| Description: | Will Edwards Play Kingmaker? |
| Text of article: | Will Edwards Play Kingmaker?
There's A Serious Political Move Afoot That Could Pull Russell Long
And Edwin Edwards Into An Alliance With Teddy Kennedy
The Kennedys and the Reggies: Edwards' trump. Photo by John Maginnis
By GARY ESOLEN
There are two draft-Kennedy
committees in Louisiana, and one
of them — the one with
clout — has Governor Edwin Ed-
wards operating behind the scenes.
The committee without much clout
is based in New Orleans and run by
Russell Henderson — and just
about the only support it can claim
is some very unofficial under-the-
table help from Mayor Dutch
ANALYSIS
Morial. The new committee is being organized by Judge Edmund M. Reggie of Crowley, a long-time Kennedy supporter and a close friend and associate of Governor Edwards, and it looks like a serious political move that could pull Senator Russell Long and the colorful governor into an alliance with the Massachusetts senator.
Although Reggie has held only minor office, as a judge in a small Louisiana town, he has been a controversial figure in state politics, often accused of unethical conduct for such things as dual office-holding. On one occasion he was investigated by the legislature's ethics committee, but cleared of all charges; and on another occasion, criticized for accepting a second salary while holding a judgeship, he returned the money to the state.
Reggie has been an important organizer in several successful gubernatorial campaigns, including that of Edwin Edwards. He was involved in John F. Kennedy's
presidential campaign here in 1960, and he says he's putting together a parish-by-parish organization for Senator Edward Kennedy, who he thinks could win in Louisiana by a margin of two to
one over incumbent President Jimmy Carter.
Reggie has been saying behind the scenes that Edwards will hack Kennedy, which could be a sharp move on the governor's part. Edwards' endorsement will carry a lot of votes with it, and the polls show Kennedy as already a strong candidate among the state's Democrats. A joint Edwards-Kennedy slate of delegates could probably win a decisive majority in the April primaries — which would let Edwards go to the Democratic National Convention with a strong hand.
It's also important to remember
that this is the first time some of the state's convention delegates will be selected by a presidential primary. No one has any experience with the system, which probably will be a complicated one. Delegates will be elected —which means that the name-recognition of the delegate, along with who supports him or her and to which candidate he or she is pledged, will all play a role in the selection process. Edwards, as the state's leading Democrat, will want to master the delegate-selection process this year, to maintain as much control as possible over the group that goes to
the convention. Reggie admits that he is spending a lot of time these days trying to figure out just how to get a handle on delegate-selection. Again, in this first year of primary selection of delegates, a coalition of the popular Louisiana governor and the popular Massachusetts senator could be formidable; and once the political machine is established it could be re-used in the future.
FAVORITE SON Edwards has been talking about a favorite-son candidacy as well, and he's still making jokes about supporting or running with Gover
nor Jerry Brown of California, but no one takes that seriously. Most observers think he's simply trying to put himself in an influential position in the next administration — perhaps as an energy adviser. Reggie has been touting what he calls a "dream-ticket," of Kennedy and Edwards as President —and Vice-President. But that's Louisiana chauvinism, and not likely, if only because Edwards' playboy style, and some of his scandals, just won't make it in a national political contest.
It's important, too, to remember that the shadow of assassination over the Kennedy family makes Kennedy's choice of a vice-presidential partner more than usually important. Nobody will talk about that very openly, because even to talk about it would seem to be, somehow, encouragement of assassination. But people will think about it, and rightly so.
If the seemingly unlikely Kennedy/Edwards/Long coalition can be put together, Reggie is the man to do it. He has backed Long before, and even worked for Earl Long in his gubernatorial races. He backed JFK in 1960 and Robert Kennedy in 1968; and in 1961 he was John Kennedy's special envoy to the Middle East. He has the contacts both locally and nationally to pull off a convincing primary campaign — and he is on very friendly terms with Edwards; he is, in fact, expected to replace Camille Gravel (another old friend of Reggie's) as Edwards' chief counsel.
There are, no doubt, some real compromises to be made, because
LE JARDIN I
PAGE 8, FIGARO SEPTEMBER 17, 1979
of the long-standing feud between Kennedy and Long, and because the Massachusetts senator (a liberal from a state with a net consumption of oil and gas ) and the Louisiana governor (a conservative from an oil-and-gas producing state) are not likely to agree easily on energy policy, which is Edwards' strong suit. But Long is running scared this year, especially because there's talk that either Dave Treen or Paul Hardy (at least one of whom will lose the governor's race) may challenge him from the right. Under the circumstances, he may he quick to grab hold of Kennedy's coat-tails if Kennedy announces for President. As for Edwards, he's known to like betting on the winning horse — and if he can handpick the state's delegation, as
with Reggie's support he may well do, he may put himself in a position to deal with Kennedy from strength.
ANOTHER GLUE
There's one other kind of political glue that could hold such an alliance together — professionalism. Says one member of the state's national committee: "I can see the governor with Kennedy because he would just rather work with pros, and Kennedy's people are pros." What does that mean? It's not a matter of campaigning, at which Jimmy Carter has been quite successful. It's a matter of ordinary political dealing — of making alliances and keeping them, of making deals and honoring them, of keeping communication open and paying debts.
Carter has simply not done that. People who were major supporters in 1976 have been denied access to the White House on routine matters in the years since — and they haven't forgotten. One Louisiana politician who was an early Carter supporter says that people call him when they want to get to the President's people — and that he can't help them. "I have to tell them I just don't have a pipeline to the White House — but I should have." It is that kind of carelessness that has earned the President the designation "amateur" among the professionals, and that's one of the things that could cost him the election.
One thing that's surprising is that Russell Henderson and his local Draft Kennedy committee are still around now that Reggie
has started the real thing going. It's clear that Reggie is the man with the ties to the national Kennedy organization, as well as the local experience, and that if Kennedy declares, he'll be running the campaign. So why hasn't Henderson, whose movement was always admittedly temporary, a kind of keeping-the-seat-warm operation, backed down?
Henderson somewhat ingenuously insists that nobody has heard from Kennedy himself yet, and he says until the official word comes down he's hanging in there. What, makes that interesting is that Henderson's operation enjoys thinly disguised support from Mayor Morial, who may well be giving the orders on that decision. Henderson is fond of saying "the mayor is being kept informed of all of our activities," which doesn't put Morial on the spot — but in this case it's hard to imagine Henderson deciding to buck the governor and Judge Reggie without some encouragement from Morial, which could mean that the mayor wants to keep his hand in the Ken-
nedy delegate-selection process in and around New Orleans.
It's also interesting to remember that Carter took former New Orleans Mayor Moon Landrieu into his administration partly because Landrieu is noted for his loyalty —and his fervent campaigning. Carter may need that energy right here in Louisiana — and a Carter-Kennedy primary fight could put Landrieu on one side and the governor (and perhaps Morial ) on the other side. A battle like that —no matter what the results —would be an important test of Landrieu's viability in a larger political theatre, and if he did well —whether his candidate won or lost — he could be building his own political future. Remember that Ronald Reagan launched his political career with a series of television commercials and public appearances for Barry Goldwater in 1964. Goldwater lost, but Reagan was off and running. Something similar could well happen to Landrieu if Carter has enough of a fight on his hands in the primaries, and if he makes the race. |
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