European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - August 21, 1968, Darmstadt, Hesse                              196t the stars and stripes Page f w w nearly Lection in Tho a Rod. And Nixon himself at a Moder party. Thus Tho condition arc present for a cloth race and hence one in which Tho Power of Tho negro Vete can finally to fairly letter Tho l�6i presidential Raco ought Cem w -. .1. Aro Vole a Roc to How who Thor any party can Ord Low for a of All of America 21 million negroes and still win the White Houtos. There Are obvious Politi Cal advantages in a Strong White Appeal but will they offset the disadvantage of losing virtually All of Tho Black vote which is what appear to be in the cards for the gop this year not Long before the recent re publican convention Ray c. Slis Tho Cool and canny a the party think Iet told in the nogo Hen Barry gom water who got Only about 7 por Clayton it of the n Fritchey re pub Cana i overwhelm Defeated. That wat not a St however for ool Wator j doubtless have lost regardless of he Black vote. He had to run against on incumbent president at the Peak of hit popularity. His extremism divided i own party. Hit War like campaigning alarmed Tho Public. This year it it another Honal chairman of Aid we Haven t had a majority of the negro vote since the depression. But we be got to get our share of this vote or we re in  he said our share in 1968 meant about 35 per cent As against 19 per cent in the 1966 congressional elections and about 7 per cent in the 1964 presidential election. If he is right about this then the party does have a big prob Lem on its hands for some re publican leaders privately Esti mate that Nixon and Agnew will get less than 10 per cent of the Black vote and most negro Lead ers think they will get less than 5 per cent. Nixon has a Good personal record on civil rights but in the negro Community thumbs Are Down on him because 1 he has been campaigning hard for Law and order which among Black Means repression ahead of re form 2 he built his candidacy on Southern support 3 he openly relied on sen. Strom thur mond the racist Leader of the Dixie rats at the National convention and 4 he chose gov. Spiro Agnew for hit running mate. Like Nixon Agnew has a respectable record on civil rights but to the negro world his views on handling Urban disturbances seem harsh and unfriendly. Nixon does t agree he has irretrievably lost the negro vote. When i finish this Campaign he says negroes Are going to know that my heart is in the right place and they Are going to respect  recent polls he added show that 40 per cent of negro voters favored the democrats 50 per cent were undecided and 10 per cent were for him. To believes the percentage for him will Rise when he begin campaigning. He could be right but at of today there is not a prominent negro Leader conservative moderate Liberal or Radi Cal who is supporting him or is Likely to. It is reasonable to suppose however that Nixon has a Good Chance to Harvest a substantial backlash vote but it will have to be much larger than Ever before to offset the Power of the negro vote in the Large Urban centers. In the nation s 10 biggest cities the negro population ranges from 15 to Over 50 per cent. If the Black vote is cast solidly against the gop it is obvious that Nixon and Agnew face an Uphill fight in the North where the critical electoral votes Are concentrated. C 1968, new Day Ine William f. Buckley or. Fort As owes an explanation James Jackson Kilpatrick the Brilliant editor and column it is perhaps the country t deft tit court watcher and to hat come up with a suggestion that appears to make a lot of tense in connection with the impasto Over the confirmation of Abe Fortas As chief Justice of Tho supreme court. It happens that fort a wat one of five supreme court Jutt Kot who ruled a year or so ago a a majority on the matter of "0-12." the background is Simp Hilt. The state of California moved against a los Angelet enter pro Neur one of whose items was a movie "0-12" any child could see by tumbling a few quarters into a machine at said opera Tor s Arcade. The prosecution showed the jury the film and h did t take Long to establish to the jury s satisfaction that "0-12" failed All three of the tests the supreme court has insisted be met. I.e., "0-12" was clearly in tended As lascivious it clearly outraged prevalent standards and it was manifestly without redeeming social importance. Needless to say the entrepreneur appealed. He lost to the higher court but undeterred he dogged on to the supreme court which agreed to be the film. Five of the nine justices then voted to overrule the California courts and liberate "0-12" from the cooler. Now it happened that kit Patrick was shown "0-12," and a matter of coincidence i have seen it under Tho impeccable auspices of the chief of vice squad of lot Angulot was wondering whether to gone mad the alternative 9 that the majority of Tho supreme court had gone mad. I was Able to reassure him. Teems a trivial thing but Tho a Jestion a actually Boon a and Kilpatrick hat on a it that the Senate Judici Ary committee View "0-12" and h Ai Fortai v0rv imply sir to ind As to explain to it now ii u a i  " not you reason that am dment to Tho con � the United slate can judge should not be asked to explain hit reasoning when he Doet not choose to vouchsafe it. Surely what of Trudes from it All it the question Are we Deal ing with a fanatic there Are any number of reasons for doubt ing that Fortas is of that Breed. Still there Are suspicions and surely h it the prerogative not to toy Tho duty of the Senate to inquire into the question. If the Senate it entitled to ask the ques Tion h it surely entitled to the More particularized formulation. U it Only the fanatic who will View "0-12" and judge that it is protected under the constitutional guarantee of free speech one would fudge so. In which Case Only format it in a position to explain what would appear inferentially As the reasoning of a fanatic or an eccentric. Fortas Case is in Many ways confusing. There is to begin with the insinuation that opposition to him is caused by anti semitism. If Fortas is Defeated the president elect will almost certainly feel the necessity to nominate in his place another jewish lawyer so As to stand absolutely Clear of the fallout of anti semitism. But the charge is otherwise complicated because Fortas is in Many respects an analyst profoundly satisfactory to men of Law and order. In his recent essay on Dis sent and civil disobedience his general position comes close to being the exact opposite of Henry David Thoreau s. E.g., his specific remarks about the negro revolution the youth rebellion and in particular the relation of Law to the campuses about Viet Nam dissent about draft card burners and their incites. His opinion that they have a perfect right to go to jail but no right to complain about it is in the words of prof. Harry Jaffa about As conservative As any of us could reasonably  perhaps the whole mess could be cleared up by asking Fortas to break silence and explain his Odd opinion on "0-12." perhaps the other mysteries would then dissipate. Tax a hindu n  Syndicate inc. Lbs Ted could Rock convention boat 9 _ ii _ of l. _,._.&_two men linked by tragedy but separated by a political chasm could have an incalculable effect on the democratic National convention s Choice of a prot Montial nominee next week. President Johnson and sen. Edward t e d Kennedy insist they Are staying aloof from the. F. To Horst " he to. H. Eholt he could take armorial Pitlon that proceedings and personally want no part of the action in Chicago. Yet their potential for influencing the out come it to great that vice presi Dent Hubert Humphrey and sen. Eagono Mccarthy Tho leading candid atom for Tho nomination keep glancing warily Over their shoulders. It t difficult to toy which of Thorn Johnson or Kennedy could Havo the Motl Impact were one or both to change hit present trance in favor of a More Active Rele. That t what t making Humphrey and Mccarthy men so Jit Tery. Washington it bussing again with reports All denied Down at the lbs ranch that the president Wilt come Back on the scene to Rescue the party from its dilemma Over a candidate. Word that the president in t even planning at of now to at tend the convention is being met with Hearty to optimism. Even hit text Hospital Check up it regarded by some a proof that he is physically fit to wage an arduous Campaign. Humphrey advisers toy this is All Hogwash and that the presi Dent has no intention of getting Back into Tho race. Everybody it equally Abun Over the implications of Kennedy s scheduled luncheon speech wednesday before Tho chamber of Commerce in Worcester matt., hit first Public address since the stots nation of his brother sen. Robert f. Kennedy. Kennedy aides insist he in t reconsidering hit refusal to accept the vice presidential Nomi nation and intends to stay away the opinion pred to t i column and cartoon on to Page pro ent those of the author and Aro in no Way to a con id a a representing View of a and let a of or of the United Sute from the convention altogether. Nonetheless live television coverage was arranged for the speech. Kennedy is known to feel keenly that the party platform must break away from Johnson policy on Vietnam and there Are people at work in his behalf who still believe he it the Only demo crat whose presence on the ticket in first or second spot could guarantee the defeat of the Nixon Agnew opposition in november. A reconsideration by either Johnson or Kennedy could clearly change the whole Ball game now set for Chicago. But they would not even have to go that far to influence the outcome. For example a Kennedy nod for Mccarthy or a decision to throw his support to sen. George Mccovey the pro Kennedy third entry in the contest probably would Short circuit Humphrey s bid for the nomination. The ensuing fight Over Dele Gate votes might even be sufficient to lure lbs into the Pic lure at least As a Humphrey promoter. Humphrey however would just As soon keep the president on the sidelines. He s having enough trouble trying to convince people he is his own Man now. But Humphrey ites frankly Don t see How they could keep John son out of it if he decided to intervene. The president on the other hand could Rock the convention boat by policy action of a controversial sort at Home or abroad. A pro convention halt to the bombing of North Vietnam prob ably would be All that s Neces sary to swing hundreds of uncommitted delegates to Humphrey s Corner. A itt Tum to full scale bombing of the North would appear to be unthinkable at this Point in the Paris negotiations but if it happened the democratic schism in Chicago would be horrendous. Humphrey would be almost duty bound As a Loyal vice pres ident to approve the action of his chief. And in doing so a would assuredly damage pos Sibly destroy his chances for get Ting the nomination. A Ali  news of.