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These 10 Men Want Phil Hart's Seat

These 10 Men Want Phil Hart's Seat image These 10 Men Want Phil Hart's Seat image
Parent Issue
Day
31
Month
December
Year
1975
Copyright
Creative Commons (Attribution, Non-Commercial, Share-alike)
OCR Text

 

 

These 10 Men Want Phil Hart's Seat

 

   It may only be January, but the field is already crowded in the race for the U.S. Senate seat to be vacated in November by Philip Hart. There are four declared candidates, with at least six more including Michigan Secretary Austin- waiting in the wings, weighing the odds and trying to decide whether to run.

  Although the hopefuls politics range from reactionary to liberal, they all seem to agree on two things: that the state of the economy and the loss of public confidence in the nations leaders will be among the biggest issues of the campaign.

   The following individuals have announced the Hart's seat:

Marvin L. Esch, Republican, U.S. Congressman, Second Congressional District

   This former college professor and State Representative was first elected to the U.S. Congress in 1966. He is able to retain his congressional seat in a district full of students and Democrats. He likes to characterize himself as a moderate Republican and an independent thinker, but is perhaps best known for his proposed anti-busing constitutional amendment. His campaign literature seems fraught with contradictions.

   He pledges a campaign where "the people are my only political machine; the people are my only special interest." Yet on the other hand, the following "people" have joined the Esch campaign: Dr. Paul W. McCracken, a U of M Professor of Business Administration and former head of President Nixon's Council of Economic Advisors; C. Boyd Stockmeyer, Chairman of the Detroit Bank and Trust Co. (whose son is on Esch's congressional staff); and Oakland County Prosecutor L. Brooks Patterson, known for his knee-jerk politics (prosecuting welfare cheaters and opposing pornography while taking a soft stance on organized crime in Oakland county.) All have joined the Campaign Advisory Committee, which "will play an important role in the formulation of a 'we the people' campaign."

Donald W. Riegle, Democrat, U.S. Congressman, 7th District

   At the age of 28, Riegle in 1966 challenged and defeated the incumbent Congressman in the blue-collar Flint area 7th district, running as an independent. His political career has been characterized by firsts: he was one of the first to oppose the Vietnamese war and to call for a "dump Nixon" strategy. Riegle has an impressive voting record on anti-Vietnam war legislation, defense spending and Congressional reform. He is also a very ambitious politician who let his Presidential aspirations be known as a freshman Congressman.

   In a recent interview, he told the Sun that "being born and raised in an industrial working-class community like Flint gives me basic instincts and insights which would help me represent an industrial state like Michigan." But before being elected to Congress in 1966, he was enrolled in the doctoral program at the Harvard Business School and was employed as a senior financial analyst by the IBM Corporation.

   Riegle switched party affiliation in 1974 from Republican to Democratic. In 1972 he wrote a book about Congressional life called O, Congress.

John R. Otterbacher, Democrat, Michigan State Senator, Grand Rapids

   In an in-depth interview with the Sun, Otterbacher appeared to be one of the more aware candidates in the campaign. A clinical psychologist, he seems to have a grasp of contemporary problems in the areas of human services and the environment are consistent with this impression. He is currently rewriting the state's welfare laws. Otterbacher favors a return to Constitutional values, the free enterprise system, and strict application of anti-trust laws. "We should begin to apply the same kind of cost-efficiency questions in the areas of defense and the death areas that we apply in the life and human services areas."

James G. O'Hara, Democrat, U.S. Congressman. 12th District       O'Hara was elected to Congress from the blue-collar Macomb County district in 1958. At that time, O'Hara, along with George McGovern and Eugene McCarthy, was regarded as a new liberal force in the House of Representatives. His voting record, however, finds him slow to oppose the Vietnamese war. A member of the House Education and Labor Committee, he is a strong advocate of aid to two-year community colleges. But, he is strongly opposed to cross-district busing. "Although he has a conflict between his civil rights stand and busing stand, O'Hara is said to be too pragmatic to favor busing in a district that would be strongly opposed to it," according to the Ralph Nader Congress Project.

    In addition to Austin, the following individuals are likely to announce their candidacy in the coming months:

Robert M. Justin, Republican,Oakland County

    A "concerned citizen and businessman," Justin is a newcomer to Congressional politics. He told the Sun that his newcomer status is one of his chief advantages, "because I am tied to no special interest group." He plans to wage a "people-to-people" campaign. "When 78 percent of the people are dissatisfied with the work Congress is doing, it's time to take a look at not only the people in Congress, but the process by which we select them." Justin also holds a law degree and is a C.P.A.

Deane Baker, Republican, University of Michigan Regent

   Baker, an Ann Arbor businessman and U of M regent, has been active in the Michigan Republican party since 1960. However, he says he "is not a politician, but an optimist about politics." Baker sees himself as "the candidate of the middle class,"' yet he owns his own construction business and lives on a large farm in Ann Arbor. He feels the middle class is being hurt by "inflation, high taxes, spending and government control." Yet he authored a resolution at a recent Republican State Central Committee endorsing president Ford for re-election because of his "diligence and concern for the nation and its people." He is expected to have a tough fight against Esch in the battle for the Republican nomination.

Robert J. Huber, Republican, Oakland County

   A former mayor of Troy, Michigan State Senator, U.S. Congressman from the 18th district, Huber was characterized by the Almanac of American Politics "a militant conservative." He told the Sun he would disclose his Senate plans at a press conference December 29. Asked what he thought about recent disclosures concerning the CIA, Huber said, "We need some agency that's attuned to what's going on in the Cold War." On the question of U.S. involvement in Angola, he said "While I don't like to involve the U.S. in foreign wars, when our own interest is concerned we should help those that are friendly to us and not help our enemies." He opposes a re-opening of the Warren Commission and is strongly opposed to cross-district busing. Huber is president of the Michigan Chrome and Chemical Company.

Dennis O. Cawthorne, Republican. Minority Leader, Michigan House of Representatives

   An ambitious young Republican from Manistee, Cawthorne has had his eye on the Attorney General's job, the Congressional seat in 9th district, the Governorship and the U.S. Senate, according to the Muskegon Chronicle. "On occasion he'll take a solid position on an urgent issue, but he possesses no love-hate obsession of wrapping himself up in a controversy,"' the Chronicle points out.

   To solve he problem of inflation, he told the Sun, "the government must exercise restraint in spending. I think President Ford has done some very courageous things in this respect, and I support the vast majority of his vetoes"

 Frank J. Kelley, Democrat, Attorney General, Michigan

    Kelley told the Sun that he would  "wait as long as possible to sec if a Democratic candidate emerges that could win. If on the other hand, the contesting candidates can't win, I may enter the race." He feels that the conservative forces in Michigan "divide the working people along racist lines, and Michigan winds up with a conservative Senator in Washington." Kelley, who has been Attorney General since 1960, lost the Senate race to Robert Griffin in 1972.  There is some speculation as to whether he could generate the support he needs within the Democratic party to fuel a Senate campaign.

-M.G.