Why Is Jimmy Smiling? Why Not?

A confident Jimmy Carter was speaking last week at a press conference in Washington, but his words were carrying 5,000 miles to an attentive audience in the Kremlin. "It is very important that the strength of the presidency itself be recognized as deriving from the people of this nation," he said. "When I do speak, I don't speak with a hollow voice, [but] I'm strongly supported by the Congress and the people."

This double-barreled statement was Carter's rationale both for his people-to-people style as President and for its international version, which could be called airwave diplomacy. In effect, he was telling Soviet Party Boss Leonid Brezhnev that he would keep on castigating the Russians for suppressing human rights and telling Americans about foreign policy as it takes shape.

To reinforce this attitude, Carter opened his press conference by noting that he has been criticized for taking "issues-that affect foreign policy directly to the people." There has been concern that his public statements on arms limitation talks and the Middle East have gone too far, that they could impede diplomatic negotiations. But Carter remains convinced that by sharing the business of the nation with the nation, he can win both public and congressional support and strengthen his own hand in foreign affairs. Said he: "It is good for us, even in very complex matters, when the outcome of negotiations might still be in doubt, to let the members of Congress and the people of this country know what is going on and some of the options to be pursued."

Carter then proceeded to outline in detail an ambitious agenda for Secretary of State Cyrus Vance's talks with Brezhnev in Moscow this week (see THE WORLD). Said Carter: "We don't know whether or not we'll be successful at all. But we go in good faith, with high hopes."

Open Borders. With similar high hopes, Carter continued taking steps to clear diplomatic channels that have long been closed. As evidence of the value he places on open borders, the Administration has officially ended bans on the use of U.S. passports to visit Cambodia, Cuba, North Korea and Viet Nam and on U.S. currency spending in Cuba. Last week the U.S. began negotiating on fishing regulations with Cuba -- the first direct meetings between the countries since 1961. Carter announced that the U.S. and Viet Nam will reopen talks in Paris that might lead to establishing normal relations. He did not rule out an eventual agreement on trade and foreign aid, but said the U.S. does not feel that it owes Viet Nam a debt or should pay reparations for the war damage. More overtures to hostile nations can be expected. Said Carter: "My own natural inclination is to have normal diplomatic relationships with all countries."

Carter was also moving toward more openness on the domestic scene. He proposed a series of election reforms that would include more Americans in the political process. One would abolish the electoral college and have the President elected directly by the people (see box). Another would allow all qualified Americans, even if unregistered, to vote in federal elections simply by going to their polling places and showing proof of identity and place of residence. This probably would increase voting by poor whites, as well as by blacks and Hispanics. (In Minnesota and Wisconsin, which already have simplified registration laws, voter turnout ranges from 66% to 72%, well above the national average of 53%.)

In another gesture of support for the average American, the Administration reaffirmed that Carter in the fall will advocate a faker revenue system that will tax all income the same. He will recommend lowering some tax rates, eliminating some deductions and ending the double taxation of dividends. The Administration also promised a simpler tax form.

This week there is solid evidence that Carter's efforts to woo the American people are paying off. A survey for TIME by Yankelovich, Skelly and White, Inc.--the most comprehensive poll to be published since Carter took office--shows a majority of Americans support his criticism of Soviet human rights violations, approve of his informal style and think that he can be trusted (see following story). Carter's own pollster, Patrick Caddell, finds that the President is making "major inroads" among groups of voters who gave him lukewarm support during the election, including Jews, blue-collar ethnics and small businessmen. Carter could pick up still more support after NBC broadcasts on April 14 a tape of one of his days in the White House.

Stormy Test. Washington Post Columnist David Broder complains Carter has pulled off his public opinion triumph despite indifferently delivered speeches that contain no memorable phrases. Indeed, Carter has gone so far as to order his speechwriters to hold their sentences at the ninth-grade level. One speechwriter told TIME that those guilty of highfalutin language "are quickly brought into line--by the leader [meaning Carter]." But, another insisted, "we are not writing down to people. If you follow Strunk and White's Elements of Style, you can meet his standard."

Whatever the intellectual level of Carter's involve-the-people campaign, its success has not shaken many Congressmen. "We admire a virtuoso performance when we see one," said Republican Representative Barber Conable of New York State. "We sure know he can frost a cake. The question is whether he knows how to bake one. When the real crunch comes--energy, trade, cutting the budget--that's when we'll see whether Carter can turn his popularity into votes up here."

The first stormy test will be Congress's attempt to prevent Carter from stopping construction of 30 high-priced water projects. Carter has not decided whether to appeal over Congressmen's heads to their constituents. But, even if he loses this fight, he may still win political points with the public. Predicted a Republican Congressman: "In 1980, he will cite it as the first example of the frustration he faced trying to balance the budget."

Carter regards some of his high ratings in the polls as honeymoon dazzle that will dissipate when he tackles more of the tough domestic issues, though his prediction that his energy policy will cost him ten to 15 points is probably a calculated overstatement. But his increasing public support already has helped to shelter him from the influence of some traditionally powerful special-interest groups.

The Administration last week shocked leaders of organized labor by recommending an immediate increase of only 20-c- in the minimum wage, now $2.30 an hour, rather than the 70-c- sought by the AFL-CIO. Carter concluded that a higher boost would be inflationary. AFL-CIO President George Meany denounced the Administration's proposal as "shameful." Labor suffered another setback when the House defeated its long-sought common situs picketing bill, which would have permitted pickets from a single construction union to shut down an entire building project. The White House did not oppose the bill but also did not lobby for it. The twin blows left the once powerful labor lobby looking weak and troubled.

The Administration also stunned farm leaders by proposing unexpectedly miserly increases in farm-support prices, which are normally the market floor. Under the proposal, the 1978 price-support levels would be $2.60 a bu. for wheat (up 13-c-), $1.75 a bu. for corn (up 5-c-), 47.5-c- a Ib. for cotton (down .3-c-) and 6.75-c- a lb. for rice (down 1.65-c-). By 1982, Carter wants to phase out price supports for peanuts, his family's crop. Complained Ford's 1976 running mate, Republican Senator Robert Dole of Kansas: "If they had talked like that before the election, they mightn't be in the White House." The Administration did please dairy fanners by boosting basic price supports for milk by 9% (estimated cost to consumers: 6-c- a gal.), both to fulfill a campaign promise and offset higher feed costs because of the drought in the West and Midwest.

It was little wonder in such a week that Carter could afford to take a conciliatory approach to two former political foes. One was California Governor Jerry Brown, who beat Carter in three primaries but nonetheless became the first nonfamily visitor to spend a night in the White House. The other was Gerald Ford, who stopped by the Oval Office to chat during his first visit to Washington since leaving office. That Carter felt at home entertaining both visitors signified that the opening phase of Carter's presidency is at an end. In the first week of his third month in office, Jimmy Carter, whose election victory was as thin as springtime pond ice, is, for the moment at least, on solid ground with the electorate.

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