In Missouri, Kit Against the Caboodle

THE Governor's race in Missouri is a headline writer's ideal of brevity: Dowd v. Bond. But even more, it fascinates political editors, who wonder whether a young, rich, handsome, Establishment-educated reformer can defeat an entrenched Democratic machine that has held the governorship since 1944. Chances are that he might, judging from campaign performances so far by Christopher ("Kit") Bond, 33.

Bond has family wealth and other advantages: he is Deerfield-Princeton-University of Virginia, but he speaks with a noticeable Missouri twang. Wife Carolyn, a slim brunette with a Phi Beta Kappa key and a master's degree in guidance and counseling, campaigns along with her husband. Working the middle of the road Bond persuaded both Nelson Rockefeller and Ronald Reagan to stump for him.

Bond's best asset, however, is the solid issue of mismanagement and the Democratic machine. Elected state auditor two years ago, he set out to investigate state and county offices that in some cases had not been audited for two decades or more. He quickly discovered, for example, that thousands of license plates had vanished, presumably to be sold illegally.

Using a chartered two-engine Piper Seneca, Bond has crisscrossed Missouri since he handily won the G.O.P. primary, speaking on "the mess in Jefferson City" to factory workers and college students, and appearing at professional lunches and $3-a-plate dinners. He also plugs for penal reform, more women in state government, and lighter penalties on marijuana users.

Against such a barrage, Democratic Candidate Edward L. Dowd, 54, has found himself on the defensive in a strongly Democratic state. Dowd, a onetime FBI agent and St. Louis police board president, has so far found little to campaign on except his law-and-order record. Other than that, he belittles his opponent's age with references to "Kid" Bond.

Nixon, who won Missouri by only 20,000 votes in 1968, will certainly do much better this year. This ought to help Bond, although Missouri voters are notable vote splitters. The gubernatorial election is a tossup, but it may favor Bond either way. If he wins, he becomes the nation's youngest Governor. If he loses, he has already attracted so much attention that he is being talked up as Stuart Symington's 1976 senatorial opponent.

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