One In, One Out

For better or worse, mostly worse, the U.S. presidential campaigns begin earlier and earlier each quadrennium. Aspirants gear up sooner; indeed, some, like Democrats Henry Jackson and George Wallace, never really geared down from their 1972 campaigns. And likely prospects are finding the need to declare themselves in or out sooner than ever before. For their own particular reasons, Gerald Ford recently felt compelled to assert definitely that he would run in 1976, and Edward Kennedy that he would not. Last week there were two more decisions for '76, both by liberal Democrats, one opting in and one out.

The man who announced in was Congressman Morris K. Udall of Arizona, 52, the brother of the former Secretary of the Interior and a tall, effective politician who appeals to the likes of George McGovern's 1972 constituency. The man who dropped out was Minnesota Senator Walter Mondale, 46, a Kennedyesque liberal who has spent a year in "exploratory" campaigning toward '76, traveling and speaking in 30 states. That experience, he said, had taught him that "I do not have the overwhelming desire to be President which is essential for the kind of campaign that is required." He had also discovered, of course, that there did not seem to be any overwhelming desire on the part of the electorate to see him a candidate. But that discovery has not deterred less able politicians, and in having the courage of his perceptions and acting on them, Mondale deserves some praise.

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