The Voters Assess the Two Tickets

TIME Citizens' Panel

The Eagleton affair has severely but perhaps only temporarily hurt the presidential candidacy of George McGovern, at least in the minds of the TIME Citizens' Panel. In another of a series of surveys conducted for TIME by Daniel Yankelovich, Inc., the panel was interviewed after the Missouri Senator's past mental treatments had been revealed and McGovern had asked him to resign from the vice-presidential race. The panel consisted of 302 citizens chosen randomly from a scientifically selected cross section of more than 2,500 voting-age Americans. Some of the findings:

MORE than half of the voters questioned, including both Republicans and Democrats, thought less of McGovern because of the Eagleton debacle. The reasons, however, were mixed. Of the panelists expressing an opinion on the matter, four out of ten thought McGovern should have investigated Eagleton more carefully in the first place; one-third were critical of McGovern's decision to drop him; one-fourth thought he displayed indecisiveness in handling the matter. Only one out of ten Democratic voters thought McGovern had emerged from the affair with a stronger candidacy than before.

McGovern showed a "terrible weakness" in dismissing Eagleton because "he was afraid that it would color his candidacy," contends Mrs. Laurell

Russell, a Democratic housewife from South San Gabriel, Calif., who liked McGovern before but is now undecided as to whom to vote for. In shifting from " 1,000% " support of Eagleton to dropping him, McGovern "lied--and let me down," charges Student James Kauffman, an independent first-time voter from Avon Lake, Ohio. The sympathies of Mrs. John Campbell of Collingswood, N.J., were all with Eagleton because if "he didn't crack during that week, he certainly wouldn't have cracked in office." About the highest praise McGovern got from the group was the mild "I just think he handled it as best he could" view of Willie Peterson, a black student from Covert, Mich. There was, however, a significant feeling among Democrats that the McGovern staff should bear more blame than McGovern for the incident.

The survey also disclosed that Republicans have some problems with their vice-presidential candidate. The panel split almost evenly over whether it thought Vice President Spiro Agnew has been good in the office. One out of five Nixon supporters are bothered by Agnew's performance and two out of five undecided voters were either undecided or held negative opinions about him. Those who praise Agnew often say, as does William Applegate, a television reporter from Youngstown, Ohio, that "he's one of the few outspoken men we have." Those who disapprove of him often cite his aggressive oratory. Retired Commercial Artist James C. Keehl of Clinton, Mich., claims Agnew "uses words that don't fit the situation and can't back them up."

At the top of the ticket, the panel finds that McGovern's greatest strength is his personality, often described as "warm" or "sincere." Even one out of five Republicans finds McGovern personally appealing. By contrast, many Republicans are unimpressed by the Nixon personality. Says Nixon backer Mrs. Charles Ream of Millersport, Ohio: "I can't explain it. He tries, but he just doesn't have it. His personality leaves me cold." If the campaign turns out to focus on personality, McGovern's chances apparently would improve. "He doesn't doubletalk; he knows how to make himself a part of the people rather than just a politician," argues Billing Clerk Lynda Bialy, a young voter in Buffalo, N.Y. Surprisingly, only one out of seven who expect to vote for McGovern will do so on the basis of any specific issue, although inconsistently, two-thirds of the panel predict that the campaign will be fought primarily on issues. For the first time in these surveys, there is some significant opinion among Democrats (one out of seven) that McGovern may be too radical on issues. Bookkeeper Jeanette Senkowski of Redford Township, Mich., thinks McGovern "changes his positions too often; whatever the polls say, he will do."

Nixon is credited by almost three out of four voters of both parties as having a strong record in foreign affairs, citing his trips to China and the Soviet Union. "He had the guts to go and talk with them," says Bookkeeper Inger Aasen, a St. Helena, Calif., Republican. "And Henry Kissinger is an able, brilliant aide." But on economic affairs, Nixon has just as many critics as defenders. A third of his supporters are critical of his economic policies, often claiming that he has failed to check inflation. A greater liability may be what half of the panel consider Nixon's lack of credibility; even four out of ten of his backers complain of this. One of them, Carol Terry, a Plainville, Conn., housewife, says: "He hasn't informed us enough to keep us abreast of what's going on." A minority view is that of Hotel Desk Clerk Mrs. Irene Wells of Pinellas Park, Fla., who declares: "Some things it doesn't help us to know."

Not Safe. There is a general feeling on the panel that both candidates must beware of assassination attempts this year. "It's not safe to campaign any more," says Insurance Man Herman Allen of Indianapolis. More than half of those interviewed would actually prefer, partly for safety reasons, that the candidates campaign by television rather than by touring the nation. But Real Estate Broker Louis L. Lord of Auburn, N.Y., argues that "you don't really know a candidate till you have him on your home grounds."

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