Thus, blacks exercised a leverage that is 50 per cent more than their voting numbers alone would imply.

Much of this leverage arises from the fact that the black vote has never been diverted by third party movements. This lack of interest in political long-shots stems from the general understanding by black people in all parts of the country that American electoral politics is the ritual in which it is decided who will say who will get what.

This appreciation of the pie-cutting process can only have been heightened by the past decade of government Poverty Programs and ghetto groups mau-mauing the flack catchers. 20 years ago when such programs were not in existence, civil rights was a soft issue. Blacks evaluated a political aspirant according to the philosophic sympathy he showed to "the cause", his sensitivity to "the movement" as shown by his public appearances and statements. Federal money was not available, and nobody was expecting any anytime soon.

Kennedy and Johnson changed that--Kennedy by raising expectations of government support, and Johnson by moving towards fulfilling them. Regardless of how successfully they have dealt with the actual problems, the Model Cities, Head Starts and Job Corps of the New Frontier and the Great Society have irrevocably made what used to be called civil rights into the hard issue of black power.

Recognizing that he can't go home again, Nixon, like any good political poker player, seems to be sloughing off a questionable card--Agnew--and going back to the deck in hope of drawing the crucial strength in Spades that would allow him to make an easy inside straight back to the White House for another term of wheeling and dealing--Power.

IV

DEMOCRATIC FRONT-RUNNER Edmund Muskie provided Poor Richard with a clue to where he might look to pick up the needed black support when Muskie said that he would not under any circumstances run on a ticket with a black Vice-Presidential candidate because "if a black man were on the ticket, we would both lose."

Nixon responded to this by labeling Muskie's statement "a libel on the American conscience." Then with the pot-luck inspiration of the truly smart poker player, Citizen Richard re-inforced his statement by adding that he even had a specific black in mind who he felt would be an asset to any national ticket: Senator Edward Brooke of Massachusetts.

V

THE DOOR to the inner office of suite 427 in the Old Senate Building opened. Brooke, dressed in a black three-piece suit, greeted me, and after apologizing for the further delay of our conversation, hurried over to the Senate to cast a vote.

As a result of an illness incurred while making the Commencement circuit last spring and, to a lesser degree, a first-term Senator's need to make a large number of public appearances in his home state, Brooke's voting record for 1971 fell below 80 per cent. Like most Senators, Brooke feels that the law of diminishing return applies, and that it is counter-productive to abandon other activities in order to vote on more than 90 per cent of Senate business. However, with key Senate liberals like Fred Harris of Oklahoma answering only 44 per cent of the roll calls and George McGovern only 59 per cent of the votes during the first nine months of '71, the probability that liberal absenteeism will increase during Presidential primaries and campaigns, and the number and complexity of Massachusetts problems that require Congressional action, Brooke feels that it is critical he make as many votes as possible.

Although Brooke has missed many roll calls, he has made his votes count. Americans for Democratic Action, which issues ratings on Congressional voting records, ranked Brooke higher than most Democratic liberals--including Ted Kennedy--approving of 88 per cent of his roll call stands.

Yet what may be even more important about Brooke's position in the Senate than how he has used his own vote is his ability to influence other Senators. This was the key to the defeats of Haynsworth and Carswell.

Regardless of the fact that Brooke himself disclaims being black America's delegate to the United States Senate, his fellow Senators, particularly those like Percy of Illinois and Javits of New York who affect liberal images and depend upon black support at home for their continued tenure, understand how much damage a blast from Brooke could do to their political careers. In probability, a strong personal condemnation from the man that Nixon is said to consider "a responsible moderate" would cost the Hartkes, Hatfields and Percys not only the black vote but a substantial amount of liberal white support as well.

But, in the long run, the most universally valuable thing Brooke is doing is serving on the Senate Appropriations Committee, for that is the group that slices the American pie of power and says who gets what.