Trying to Put Glenn in Orbit

A shake-up reveals a damaging split in the candidate's staff

With all the publicity generated by the new movie The Right Stuff, perhaps the presidential candidacy of the Ohio Senator and former astronaut ought to be in some kind of celestial orbit. In reality, down-to-earth problems seem to be causing the John Glenn campaign to sputter. The latest sign of trouble: a major shake-up of Glenn's staff that reflects serious problems within the Senator's campaign effort.

Last week Glenn's political director, Joe Grandmaison, was fired. Replacing him was veteran Political Strategist Robert Keefe. He was given the new and somewhat nebulous title of senior adviser for political affairs. Though Keefe actually broke the news to Grandmaison, behind the shake-up was William White, Glenn's campaign manager, who described the personnel change as merely a "midcourse correction."

Perhaps. But at odds with his colleagues, Grandmaison, a volatile New Hampshire-bred politician, had failed to construct an overall national organization even close to that of Glenn's main competitor, Walter Mondale. A lack of focus pervaded the campaign effort virtually from the moment Glenn announced for the presidency in April, according to Grandmaison's critics, who certainly included White. In fact, White began putting together a reshuffled team long before Grandmaison was actually sacked. He hired a political consultant, Geoffrey Hockman, his former Ohio State roommate, to undertake a three-week study of the campaign, and last week made Hockman his deputy. He lured aboard savvy Washington Lobbyist Thomas Boggs to handle congressional relations. And newly appointed Keefe had actually been advising the campaign informally for several months. Says White: "We needed an experienced organization to reach out to the political structure in the states. Bob is the best man to do this."

For his part, Grandmaison blamed his ouster on his colleagues' preference for the electronic media at the expense of an essential, if costly, grass-roots organization. Says he: "A lot of it had to do with my inability to persuade Bill White to make the necessary investment to build a field campaign." The two men began feuding in earnest last month, when White decided to close the California staff office and cut back funds in Wisconsin.

There are those who believe that White is part of Glenn's problems as well. The Senator's administrative assistant for eight years, White, the only aide truly close to the candidate, has had his share of personality difficulties with colleagues many times in the past. Notes a Democratic Congressman: "If the reorganization permits Keefe to function, you may see the blooming of the Glenn campaign. If White only circles the wagons around him, it may be the last gasp." Says Tim Finchem, Mondale's finance director: "We don't see anywhere a depth to their organization. We assume they'll be running a media-oriented campaign."

The White team unquestionably has a lot of ground to make up. It has weak field organizations in Iowa, New Hampshire and Maine. As of the end of September, Mondale had raised $6.1 million in campaign funds to Glenn's $4.1 million.

Last week a Manchester, N.H., poll showed that its residents prefer former Vice President Mondale to Glenn more than 2 to 1. The endorsement of Massachusetts Governor Michael Dukakis went to Mondale instead of Glenn. Political insiders say such losses are all too typical of Glenn's slow-moving and thinly spread campaign machine. This file is automatically generated by a robot program, so viewer discretion is required.