I have often searched for a graphic way of impressing our superiority on those Americans who have doubts, and I think Mr. Jameson Campaigne has done it well in his new book American Might and Soviet Myth. Suppose, he says, that the tables were turned, and we were in the Soviets' position: ``There would be more than 2000 modern Soviet fighters, all better than ours, stationed at 250 bases in Mexico and the Caribbean. Overwhelming Russian naval power would always be within a few hundred miles of our coast. Half of the population of the U. S. would be needed to work on arms just to feed the people.'' Add this to the unrest in the countries around us where oppressed peoples would be ready to turn on us at the first opportunity. Add also a comparatively primitive industrial plant which would severely limit our capacity to keep abreast of the Soviets even in the missile field which is reputed to be our main strength.

If we look at the situation this way, we can get an idea of Khrushchev's nightmarish worries -- or, at least, of the worries he might have if his enemies were disposed to exploit their advantage.

The other charge was that America's political position in the world has progressively deteriorated in recent years. The contention needs to be formulated with much greater precision than it ever was during the campaign, but once that has been done, I fail to see how any serious student of world affairs can quarrel with it.