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By Deb Gray
Hess Dyas, first district congressional
ate, P-wasj in a fantastic hurry last
Saturday,niQming,. So .fantastic that he didn't
notice the red light when he turned left on to
1 3th Street from O Street.
' i'm getting rather used to this, I'm afraid,"
Dyas told a policeman a few minutes later as
he signed the ticket.
'I never had any trouble with tickets until
this summer," the 37-year-old Democrat
explained later. But this summer he received
a speeding ticket, followed by another last
week and then another ticket Saturday
morning.
Dyas was headed to Peru, Neb., to
participate In its bicentennial celebration.
For the past nine months, Dyas has been
campaigning at coffee Watches, fund raising
dinners, and political rallies throughout the
first district.
'Running scared'
His campaign, which was described by a
Washington, D.C., campaign consultant as
one of the best organized in the country, has
GOP incumbent congressman Charles thone
"running scared," according to the Wail
Street Journal.
Dyas' campaign, directed by a youthful
staff, will cost over $100,000, according to
Ed Icenogle, press secretary.
By the end of October, Dyas had already
spent over $82,000, latest reports show.
Dyas said he entered the campaign
prompted by what he called the "lack of
competitive campaigning" and the "lack of
leadership in the state" after working In
politics for 14 years.
After graduating from Nebraska Weslcyan
University in 1959, Dyas taught English and
social studies for two years at Dawes Junior
High School in Lincoln.
State chairmanship
In 19G6, he worked for then-Gov. Frank
Morrison. In 1067, he was appointed
executive director of the Nebraska
Democratic party, then elected state
chairman of the Democratic party In 1970.
Driving along Highway 73-75, Dyas
reminisced about his recent 734-mlle walk
across the first district. He talked about
Julian, where one-tenth of the town's
population 12 people attended a break
fast for him. There, he said, indicating a
pasture alongside the road, he helped a
farmer combine beans.
"Have you ever driven one of those
things?" he said. "They're easier to handle
than a car. Know how much one of those
machines costs? A farmer told me one cost
$15,000."
The. farmer is one person Dyas says he is
concerned about. The family farm, he said, la
endangered by industry.
Food factory
"I think it's a shame for the area to turn
into a food factory with farmers working for
Ralston Purina instead of themselves, he
said. "We need to beat the monopoly in
wholesale and retail food markets. ' '
Dyas said land use planning is coming to
Nebraska. Land planning, he said, has been'
misrepresented ,by Jhone and by the John
Birch Society, who both were "scaring the
living daylights out of farmers." y
Land use, he said, is not the government
telling farmers what they should do' with
their land. Instead, a proper land use plan
will toe devoted to raising food, and suburban
developments will not sprawl into rural
areas.
The biggest issue facing the nation, Dyas
said, is Inflation.
Ciose loopholes
To fight Inflation, Dyas advocated tax
reform, saying the government should close
loopholes in the tax system by making
intangible wealthlike stocks and bonds
subject to taxation. "Income, no matter
where it comes from, should be taxed
equally," he said.
Nelson Rockefeller's vice-presidential
nomination, he said, shows inequity in
taxation. "A tax system that allows a person
to earn $2.4 million," Dyas said, "and avoid
paying income taxes obviously needs
reform."
Dyas said he also approved of military
spending cutbacks and breaking up business
monopolies.
"There isn't enough free enterprise In the
economy," he said. "It's hard for a
Republican administration to investigate big
businesses because they rely on them for
support."
Dyas defined President Gerald Ford's
proposed conditional amnesty as clemency
rather than amnesty, but said he approves
the plan.
More vets' benefits
Dyas said he also approves of $750 million
for additional veterans benefits, an
amendment to reduce U.S. troops overseas,
an'amendment to delete $499 million from
the B1 bomber program and cuts in
congressional franking allowances.
Dyas arrived in Peru shortly after 10
a.m., in time for festivities which had been
publicized to begin at booth 10 a.m. and
10:30 "so, we will probably begin about
10:15," the program read.
Dyas positionod himself "two places
behind the Cub Scouts," and walked the
musicless parade, his wife Carol driving
alongside.
"Yeah, I'm still walking," he answered to
someone in the crowd dotted with
clownsuited children and frontier-dressed
women.
734-mii walk
When Dyas talks about the campaign, the
conversation returns to the walk. Before the
734-mile trek, he said he was an anonymous
candidate. But on the walk, ho said, people
came out to meet him in almost every town.
A fire truck greeted him in West Point, a
stage coach in Cedar Bluffs. Feted at
covered dish dinners throughout the area,
Dyas said he not only walked across the
district, he "ate his way across."
The walk, Dyas said, was not just a
campaign gimmick. The idea had appealed to
him for a long time, he said, as "a good way
to-keep in touch with people,'' --n !
If elected, Dyas said he will "7eiurr la
Nebraska on weekends, walk) rig 1 rst "d fslr icf '
counties to keep in touch with his consti
tuents. While in Peru, Dyas spoke at dedication
ceremonies for a transformed vacant lot now
called Bicentennial Park. He toured an arts
and crafts exhibit in The First National Bank
Building. After walking Main Street, shaking
hands, Dyas ate a lunch, at the home of Peru
State College's president, consisting of tuna
salad, baked beans and ice cream served in a
brandy snifter.
'Not wealthy'
"I hate to say it, but it's hard for someone
who's not wealthy to run for office,", Dyas
said. "And I'm not a wealthy man."
Dyas resigned as state Democratic
chairman in January to devote time to the
campaign. Since that time, he said, M has
supported his wife and three children-Heidi,
11, Keating, 10, and Kyle, 6--on ths $7,500
raised during a fund-raising dinner last
January.
Dyas realizes he is the underdog,
according to polls taken by the Lincoln
newspapers. But he said he would be
"scared to be ahead." He'd be In trouble, he
said, if polls peaked in his favor this
summer.
Dyas has been accused by Monroe Usher,
first district Republican chairman, of "using
phony figures for propaganda purposes." A
recent opinion poll taken bv the Lincoln
papers showed Thone a 32-poiht favorite over
uyas. The Dyas organization reported
Thono's 51 per cent to Dyas' 32 per cent with
17 per cent undecided, giving Dyas a
17-point advantage.
'Ridiculous accusations'
"We want an accurate poll, because we
base a lot on these results," he said. "It
would be stupid for us to malign the results."
The polls conducted by the Lincoln
papers, Dyas said, did not account for the
undecided voters, giving people two
alternatives: would you vote for Hess Dyas or
Charles Thone? He said his polls offered the
undecided option.
Dyas said he hopes to sway the increasina
number of "undecided" voters 21 per cent
by the latest poll into his camp by election
day. The increasing number of undecideds
shows more people are leaving Thone, he
Dyas has no future plans, if he loses
"I m not planning to lose," he said. "But if
I do, I'll get a job. What can I say?"
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