Though it is doubtful that the earth, or even the country, shall rise on New Foundations right away, it is certain that the presidential campaign now is on. Our country endures longer campaigns than any other democracy. No sooner does the Presi- dent present a budget in early 1979 than battle lines are drawn for the 1980 contest. Republicans, sensing a conservative trend, get an incredible symbol, John B. Connally, of Watergate, Vietnam, and slush-fund fame, as he flings an expensive hat into the ring so early.

Combat between right and left shapes up as much within as between the parties. This is to be expected since another tradition holds sway, that the parties eschew ideological straitjackets. So the campaign will be waged in large measure within the two parties. Who’s on the right and who’s on the left may be at times as difficult to answer as the “Who’s on first” conundrum of Abbot and Costello.