J
editoriol o
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Democrat detour
During the presidential campaign thus far,
the Democratic emphasis has been on
condemning the opposition's policies.
Bad as the administration's policies may be,
however, this may be a mistake.
What the campaigners fail to realize is that
they have a candidate of their own and, as
candidates go, an excellent one. They have
not treated him as such.
Even from the time he was considered a
one-issue candidate, McGovern has displayed
knowledge of all issues and shown more
wisdom than he has been credited with.
The administration's water-boys have
keyed their anti-McGovern campaign to two
criticisms: 1) that his positions are murky and
2) that they are too easily altered. "Inese two
claims don't hold water.
First of all, McGovern's positions on the
issues have been clear from the beginning of
hiscampaign. He has insisted Ms positions be
known and they have been. The opposition,
however, may not want to hear them.
In the little bantering on issues that the
GOP has done, (usually their strategy is to
avoid issues) they have attacked McGovern's
most radical (and for middle America, the
hardest to swallow), positions -abortion,
amnesty and welfare.
They refuse to recognize his plans for
control of crime (more constructive than
anything Nixon's done), agriculture (favoring
small rather than corporate farmers) and
especially taxation (closing loopholes in
inheritance and income taxes), which make
Nixon's programs look a little pale.
His plan for peace, which has been widely
publicized in contrast to Nixon's secretive
pipe-dream, is a reasonable alternative to
what's happened in the past four years not
nearly as radical as the GOP would have one
believe.
Also branded radical by the Nixon
Administration is McGovern's plan to cut
back military spending. This is sheer folly. To
any rational inspector it more closely
resembles an admirable shift of priorities from
bombs to bread.
The GOP's major charge-that McGovern
changes his mind too easily-perhaps
demonstrates the administration's total lack .
of democratic understanding and reveals
Nixon's weakest point. Lack of responsiveness
to American voters is probably the shoddiest
part of the present administration's record. If
the administration listens at all, it listens to
big business, not to the average citizen.
McGovern, however is more responsive to
the opinions of America. If his positions seem
to be missing the public's approval, McGovern
stops and takes a long, hard look and
re-evaluates his policies. It is a cinch that if
McGovern were president, there would have
been no student upheaval, no incursion into
Cambodia, no deaths at Kent State. He is
responsive to the needs and worries of
America. Nixon isn't.
Probably the saddest part of the campaign
is that it is probably the combination of his
responsiveness and candor which have placed
him far behind in the polls. The Republicans
have played upon these virtues and twisted his
positions. . . .
McGovern has faults. But they are nothing
compared to the corruptions so apparent in
the current administration. They are the
honest faults of an intelligent, sensitive
candidate. . .
If McGovern loses this election, as he well
may, it will not be because the public knows
what it is doing. The Grand Old Smokescreen
will have worked. And Four More Years, will
be just that-no change, no improvement, just
Four More Years.
Jim Gray
j ,tky X?
McGoldwater
Thone
a record
supporting
re-election
john
vihsbdt
This column will, from now until the election, concern
itself with the politicians and the policies that, like it or not,
affect us all. In most cases, we will make specific
endorsements; if no candidate for a particular office is clearly
superior, however, we shall refrain.
President Nixon has hopes that, if his landslide victory to
which the pundits attribute him materializes, he will sweep in
with him a Republican Congress, the first in 20 years.
Nebraska, happy to say, has already done its part toward this
noble effort, and there is every reason to believe that the
Cornhusker state's all GOP congressional delegation will be
renewed for 1972.
The Nebraska First District is most fortunate to have
Congressperson Charles Thone as its representative in
Washington, and Different Drummer endorses him for a
second term. In his first two years, Rep. Thone has proven
himself to be an extremely able and competent spokesperson
for the people in his district's 27 counties.
A thorough man, he tackles every task before him with rare
vigor, and hit committee assignments of Government
Operations and Public Works make him well-equipped to serve
the interests of all his constituents. Thone is constantly
making trips back to Nebraska, from Tecumseh to the
Niobrara, from South Sioux City to Hebron, speaking with
people and tending to their needs on a first-hand basis.
But perhaps the most persuasive reason for re-electing Rep.
Thone is his record. Far from feeling "insecure" over it, as his
little-known Democratic opponent is wont to assert, Thone is
proud of his record. He is proud, as are we, that he stood up to
the White House and the majority of his Republican colleagues
and voted no on the SST when he saw clearly what a financial
and environmental catastrophe it would be.
Thone has paid special attention to Indian needs, worked
toward the establishment of an all-volunteer army,
co-sponsored the 1972 Rural Development Act recently signed
into law by the President and was instrumental in gaining the
soon-to-be-constructed (at an estimated cost of more than $21
million) Federal Building in Lincoln.
It must be admitted that Democratic nominee Darrel Berg,
a Lincoln minister, comes across as warm and sincere, but he
seems destined to join the growing ranks of clergy turned
politician in the political graveyard of defeat. Charles Thone's
background, experience, character, and record clearly make
him the better man.
Equally deserving of re-election is the Second District
incumbent John Y. McCollister. Through his membership on
the House Interstate and Foreign Commerce Committee, this
man of quiet force and determination has been extraordinarily
effective in obtaining legislation and administrative action on
matters of importance to his five-county area.
This mostly urban territory of Burt, Washington, Douglas,
Sarpy and Cass counties has a 30,000 vote registration edge for
the Democrats, but it has not seen fit to elect a Democrat to
Congress in recent memory. Democratic nominee and Irish
Catholic attorney Patrick Cooney is unlikely to change this
tradition. First-termer McCollister deserves a resounding vote
of confidence.
In the vast Third District my choice is Rep. Dave Martin,
the veteran incumbent dean of Nebraska's House delegation
with six terms under his belt, although we believe that at the
age of 66 he ought to think about stepping aside for a
younger, more vigorous candidate such as state senator and
Nebraska Young Republican Chairperson Jerry Stromer of
Kearney. Martin's opponent, Warren Fitzgerald of Gibbon, is
not bothering to even give him token fight, apparently
realizing that he has nothing much to contribute except his
place on the ballot as standard-bearer for George McGovern's
fallen party.
In sum, Rep. Thone of the First District, Rep. McCollister
of the Second District and Rep. Martin of the Third District
are men of high conviction, principle, and integrity. They have
represented their respective constituencies in a way that can
make all Nebraskans proud. Each truly deserves re-election.
page 4
daily nebraskan
Wednesday, October 11, 1972