Pulp

Liberals and "progressives" trying to reconcile themselves to Jimmy Carter should stay away from the July/August issue of the Columbia Journalism Review. Phil Stanford's analysis on the press coverage of the Democratic candidate (" 'The most remarkable piece of fiction' Jimmy Carter ever read") contains some unsettling tidbits about the former governor of Georgia.

Take, for example, the Carter campaign brochure that claims Carter's reorganization of Georgia's state government "slashed administrative costs by 50 per cent" and left a surplus of about $116 million. Well, Stanford quotes Carter's news director admitting that no statistics are available to substantiate the 50 per cent claim.

As for the $116 million surplus, Stanford writes: "Carter did indeed leave office with a surplus of $116 million--$13 million more than when he took office." And during Carter's term in office, the state debt increased $205 million.

Then there's the Carter letter found by Steven Brill, author of "Jimmy Carter's Pathetic Lies," to a Mrs. Dempsey in Alabama, saying "I think you will find that... George Wallace and I are in agreement on most issues." In his response to the Brill piece, Jody Powell, Carter's press secretary, wrote that the letter "was written by a staffer, never seen by Governor Carter, and did not accurately express his views."

But Stanford notes that a reporter from The Miami Herald later found that the unnamed staffer who authored the letter was none other than Powell himself.

There are a lot more unanswered questions--about Carter's tactics during his 1970 gubernatorial campaign; about Carter's 1972 speech at a "George Wallace Appreciation Day," the proceeds of which went to Wallace's presidential campaign; and about Carter's failure to reveal the names of contributors to his 1970 campaign. Not to mention some insightful words on why the studies of Carter done so far--like Brill's--have failed to have any measurable impact on Carter's success.

This may all seem like water under the proverbial bridge. But don't forget that the Republicans are spending thousands of dollars on negative research about Carter and that Jerry Brown's success in the final primaries might indicate a growing backlash against Carter's fuzziness on the issues and his own past.