Scoop's Scheme

Washington Senator Henry Jackson, the Democrats' hawk hopeful, has discovered that there are other perils to running for the presidency a year too early. A Jackson supporter in the Washington legislature came up with an amendment calling for a presidential primary that would take place one week before the Oregon primary. Jackson would be a sure thing in Washington; that would give him a psychological boost for Oregon, and the combined momentum might then carry him to a crucial primary victory in California. By this plan Jackson would go to the convention with a formidable bag of Western delegates.

However, a Republican raised a parliamentary objection that killed it. Nonetheless, Jackson's hopes for a coup in the Far West are still alive. The Alaska legislature passed a bill approving a presidential primary for the last week of February. That would beat New Hampshire, previously the nation's first, by two weeks--and add immeasurably to the snows politicians must plow through on the road to the nomination.

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