Initiation of Campaign Planning

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Questions are being raised about the initiation of planning for the 1976 campaign. The memo examines some of the considerations which will shape that planning activity and suggests next steps.

Background

There has been some discussion about the role of the RNC in the campaign. This discussion, however, misses the basic point that at least until the convention is over, the President cannot use the RNC, since it must remain neutral so long as another candidate might emerge. Therefore, some sort of a separate Presidential campaign organization must be established prior to the Convention. The pertinent questions are:

• What should such an organization do?
• When should it be established?
• Who should head it?
• How (if at all) should it relate to the WH and the RNC prior to the Convention?
• How should it relate after the Convention?

What Should the Organization Do?

There are four separate types of activities which the organization can perform:

• detailed strategic planning
• fund raising
• local state and national organization building
• implementation of campaign strategies in primaries and general election

When Should It Be Established?

The organization could be established in two ways:

• as an immediate follow on to a firm Presidential committment to run again
• as an independent group which does so without formal committment of the President to run

Who Should Head it?

Again, there are some choices here. A person could be named as a fill in until the President was willing to name his top man. Or the top man could be named at the start. The former approach allows deferral of a tough decision, but it would also entail very close WH involvement and oversight. The blurring of the President' s governmental and political roles might well recall previous campaign styles. If the top man could be selected early on, it would avoid this problem since responsibility and authority could be combined in one man. The key would be that this individual chosen have:

• the confidence of the President
• the stature to deal with national, state and local officials
• the managerial ability to develop and run what will become a large organization

The organization must for legal and political reasons have a great deal of autonomy. The RNC, as mentioned above, will have to be neutral before the Convention. The friction points will probably occur in the competition for funds at all levels. One of the bitterest complaints against CREEP was that it acted as a vacuum cleaner for political funds, and that by the time the RNC started fund raising, there was little to be had. The right head of the organization could set mutually acceptable ground rules with RNC. There will have to be some coordination with the WH in several areas such as scheduling the President's time. Close links at several levels, however, should be avoided if a real distinction between the President's governmental and political roles is to be maintained. A single WH contact point would be the best way to do this.

How Should It Related After the Convention?

It is unrealistic to imagine that an organization such as the one contemplated could (or should) disappear after the convention. It is also unlikely that the organization could be successfully folded into the RNC. Decisions on the specific form of the relationship fortunately can be deferred until the organization is set up, the top man chosen, and the date of the Convention draws closer.

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