H: Argues quite strongly that the point that the attacks should always turn to the positive side. He argues that that is wrong, and the attacks should stay on the negative side. Do not try to weave in also positive points. That there should be an attack program that is purely attack.

P: Except on foreign policy.

H: That's what he is talking about primarily. You hammer your strong point.

P: I just think you've got to hit that over and over again. We gotta win--

H: You don't argue against our hammering our strong point. His argument is when you are attacking--we should do some of our advertising--should be an attack on McGovern advertising--and that attack should not [unintelligible] Nixon strong points. It should only [unintelligible] McGovern negative points.

P: Ya.

H: His argument is to start with, you got 40 per cent of the people who will vote for you no matter what happens.

P: I agree.

H: And you got 40 per cent of the people that will vote against you no matter what happens, so you got 20 per cent of the vote left in the middle who may vote for you or may not--and that 20 per cent is what you gotta work on. His argument is that you're so well known, your pluses are as clear as your minuses; that getting one of those 20, who is an undecided type, to vote for you on your positive points is much less likely than getting him to vote against McGovern by scaring him to death about McGovern; and that's the area that we ought to be playing.

P: Well.

H: [Unintelligible].

P: Well, I am not going to do it. I really want you to bring in Flanigan and all these others [unintelligible] and lay it to them [unintelligible].

H: Yep.

P: Don't you think he'll agree? Oh, you don't?

H: No, I think they will. They'll agree for awhile [unintelligible] agree--they'll say well why not do it anyway.

P: No, no, nope, no--Never. I can't take it for granted. Listen, he could think I'm setting him up [unintelligible] reasonable man. God damn it, [unintelligible] I have him be against Muskie. We don't give a [expletive deleted]. Or, Nixon! Muskie--screw him otherwise--fine. I don't know if our people would be scared [unintelligible] about Muskie.

H: [Unintelligible] they are. They aren't, but I think you got to build that up. His point is that so little is known, better chance of [voices fade].