European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - June 12, 1980, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Page 12 the stars and stripes Anthony Lewis thursday june 12, 1960 Carter ticket can t take Kennedy for granted in the last Days of the primary Campaign sen. Edward Kennedy flew ii round the country in what seemed the most hopeless of ventures. Mathematically it was All Over president Carter was sure of a Delegate majority. Yet those who saw Kennedy saw a Man enjoying himself hugely. Learly one morning he was on the docks in Newark . It 6 30. The next at an aircraft Plant Gate in Burbank Calif. Along with serious talk there were easy jokes often self mocking. Looking at an old Adobe building in san Jose Calif., he said it reminded him and Here his voice dropped into a gloomy parody of Liberal stump orators of that old Republican economic  it was not just the jokes either. He was much More relaxed As a speaker than he used to be his voice less strident. Talk about his failure As a candidate did not ruffle him in the plane on the Way Home the regulars in the accompanying press did a skit that compared him to Kohoutek the vanishing Comet and he sat there laugh ing. In a word he seemed contented. Why the question fascinated everyone who watched Kennedy. I think its answers Are both personal and political. And i think they matter in the 1980 Campaign. Carrying on in the face of defeat must have been an enormously important per Sonal Challenge to Edward Kennedy. He was the youngest child spared much of the rough and Tumble of that family. He had never lost an election before Iowa in Janu Ary. Some expected him to fold then or after the Illinois disaster in March. By sticking it out he paid his dues to the family. In a sense he was free. And the Way he acted in adversity impressed Many people not least the overwhelmingly sceptical reporters covering him. He never blamed anyone else he never got angry. He could not be drawn into a single harsh word about the friends who had pleaded with him to enter the race and then scared did nothing to help him John Culver of Iowa for example or Birch Bayh of Indiana. So Kennedy had reason to feel that he had met tests of character in this Campaign even while losing the Delegate con test in Good part because of Public doubts about his character. But there was a Politi Cal reason at least As important for his serenity at the end he was More convinced than Ever that president Carter was wrong on the Central economic Issue. The High unemployment High interest economic policy did t work for William Mckinley he said in Cleveland did t work for Herbert Hoover and it won t work for Jimmy Carter. I say it s time to put a real Democrat in the White  Kennedy s differences with Carter on economic policy go much deeper than plat form oratory. He thinks there is something wrong with a democratic president who plans the country into a major recession. He keeps talking about the Cost not in statistics but in human terms a steel worker whom he met who lost his Job after 17 years mothers whose babies die be cause they cannot afford proper medical care. I never would have forgiven myself for not running Kennedy said in a talk on the plane going Home. He said he was con Vinced most democrats shared his doubts about the administration s economic policy. And he added a pointed comment about leadership. "1 think this country is ready to take off he said. There is scepticism about leaders about institutions. But i m con the opinions expressed in the column and car loons on this Page represent Tom of the authors and in in no Way to be considered is pres Mlong the views of the stars and so ropes or the United states government. Vinced that if people thought there was fairness in policy they would respond in an amazing Way. I Don t think Carter understands what s out there. People say this country has been numbed by what s happened in the last 10 or 20 years but Carter by the Way he disappointed people has reinforced that  the arithmetic of the convention re Mains it is hard to imagine any scenario that would Lead to Kennedy s nomination. Chappaquiddick remains too. Nor do i think that Kennedy has offered anything like a coherent solution to the economic problems facing this country and others. But it is not exactly Clear sailing for Jimmy Carter either. A Good Many of the delegates pledged to him at the convention will have their doubts private or not so private. How can democrats be enthusiastic about nominating a Man who could not carry new York new Jersey connect Cut Pennsylvania or California in the Pri Maries and by August the country will be deeper in recession. Kennedy will go to the convention with More than a third of the delegates strongly committed to him. He will go As a confident Man and one whose performance in recent months unlike Carters has left few democratic professionals angry. He will go with a traditional democratic argument that he has made in the primaries and probably again in speeches during the summer. And he will go i think with everyone understanding that a Carter ticket could not take him for granted