The Cheerleaders

Of all the props in a meticulously stage-managed convention, none were more prominent, or as appealing in their nontheatrical freshness, than the 3,200 Young Voters for the President, whose rehearsed exuberance enlivened every public event. They were bused to VIP airport arrivals and accorded 1,500 tickets to pack the galleries of convention hall, as well as to give the floor area enough young faces to help television viewers forget the fact that only 3% of the voting delegates were under 25. The boys beardless, the girls firmly bra-ed, they gave the Grand Old Party a cosmetic new look of young vitality.

However carefully coached, the youths responded with an enthusiasm that seemed contagious. Their shouts of "We want Pat" kept a pleased Pat Nixon from acknowledging an overblown James Stewart-narrated tribute for twelve minutes. They repeatedly interrupted Barry Goldwater and waved such age-bridging signs as RON BABY, WE LOVE YOU at Ronald Reagan. They released even more of their lung power every time their unlikely hero, Richard Nixon, appeared in public. "Nixon now, more than ever! Nixon now, more than ever!" went the cry.

The President unblushingly used his youth contingent to combat Democratic claims that most young new voters will side with George McGovern. On his arrival in Miami, he told the assembled youthful airport crowd: "Based on what I see and feel here today, we're going to win the young voters." Within minutes of his nomination, he assured some 6,000 young people at a rock and show business rally in Miami's Marine Stadium that the votes of their peers were not "in anyone's pocket." He aimed parts of his acceptance speech at the young, suggesting that a vote for him would make "your first vote one of the best votes you ever cast in your life."

Beyond the televised happenings, members of the Young Voters group carried out quieter convention chores. They served as escorts to each of the 50 delegations, drove scores of cars to help party officials get around the city, held down about 35 clerical jobs, filled 40 posts as aides to Nixon Cabinet members. At the hall, 440 found jobs as messengers, pages and in other support roles. Even so, there were not enough duties to keep all of the youths fully occupied, and many felt underemployed. But for most, just being part of the convention scene was enough.

The young people were recruited by the under-30 division of the Committee for the Re-Election of the President, largely at the urging of Tennessee's Republican Senator Bill Brock. Now 41, Brock was elected a Congressman at the age of 31 and credits his youthful followers with his elevation to the Senate in 1970. Feeling at first that he was almost "the only living American who was confident of the youth vote going Republican this year," he says that he found a ready fellow believer in Nixon. Invited recently to brief the President for 20 minutes on their plans, key youth organizers were quizzed and encouraged by the President for an hour and a half. Two leaders of the Young Voters for the President, Ken Rietz, 30, and Tom Bell, 24, have served on Brock campaign staffs. Another, Jay Smith, 22, a former Hubert Humphrey worker from Boston, came to the realization that, "My God, Nixon has done some terrific things about the things the kids were complaining about."

Nepotism. The volunteers were recruited mainly through some 1,000 invitations to college Republican clubs and to 1,700 active young party workers. Charter flights were arranged to reduce their transportation costs ($125 from Los Angeles), and they paid $50 for five days of meals and $75 for five nights in hotels throughout the area. Most got help from parents, a few from local G.O.P. groups, but many worked at odd jobs to raise the money. "I had to borrow from aunts and uncles to come," said Richard Blair, 22, of Mobile, Ala. "I sold my electric typewriter and four of my textbooks."

There was an element of Republican nepotism in the youth group: the children of such party officials as White House Aides H.R. Haldeman and John Ehrlichman, Convention Chairman Gerald Ford and former Postmaster General Winton Blount held leadership posts. The Y.V.P. national chairman is Pam Powell, 24, daughter of the late Dick Powell and June Allyson. The tiny (5 ft.) blonde actress and publicist wielded a gavel almost as big as herself in opening one convention session.

Most of the youths did not feel they were being unfairly used for image purposes, although some felt a bit silly. "We went to rallies, rallies, rallies, and sometimes we didn't know who we were greeting," complained Dedree Hoyt, 17, of Los Angeles. Added Anne Martin, 17, of Carrollton, Ga.: "We paint these signs, take them over to a hotel, put on red, white and blue hats, scream, shout and clap. Nothing has anything to do with politics; it's all cheerleading." A few were angry. "I just got fed up with it," said Butch Stein, 17, of Elkins Park, Pa. "I just couldn't stand up every five minutes and cheer, cheer and cheer."

Why did most do it so willingly? Leaders of the group concede that it was not out of any intense adulation of Nixon as a personality. "They look at Nixon's record, not at him," said one young party pro. Repeatedly, they praised Nixon's foreign policy initiatives and the waning of high draft calls. "You can't laugh or scoff at the SALT agreement or the trip to Peking," contended Boston's Jay Smith. They hope to return home and fire up other young people to work and vote for Nixon's reelection. Theirs is an unemotional appreciation of Nixon's record, contrasted with the more excited feelings that many youths have for the reformist promises of McGovern. It is a lively and intriguing clash that undoubtedly will continue until Election Day.

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