Startling Salvo

Sharp rebuke from Stevenson

Jimmy Carter expects criticism from the left and from the right; he may even welcome it as solidifying his own position in the political center. But now he has received a stinging rebuke from someone who shares roughly the same middle ground. In a near unprecedented attack from a party regular, Democratic Senator Adlai Stevenson III of Illinois has called Carter "embarrassingly weak" in both domestic and foreign policy. He added that the President's staff is "bush league."

Stevenson last week told TIME: "The nation was never exalted to high levels of endeavor by reorganization plans and zero-based budgeting. In fact, the strong Presidents may have been least occupied by matters of management. A great President has an agenda for the nation."

The usually reserved and retiring Stevenson is especially concerned about deterioration in an area in which America has always excelled: technological progress. Says he: "The vanquished of World War II -Japan and Germany -have overtaken us. We and the British are ossified by habit, by powerful interests, and are losing our capacity to win in this highly competitive new environment. And if we can't win, we lose the source of our political authority." He urges universities, businesses and Government to enter into a partnership to improve technology. "Our most competitive industries are the most technology-intensive, and most are Government supported. Our aerospace industry dominates the world by happenstance. Imagine what we could do by calculation if we try!"

Stevenson urges the establishment of a Government-controlled corporation to explore for oil around the world and negotiate prices with petroleum-producing nations. "We leave ourselves at the mercy of a few multinational corporations that have no incentive to bargain for low prices," he says.

Carter conducts foreign affairs, says Stevenson, "like high-level tourism instead of the hard work of diplomacy." Stevenson would prefer to emphasize economic measures more than military in combatting Soviet expansionism.

Having broken with the President, Stevenson now seeks a wider audience. Like his famous father, he is a reflective man who seems a bit out of place in the political arena. He admits that he has become increasingly restless in the Senate. "This place is not the great public forum that it once was."

Stevenson is toying with the idea of running for President against Carter or even starting a third party. He is also considering television appearances. Though his TV presence is less than electrifying, he believes the American people are ready to listen to common sense, as his father used to say. "I don't think ideas are incompatible with political reality," he declares. "I may be the real politician. The others may be the unrealistic ones."

Stevenson's proposals are not very original and are more than a bit vague, and his prospects for the presidency remain dim at this time. What is unusual is his breaking rank to attack his own party's President -a sign of Carter's loosening grip on the great Middle America, whose support he needs to be an effective Chief Executive and to be reelected. qed

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