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Vote August 6: Congress

Vote August 6: Congress image
Parent Issue
Day
26
Month
July
Year
1974
OCR Text

With five candidates in the Democratic primary for the Second Congressional district, the SUN is endorsing Dr. Edward Pierce.

[picture of man, captioned Ed Pierce]

The Congressional primary has probably received the most attention locally, with Democratic contenders ranging from moderate to progressive. The winner of the primary will face the incumbent, Republican Marvin Esch.

Esch, who has been continually re-elected, is "liberal" for the Republican Party. He tends to vote favorably on non-controversial issues, but when it comes to issues like impeachment, Esch is not as clear. He has consistently refused to take a stand on this issue, arguing that he does not want to prejudge the President.

All five Democrats in the primary have come out strongly for impeachment (even according to Esch's own survey of his constituents, 22% want Nixon impeached and 17% want Nixon to resign, with 33% wanting a thorough, immediate investigation to see if there are grounds for impeachment).

One of the big issues dividing the Democratic candidates is bussing. The Second district includes more conservative areas, like Monroe, Livonia and Plymouth. These areas are strongly anti-bussing, and most of the Dems have bowed to the racist demands. Only Pierce has remained in favor of bussing for integration purposes, saying that any other stand "would be a slap in the faces of my black friends."

Pierce's campaign stands consistently support the less privileged people in American society. His campaign is the only one dealing with black-white relationships in a positive way, and the only one with a significant number of minority people working on it. Pierce has proposed federal programs which could ease the burden on the single-parent family (all too often headed by a woman). He wants comprehensive medical care programs which insure easy access to health facilities for all people. Most radical of all are his proposals to alter the tax system to begin equalizing the distribution of wealth.

Pierce is more than just a politician with a lot of words about changing society. His activities in Ann Arbor add strength to his voiced concerns over the poor. He is the founder of the Summit Street Medical Clinic, a place where medical treatment is available for everyone, regardless of their ability to pay. He has also been active in the Model Cities Program, and is on the Board of Directors of the Ann Arbor A.C.L.U.

Although outstanding in many of his proposals, Pierce does fail to recognize that the injustices of American society will not be eliminated until the economic system is completely altered. While he believes that certain commodities must be socialized, such as energy and medicine, he basically believes that capitalism can work.

However, Pierce stands out among the Democratic candidates in most areas, and has taken the strongest stands on most issues.

Pierce's competition will be tough, with a field of strong, liberal candidates. Running against him in the August primary are:

RONALD EGNOR. A liberal lawyer, Egnor is currently the assistant city attorney of Ypsilanti. His defense work has included Carolyn King, the girl who couldn't play on the Little League team because of sexist rules prohibiting females. Egnor has also been active here in Ann Arbor working with UM clerical workers who are attempting to form a union.

MARGE LANSING. A political science professor at Eastern Michigan University, she claims to support most of the programs Pierce has proposed. However, in an apparent attempt to soften her liberal image, she has been consistently vague in making campaign stands, and in the end, it is hard to see exactly where she stands.

JOHN REUTHER. Son of Victor Reuther of the famous UAW-labor family, Reuther has been accused of moving to the Second district just to run for this office. With the predictable backing of organized labor, Reuther is running the campaign as though his only opponent is Marvin Esch. His campaign has concentrated on attacking the incumbent, rather than taking hard, precise stands on the issues.

THEO W. WILLIAMS. A retired engineer living in Ypsilanti, Williams campaigning has had the least visibility. The last to enter the race, he is probably the most conservative of the Democratic candidates. It's very likely he entered the race with the hope of taking more conservative votes from the other liberal candidates.

One of these five people will be facing the incumbent in the fall, as well as three "minor" party candidates. (A minor party, defined as one which gets less than 1 percent of the state-wide vote, does not enter into the primary. Candidates are chosen in May at state and county conventions.) The other candidates in the fall are: Phil Carroll of the Human Rights Party, Roy Jones of the American Independent Party, and Martha E. Pettit of the Socialist Workers Party. The SUN believes the Democratic candidate should be Dr. Edward Pierce.