Nixon 1, Senate 0

Since Election Day, the President has been arguing that he has achieved working control of the Senate. But the 92nd Congress will not be seated until January, and in the interim the White House wanted very much to demonstrate forward momentum by winning its first important test in the current lame-duck session. When the showdown came last week--on a Senate move to override a Nixon veto--the Administration won a close fight.

At issue was more than a bill to put a ceiling on candidates' expenditures for political advertising on TV and radio. It was also made clear to G.O.P. Senators that support of the veto was to be a test of party loyalty. The bill had been a popular measure, passing the Senate 60-19. While its backing was bipartisan, Nixon's veto was not. The Republicans have more campaign funds to spend than the Democrats and thus have more to lose by an expenditure limit. Another point on many legislators' minds was the belief that the public is increasingly opposed to lavish campaign spending.

Sensing this, the Nixon forces, led by Senate Minority Leader Hugh Scott, hammered away at the shortcomings of the bill itself. If financial abuses are to be attacked, their argument went, they should be attacked on all fronts, not just TV and radio. Some of the bill's G.O.P. proponents agreed, but if they were to vote to kill the present bill, they insisted, the Administration would have to promise a broader measure later on.

They got half a promise. In a letter to Scott, the President said, "The Administration will work closely with you in an effort to arrive at a bill which will deal with all problems of political campaigns." To the unwary, the statement could be read as a commitment. But as White House sources admitted, the President had only agreed to "cooperate" in seeking a new formula. There was no personal pledge to get new legislation through.

Still, the letter, along with Scott's appeal for party loyalty, carried the day. The Senate voted 58 to 34 to override, four shy of the required two-thirds majority. Only six Democrats voted with Nixon, all Southerners except for Connecticut's Thomas Dodd. Nine liberal Republicans voted against the President.

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