Inside Report (2)

OK, Kremlin watchers, it's time once again to play Pick that Leader!

Eastern Europe's already rooting for its favorite candidate to replace Soviet chief Leonid Brezhnev. They view Yuri Andropov as Mr. B's most likely successor - and he's the one they'd most like to see in Moscow's top spot. At least two East European parties - apart from the nonbloc Yugoslavs - seem convinced he's out front. Moreover, he's seriously viewed as a reformer - moderate but aware of the pressure for change within the bloc. Soviet allies are divided: Czechoslovakia, East Germany, and Romania are hard-line regimes; and - taking General Jaruzelski at his word - Poland, as well as Hungary, are reformers.

If the latter two are right and Andropov gets the USSR's top job, there could be big and interesting changes all over Eastern Europe.