Page:1976 Campaign Strategy Paper.pdf/7

 where your political resources and friends are immediately available to help in any number of ways. For example, Jody. Frank and I can get on the phone and attempt to mobilize Carter friends who were not with the winner. You can make some calls and might want to nest personally with key people. Our people will vote for anybody against Maddox but our goal should be to mobilize them and get them heavily involved in the campaign of whoever gets in the runoff.

At this point. it looks as if Bert Lance or George Busbee will make the runoff. If Bert makes it, it should be relatively easy to consolidate all of our Carter friends behind his candidacy. Special attention will have to be given to the Columbus and Albany areas where the local people will be tremendously disappointed and possibly apathetic about the runoff if Jackson and Busbee fail to make it.

If Busbee makes the runoff. no one will need more help with our Carter people than him. Most of them simply do not know him and they will have been through a rough campaign with either David or Bert. To the extent that Busbee looks to us for help, you will have to make a decision as to what to tell him about your own plans. You probably would want to tell him that you have some plans after you leave office and would like to have his