Watergate: Still an Issue?

Why have Gerald Ford and Ronald Reagan been unable to rally more national support for the Republican cause? Why does Jimmy Carter--an engaging but not dynamic man--enjoy a lead of 2 to 1 in public opinion surveys? Undoubtedly that will change some after the Republicans make their choice this week and voters are confronted with a real candidate, not just a possibility. Yet the questions continue to tantalize.

Reagan's narrow base is explainable after a long season of careless talk about cutting $90 billion from the federal budget and getting tough with the Russians in Africa, plus his new-found compatibility with Liberal Senator Richard Schweiker.

But Gerald Ford's continuing unpopularity is another matter. It has been pointed out repeatedly that he is not very exciting, gives bad speeches, and now and then shows up in California when he should be behind his desk or vice versa. But this is trivial. If anything has distinguished the American people in the past several years, it has been their ability to disregard such things and get to the heart of important matters and men--like Viet Nam and Richard Nixon.

British Journalist Henry Fairlie has written of the American resurgence, of a nation regaining its courage and vigor. Yet the caretaker of this resurgence is at an extraordinarily low ebb in public opinion, leading a party also in bad estate.

Does the answer to this anomaly lie in Watergate and the sins of Richard Nixon--more to the point, the sins of those who condoned and even supported Nixon right up to the end? We have constantly surprised ourselves with the impact of Watergate. It reached deeper into our lives than anybody calculated. Just last week, before he went off to chair the Republican Convention, Congressman John Rhodes wondered whether "the American people might still be of a mind to punish Republicans at the polls for the sins of a Republican President no longer around." Rhodes said he found such a prospect "unfathomable" and concluded that if voters held current Republicans responsible for Watergate and failed to show anger at Democrats for Congressional abuse and scandal, it would be the "most unconscionable double standard in the history of American politics."

Would it?

Watergate was by far the biggest and most bizarre political crime in our history. It touched more fundamental institutions and purposes than any previous corruption. The lingering concern of Americans is demonstrated by many small facts. Fifty-five percent of the people still believe it was wrong for Gerald Ford to pardon Nixon. More than 50 million people have seen the movie All the President's Men since it came out six months ago, putting it in the top 30 alltime big hits. The Woodward-Bernstein book The Final Days has sold 610,000 hardback copies in five months--one of the most successful books ever published.

It did not go unnoticed by this country's discerning public that, before the very last hours in 1974, not one single powerful voice from the Republican inner circle called the crime by its right name, identified Nixon as the principal, condemned his character and his actions, or called for his impeachment.

George Bush, chairman of the Republican National Committee in the dark days of 1974, claimed that since Nixon said he was innocent, he (Bush) had to support that contention. It was Vice President Gerald Ford who, not long before Nixon's house collapsed, told the nation: "I can say from the bottom of my heart, the President of the U.S. is innocent and he is right."

Americans who did no more than read the published transcripts soon knew better--that Nixon was neither innocent nor right. Now the same Republican leaders who so totally misread Watergate want the people of this country to forget about it and follow them. Perhaps the polls are reflecting that it may be too much for them to forget and forgive.

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