All Those Friendly Faces

The election is 14 months away, but there is no stronger tonic for a political candidate, even if he holds the job already, than a sea of friendly faces. There is no greater depressant for an aspirant to office than an empty hall. Last week Richard Nixon could take satisfaction on both scores. He fully savored the one, while his adversaries suffered the other.

When the President went to New Hampshire, not even the zeal of his advance men could fully account for the expansive crowd of 30,000 that greeted him warmly. The savvy throng guffawed when the President described his trip as nonpolitical (which means it is paid for out of public, not party funds). The thousands who gathered at Maine's Bangor airport included many avowed Democrats, but they were both cordial and interested. The young protesters that usually embellish presidential stopovers seemed to have virtually disappeared during these summer weeks. Two days later, when the Democrats put on a three-star show in tiny Hollis, N.H. (pop. 2,616), billing Senators McGovern, Jackson and Bayh, a mere 300 voters turned out.

This week, en route to San Clemente, Nixon speaks "nonpolitically" in New York City and in Springfield, Ill. Then on to Idaho and the scenic Grand Tetons and Dallas in search of more friendly faces. Clearly the advantages of the incumbent in high office are great.

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