Coaxing and Coddling a Delegation

Since Reconstruction, the Republican Party has not amounted to much in Mississippi. It helped Barry Goldwater carry the state in 1964 and Richard Nixon in 1972, and today it has two Congressmen out of five. But it has only two state senators out of 52 and three state representatives out of 122. Jests Mississippi House Member Jerry Gilbreath: "We have a minority leader, a party whip and one whippee--me."

Thus the 60-member Mississippi delegation to the Republican National Convention has been both dismayed and delighted by its potentially pivotal role in selecting the party's presidential nominee. It has also been confused. After Ronald Reagan named the liberal Senator Richard Schweiker as his choice for a running mate, Delegate Malcolm Mabry changed his mind twice in 48 hours. He finally settled on Reagan--right where he had begun.

In coaxing and coddling the delegation, Reagan and Gerald Ford were dealing with a highly unpredictable beast. It is a shaky coalition of men and women, most of whom had bravely bolted the Democratic Party in the early 1960s, and a more recent group of "Bull Moosers," who are more aggressively seeking public office for the party or themselves.

The pioneers include State Chairman Clarke Reed, a Greenville businessman; W.D. ("Billy") Mounger, a wealthy contributor from Jackson; and Swan Yerger, a Jackson attorney. The new breed is led by Gil Carmichael, a Meridian Volkswagen dealer who ran remarkable, but losing races for Senator and Governor. Following tradition, the two factions agreed in April that the delegation would cast all of its 30 votes as a unit, based on a majority vote among all 60 members.

Still, tensions remain. The older Republicans, mainly for Reagan, have bristled at the intense pressures being applied by the insurgents, who generally back Ford. Three weeks ago, Reed was angered by what he termed Carmichael's "lies" in claiming that Ford then had 30 votes and Reagan would accept second place on a Ford ticket. Repeated soundings by TIME correspondents showed that Mississippi had been leaning toward Reagan, but his choice of Schweiker pushed the delegation into a truly uncertain category.

Ford took advantage of the opening two weeks ago, flying to Jackson with Wife Betty to pose for photos with individual delegates and plunging into a two-hour, closed question-and-answer session. "He acted like the President of the U.S. should," said one delegate. Reagan supporters had prepared a three-page list of hot queries, but Ford was ready. One reason: a sympathetic delegate had slipped the White House an advance look at most of the questions. After Ford's successful trip, his chief Southern strategist, Harry Dent, said any attempt to get the delegation to buy the Schweiker candidacy would be "like trying to sell iceboxes to Eskimos."

Reagan and Schweiker both made an earnest try last week. In Jackson, they held a private two-hour meeting with 51 of the delegates and alternates. The Ford backers emerged confident. "He blew it," Delegate Doug Shanks, Ford's state coordinator, said of Schweiker. Agreed Alternate E.C. ("Bubba") Harris, a Pascagoula chemical engineer: "He explained his voting record. But I just couldn't buy it. I cannot see President Schweiker carrying out the policies of the late President Reagan." Conceded Reagan Delegate Coordinator Yerger: "It's hard to say if we held our own. We may have lost one or two."

Overall, the delegation is a mixture of lawyers, businessmen, farmers, public officials and housewives. One-third are women; only four are black. Difficult to gauge, the delegation is moving cautiously toward its decision. "What if we'd endorsed Reagan two weeks ago?" asked State Legislator Gilbreath last week. "Where'd we be now? Up the creek, that's where."

The delegation insists that it will not decide how to vote until it reaches Kansas City. TIME'S latest count shows that Ford gained three delegates last week. The totals: Ford 30, Reagan 16, uncommitted 14. If the delegation decided to abandon the unit rule, however, the 30 alternates would not count. That would produce a closer match: Ford 12, Reagan 9, uncommitted 9. While still slipping toward Ford, the Mississippi delegation remained one of the most fascinating mysteries of the G.O.P.'s dramatic battle.

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