Flank Assault

Few politicians are willing to take on Virginia's Senator Harry Flood Byrd Jr. Byrd is running as an independent, no Republican is challenging him, and several Democrats have dropped out. That leaves the field open to Admiral Elmo Russell Zumwalt Jr. (ret.), former Chief of Naval Operations, who will announce his candidacy on the Democratic ticket in a few weeks.

The race will pit a formidable family dynasty against a brilliant and out spoken military man. Zumwalt, 55, was the youngest CNO ever, helped humanize the service and raised its re-enlistment rate from 9.5% to 30%.

Zumwalt has been making news not by lambasting Byrd but by launching a flanking attack on a personal target--Secretary of State Henry Kissinger. He accuses Kissinger of "lying in his teeth" when the Secretary soft-pedaled violations of nuclear arms agreements by the U.S.S.R., of running "a secret, Metternichian policy that seeks to mislead, not to lead, and of "creating peace in our time by pushing disaster into our children's future." The Admiral's assault seems an odd political tactic since Byrd, also a supporter of the Pentagon, has not taken any stand for or against Kissinger's policies. Nevertheless, veteran Virginia politicians give Zumwalt a slim fighting chance to upset Byrd.

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