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POLITICAL MEDIA ANALYSIS October 30, 1972 8 Days To Go PRESIDENT HAS SEEN The last week opens on a somewhat bizarre note - not Vietnam, nor Watergate, nor politics dominates the news -- but rather the Arab hijacker, resulting in the release of the three Munich terrorists. Political stories however, are SO volumninous inside the newspapers -- one wonders what if any, is the impact of the charge-counter-charge -- position-counter-position. As for endorsements and polls, the President is benefitted. Almost every poll shows slight gains for McGovern, slight momentum for McGovern - but for the President an overwhelming lead that gives him almost every single state that is individually polled. One gets a feeling that all is said and done. The endorsements rolling in are almost unanimous as well for the President. PROBLEM AREAS A very minor one shaping up on amnesty, where RN has gone on record that there will be no amnesty, and the Veep has said there will only be amnesty with appropriate penalties, and McGovern is quoting RN from a year ago, about being liberal after the war is over. But this is hardly an issue on which the McGovernites would want to draw a line and fight it out. THE WATERGATE In back page analysis and commentary, we are getting hit hard even by those not unfriendly to us; Shriver is still yowling about this issue; and this morning's revelation by Time that D. C. told the FBI he hired Segretti should probably re-focus McGovern on the issue, and the WH press corps for certain. As for hard news, however, even the Time story is an inside story this morning - expect in the Post and Sun. As for Vietnam, played not high this morning - - hard news is that there will likely not be a signing Tuesday. Over the weekend, however, Saigon's hard-line was perhaps the dominant story. McGovern seems to think they can reap political benefits by talking about the political timing of the cease- fire - that is what their polls are telling them. MCGOVERN This morning, he makes hard news by saying he would still cut off Thieu; but his claim that RN got the same deal he could have gotten four years ago is being attacked in back pages. One of his big stories of the day is that RN's re-election will mean a new "Depression" which hardly seems a winning issue, furty years after the defeat of Hoover. Also, more and mo re in-depth writers are pointing up how McGovern is calling this a campaign between "good" and "evil" -- again hardly the kind of argument that will convince the ethnic types, to whom he needs to appeal.