Political Notes

Humphrey's Problem. If a deadlocked Democratic convention nominated Hubert Humphrey, how would he go over with voters? In a national survey conducted for TIME by Yankelovich, Skelly and White, 1,002 Americans were asked if they found Humphrey acceptable as a candidate, regardless of their first choice for President. Only 40% of the sample said they did; a walloping 46% found him unacceptable, probably a reflection that he has been around too long. By contrast, President Ford was acceptable to 58% and unacceptable to only 36%, and Ronald Reagan also had a favorable rating, 45% to 35%. The Democrat with the most favorable rating was Edward Kennedy: 47% found him acceptable, 42% unacceptable.

Connolly's Barbecue. Ostensibly it will be just another Texas barbecue, but it smells like presidential politicking. The 50 Republican state chairmen have been invited to a working session at a San Antonio hotel on March 12, followed by a meeting next day at the ranch of John Connally--four days after the Florida primary, Texas Republican Chairman Ray Hutchison says he asked Connally to play host and insists that the group is meeting only to discuss the problems Republican candidates for Congress will face. But if Ronald Reagan does well against President Ford in New Hampshire and Florida, some of the anti-Reagan state chairmen may well chew over the possibility of making "Big John " their candidate.

Rocky's Bid? Nelson Rockefeller's aides say that he is more than just mulling over his chances for the Republican nomination should Ford falter. In the next few months Rocky will try to flash into the public eye, making many "noncampaign" speeches on subjects ranging from federalism to the future of science, as well as traveling abroad as a Bicentennial good-will ambassador. His prospects seem close to zero, but he has one asset: the U.S. Supreme Court ruling on campaign spending removed all limits on the amount of personal cash a candidate may spend as long as he accepts no federal matching funds.

Ups and Downs. Voter registration is up in some of the early primary states. Compared with 1972, it has risen from 424,000 to an estimated 436,000 registered voters in New Hampshire, from 2.78 million to 2.84 million in Massachusetts and from 3 million to 3.5 million in Florida. But in big cities, registration is down--by 102,000 in Chicago and 42,000 in Boston. Since cities are Democratic bastions, this downward trend may hurt the Democrats in November.

This file is automatically generated by a robot program, so viewer discretion is required.