Advocates Taping

Representatives of the three major candidates for president traded barbs and opinions last night on which candidate would be "The Best Man to Lead" in a Kennedy School taping of the television show "The Advocates."

"Carter says 'trust me,' Reagan only asks that people trust in themselves. Reagan can set long-range goals instead of just lurching from crisis to crisis," Ed Meese, Reagan's chief of staff, told the Institute of Politics audience of 350.

Jack Watson, President Carter's chief of staff, said the president's patience, calm, and composure under stress over the past four years have shown him to be the most qualified man for the presidency.

"President Carter realizes that the presidency cannot be scripted or read off a cue card," Watson added.

Mitchell Rogovin, a spokesman for the Anderson campaign, said a vote for Anderson would not be wasted. "There is no need to settle for the evil of two lessers," he argued.