US Senate defies President Carter over trade sanctions against Rhodesia

US Senate defies President Carter over trade sanctions against Rhodesia; ENGLAND: London: INT Leonard Downie (Washington Post) interview SOF - It's going to be a very close fight ... he's going to have to veto a Senate action to lift the sanctions and then it will be up to the Senate to see if they can muster the two thirds majority ... to overturn that veto ... there will be tremendous pressure within the Senate to build up to that 67 mark, President is beginning to run out of ways to twist arms in the Senate to win votes on his side, it's going to be really close - [On House of Representatives] ... all the action has been in the Senate, House is much more unpredictable ... - Nigeria seems to be the chief direction from which oil reprisals come ... more important to Senators is the argument that the Communists are gaining ground constantly in Africa, they see the southern African countries, South Africa, Rhodesia ... as being the West's primary bulwark against the advance of Communism in Africa ... - ... it certainly is a gut feeling for the surprisingly large and active number of right wing senators now in the Senate, also ...others have been very active in their contacts with the leaders of this block of Senators ... clearly they have been lobbying very successfully for that support - Yes definitely [damaging for Carter], he is sinking into deeper trouble all the time, I think his continually lower ratings in the opinion polls ... reflects not only some public disagreement with some of his policies ... but also reflects uneasiness with his leadership ... - It continues to boost the chances of Ted Kennedy, although I still believe that as anxious as he might be to run for President, he will not allow himself to be drafted for the job until he was certain that the president would be beaten in the nomination fight ... T X'D:13.6.79/NAO: