REPUBLICANS MORE UNIFIED

Press, Volume CVI, Issue 31278, 26 January 1967, Page 11

REPUBLICANS MORE UNIFIED

(From

FRANK OLIVER,

special

correspondent N Z.P.A.) WASHINGTON, January 25. The Republicans are off and running. The sweet smell of possible victory is in their nostrils and they have abandoned the negativism of the last five years and have laid out a positive programme which even their most vocal critics concede marks them as a reasonable and responsible opposition.

This new tack is also bringing into the limelight new Repulican names, new, that is, on the national stage, and there is the prospect of the party having a small handful of names to juggle with when it comes time to pick a Presidential runner in 1968.

There is, it is conceded, a better chance of a united Republican Party than at any time since Mr Eisenhower left [office. In part this is because | of the withdrawal from i National politics of one Mr Barry Goldwater. The 1964 candidate has lowered his

sights and now aims at getting back to the Senate from his home state of Arizona and is concentrating on that one state instead of the 50 he aimed at in 1964. His action has dismayed his very conservative followers who are now left without a leader of any stature. The conservatives can be said to be in disarray and consequently the chances of welding the party into a coherent whole are better than in many a year.

The change in the Grand Old Party has been as remarkable as it has been swift. When Congress assembled three weeks ago the Republicans appeared as disunited as ever, still wallowing in negativism.

The change started when Senator Dirksen and Mr Gerald Ford, Republican leaders, issued their “state of the union” message in reply to that given by the President. It turned out to be the most forward looking Republican document in several years and consequently cheered members of the party and all who felt that the one-sided-ness of political life threatened t< undermine and mayj be destroy the two-party I system. ' The new Republicanism is

committed to equality as “the right of every American,” stands for reorganisation of all federal aid programmes, believes in tax-sharing with the states, wants a national committee on the pressing urban affairs of the nation’s cities, is behind a cost of living adjustment for the 23 million Americans now getting social security payments, is strong for legislation to curb emergency strikes in industries of national importance and that affect the national welfare, believes that national campaigns should be conducted over the television networks and wants to reorganise the anti-poverty programmes.

It is admittedly weaker on foreign issues than on domestic. It offers no real alternative to current Vietnam policies but wants no settlement that might imperil peace. It is against Administration proposals for increased East-West trade while Communist countries are helping Hanoi. This over-simplifi-cation has occasioned much criticism of the programmes of the opposition. As the “Washington Post” comments, it is not in the interests of the United I States to reduce foreign policy

to the pursuit of one goal at the expense of all others. The main virtue of the new Republican stand is that it avoids what has been called “customary exaggeration and partisan effusion” and has been presented in a manner io encourage legitimate debate. This is regarded here as a tremendous step forward, a big step towards full working of the two-party system. In addition interesting new Republican personalities are coming to the fore in the Senate. The unwritten law of that august body is that the “new boys” take a back seat and keep their lips buttoned for at least six months. The new crop of Republican senators is behaving as if they had never heard of the rule and notable among them is Senator Charles Percy, a young intellectual Industrialist from Illinois. At a recent meeting of the Republican policy committee he was the opening speaker and impressed his colleagues by a statement on urban problems, particularly housing. Coming from Chicago he knows a good deal about this and spoke effectively about the need for a new dawn for American cities.

Before the day was out he had the backing of 25 senators for his proposals. Joseph Kraft, noted columnist of he “Washington Post,” has already referred to Mr Percy as “the most promising of all the new Republicans in town.” It is clear that Mr Percy is against any coalition between his party and the Southern conservative Democrats in the Upper Chamber, believing that even if this enabled Republicans to dominate the Congress it could only continue the negativism which has marked Republicans for some years. As a result of his impressive start and his obvious flair for Congressional strategy and tactics, Mr Percy is already being spoken of as a contender against Governor Romney for Presidential nomination in 1968. It may well be a little early for that kind of comment but it is clear that the new senator from Illinois is a “coming man” in his party. Nor is he alone. Impressive starts have been made by Mr Brooke, the new Negro senator from Mas’sachusetts, and Mr Hatfield, the former Governor of Oregon. ’■