The Growling on Ford's Right

A few months ago, nothing would have been more amicable than a meeting between President Ford and Republican Senators. But last week, when nine members of the Senate's conservative steering committee were ushered into the Oval Office, the mood was solemn. The Senators, led by Idaho's James McClure, were there to deliver, in effect, an ultimatum. Stop your leftward slide, they warned the President, or we will stop supporting you.

On their list of musts was a moratorium on all new federal spending programs through 1976. "We want him to shout that loud and clear, right now," declared a Senator. Nor would they tolerate the nationalization of any troubled industry like the railroads. "We are on the brink of socialism," said a participant. "We want a clear commitment that he will not compromise the free enterprise system." Despite their solemn admonitions phrased in blunt language, the Senators came away believing they had not got their message across to the noncommittal President. "We sensed the same old attitude," said one of them. "We still get the feeling that the White House thinks 'Where else will you go?' "

Third Party. The conservatives are not sure where they will go; they are divided on that. But they are all agreed that they should put as much ground as possible between themselves and the President's current policies. Unless he changes political direction, they are prepared to back another candidate for President in 1976, most likely Ronald Reagan (see box), or even start a third party. Although the Republican right is not a large group, it plays a dominant role in party affairs.

Now they are flexing this growing muscle. Early this month, a group of 28 key conservatives--members of Congress, business executives, party activists and even a labor representative--met at a resort on Maryland's Eastern Shore to map out strategy leading up to 1976. They did not agree on a blueprint for action, but as former USIA Director Frank Shakespeare put it, "You could see ideas fermenting there, people considering things they would have considered heretical two or three years ago, asking what is the right thing to do with respect to the country and conservative principles." Said New York Senator James Buckley, who organized the meeting: "We want to be sure we are not left out of the 1976 election. There is the intention to be around and to be heard before somebody is nominated at the convention. We want to have the troops in place so as not to be surprised."

Too Late. The conservative grievances against the Administration have been rapidly multiplying. Conservatives fault Ford for his budget deficit, his compromises with Democrats in Congress, his amnesty program, his pursuit of detente, his appointment of moderates and liberals to office, especially Vice President Nelson Rockefeller. Nothing that Rocky has done--not his hawkishness on defense, not his firmness on law-and-order, not his fiscal moderation --has managed to erase his liberal image among the unforgiving right. Says Ronald Docksai, chairman of the Young Americans for Freedom, a conservative student and youth organization with about 50,000 members: "The choice of Rockefeller was perceived as a betrayal."

Rather than accept a Ford-Rockefeller ticket in 1976, or worse yet, the prospect of Rocky in the top spot should Ford step aside, many conservatives want to start a third party now. Last month some 450 conservatives meeting in Washington cheered M. Stanton Evans, chairman of the American Conservative Union, when he declared, "It's too late. We've gone beyond the point of no return." The sentiment was obviously in favor of a new party, and a Committee on Conservative Alternatives was set up under the leadership of North Carolina Senator Jesse Helms to explore the possibility of breaking away from the G.O.P. if it does not meet their standards. William Rusher, publisher of National Review, envisions a coalition of traditional Republicans, Wallace Democrats and elements of organized labor in opposition to the "nonproducing elite (media, teachers, foundations and bureaucracy) and the huge (and equally nonproductive) welfare constituency."

The prospect of a conservative third party's fracturing what is left of the post-Watergate G.O.P. horrifies regular Republicans, as speaker after speaker made plain at a gathering of 2,700 state and local party leaders in Washington last week. It began with the bad news that the party's own survey shows only 7% of voters now regard themselves as strong Republicans and only 18% as Republicans at all: 42% of Americans say they are Democrats, and 40% independents. President Ford warned against "fanatic factions" and "elite guards" who would threaten the rebuilding of the party and could contribute to "the death of the two-party system so vital to this nation." Rockefeller sounded the same note to the delegates, saying: "I don't want to see one party of the right and one of the left. I want a party that represents all the people, all points of view." Missouri Governor Christopher Bond was blunt: "I am a little tired of reading about Republicans meeting to discuss the so-called third party option, or organizing committees to 'watch' the President."

Promised Land. Yet many conservatives are not so concerned with winning as with making their point. They are convinced that the long-range trend is toward conservatism in America. They want to lead the way to the promised land without much regard for the losses suffered en route. Says a conservative who participated in the Buckley meeting: "We've got to be successful with Ford--or we can't hold them back. The dam will break."

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