of Senator-elect James Buckley's New York Conservative Party. Last week Spiro Agnew was still refighting the campaign, arguing that the only mistake was that "we undersold our message."

In-Flight President. Less visibly, Nixon, other officials and Agnew himself were looking ahead rather than back. Nixon, the in-flight President, did not let his travelsfrom Key Biscayne to Washington to Paris and back to Washingtondeter him from constant consultation with aides. Much of his flying time was spent on domestic affairs, including the budget and economic message he will submit to Congress in January.

There were hints supporting earlier speculation that the Administration would now be more receptive to the prescriptions of liberal economists for unemployment and inflation. Treasury Secretary David Kennedy had generally taken a conservative tack in fiscal affairs. In Boston last week, he sounded positively benign about the large amount of red ink that is accumulating for the current budget year. Now he talked about "the kind of deficit that will start us back to growth."

Herbert Stein, a member of Nixon's Council of Economic Advisers, stressed in Newport Beach, Calif., the importance of keeping wage settlements at a reasonable level. The inflationary General Motors pact underscored that need (see BUSINESS). Then the Administration announced that it would investigate an increase in crude-oil prices scheduled by Gulf and Atlantic Richfield. The inquiry, together with Stein's statement, seemed to be at least a token move toward direct Government pressure to check wage and price rises.

Salable Reform. The key question of how much fuel the Government plans to put into the economy is linked to both the unemployment problem and Nixon's political stance. No matter how conciliatory a stance Nixon takes toward the liberals, he does not envision any new gush of spending for social programs. Rather, Nixon intends to renew his emphasis on reforming the federal role to make Washington's impact more effective.

The Department of Health, Education and Welfare is attempting to revamp the family-assistance program in order to make welfare reform more salable in the Senate. There is now talk in HEW of designing some form of national health insurance as well. According to Agnew, the President's proposal for federal revenue sharing with the states will also be pushed. Nixon is unlikely to get much satisfaction from the lame-duck session of the 91st Congress convening this week. The members will be preoccupied with old but urgent business as well as internal politicking. Items: > Seven appropriations bills are still pending, though the fiscal year is nearly half over. > An effort will be made to override Nixon's veto of the bill limiting spending on political broadcasts. > Maneuvering is likely to begin over the Republican Senate leadership; some conservatives want to replace Pennsylvania's Hugh Scott, and an open fight could worsen the tension between G.O.P. factions. Edward Kennedy's re-election as assistant Democratic leader may be contested by Senator Robert Byrd, a West Virginia conservative. > The trade bill, which some legislators want to expand into an omnibus of restrictive quotas, could evoke a lively scrapand another veto.

Puckish Question. The foreign items on Nixon's post-election agenda present their share of problems. This week's National Security Council session will consider reducing U.S. troop strength in Europe. Recent uncertainties about Russian intentions complicate any cutback. Also, there is a feeling in Washington that the paring of Defense Department spending has gone about as far as prudence allows for the moment.

Charles de Gaulle's death took Nixon to Europe unexpectedly last week, bringing him face to face with Soviet President Nikolai Podgorny, the highest-ranking Russian that Nixon has met since taking office. At an Elysee Palace reception, they eyed each other from a distance, then met halfway as if by signal. Indira Gandhi puckishly asked: "Can a smaller country get in on a conversation before the big two countries make all the decisions?" In fact, Nixon and Podgorny were making strained small talk about Russian ballet rather than discussing the Middle East or nuclear-arms control. "My best wishes to you and your people," said Nixon in parting. Likewise, said Podgorny.

Nixon did have substantive discussions with President Georges Pompidou and with Ambassador David Bruce, head of the U.S. delegation to the Paris peace talks. So far the Communists have failed to react favorably to Nixon's October proposals. Washington has given no signal of what new move, if any, it now plans concerning the bargaining. It would not be surprising if Nixon simply accelerates the withdrawal of American forces.

Back home, the President entertained Mexican President-elect Luis Echeverria. The two leaders and a small number of advisers lunched together at the White House and talked about inter-American affairs. They agreed that relations between the U.S. and Mexico "are the best they have been in the history of the two countries."

At the United Nations, Communist China's entry is once more up for a vote. Washington still opposes Peking's admission, but last week the U.S. reformulated its position. At the General Assembly, U.S. Diplomat Christopher Phillips announced opposition to the expulsion of Taiwan, but did not take a stand explicitly against admitting Peking. He talked approvingly of increasing communication with the mainland regime.

The shift away from outright opposition to Red China was a concession to reality; Peking has steadily gained supporters in the U.N. The Nixon Administration's adjusted approach was another sign that it is willing to do business with China, provided that the price is within reason. As a Republican, Nixon can make such a move with fewer political risks at home than a liberal Democratic President would run. He holds the same advantage in domestic proposals like welfare reform. During the mid-term election campaign, Nixon chose to underplay his own program. That fight is over, and the next one will be waged directly on the presidential record; Nixon's public policy and his political needs looking toward 1972 now closely coincide.

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