Panel: Reagan Must Centralize

Several former White House officials said last night that the 1988 Presidential campaign will hinge on how President Reagan and his new chief of staff handle the damage of the Iran-Contra affair.

Speaking after a Kennedy School panel on managing the White House, former Presidential advisors said that both the Democratic and the Republican campaigns have already heated up because of the foreign policy controversy.

Hamilton Jordan, President Carter's chief of staff and a top Democratic politician, said the Iran-Contra affair will have a major impact on the Republican slate in the 1988 elections.

"It's going to screw it up," he said smiling.

Jordan also said that the controversy will give the Democrats a boost in their race to win the 1988 generalelection.

As for his party's nominee, Jordan saidMassachusetts Gov. Michael S. Dukakis, who iscurrently considering a bid for the Democraticnomination, has a "good chance."

Jordan also said he thinks that Senator GaryHart (D-Col.) won't win the nomination.

On the Republican side of the panel, PresidentFord's chief of staff Richard B. Cheney said thathe has chosen to remain "aggressively neutral" sofar in the campaign. He added that PresidentReagan's actions after his speech tomorrow willinfluence the race for the Republican nomination.

Senator Robert Dole (R-Kan.) is a strongcandidate, said Cheney, especially because heexemplifies a "nuts and bolts" approach togovernment. Because Dole is not associated withthe current White House crisis, he stands to gainin the campaign, said Cheney.

He said that Vice President George Bush andRep. Jack Kemp (R-N.Y.) will both be "key players"in the Republican race. But he said their ties toReagan may not be political poison. "He made a baddecision, not a political crime," said Cheney