The daily Nebraskan. ([Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-current, September 29, 1981, Page page 4, Image 4

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    page 4
tuesday, September 29, 1981
U
Dworak switch initiates new Democratic style
?
The Nebraska Democratic Party is
in the midst of sending up some trial
balloons on a possible candidate for
governor that should keep party ac
tivists talking for some time.
Seeking to find a candidate who
doesn't represent the kind of Demo
cratic Party politics that was so
soundly rejected last November, the
state party is apparently considering
running a former Republican for the
state's highest office.
In their desire to seek a candidate
to oppose Gov. Charles Thone, Ne
braska Democrats are apparently ac
tively considering nominating State
Sen. Donald Dworak of Columbus
for the spot.
Dworak was first elected in 1974
and is now in his second term in the
Legislature. He recently changed his
party affiliation from Republican to
Democrat fn an apparent move to
make his candidacy possible.
Dworak spent last weekend at a
workshop for Democrats in Des
Moines, Iowa, and met with numer
ous party officials, according to the
Omaha World-Herald.
One person he met with was Na
tional Democratic Chairman Charles
Manatt. Manatt is the man in charge
of rebuilding the party after last No
vember's numerous losses.
In trying to find a candidate with
a new image for the party, Nebraska
Democrats must be wondering what
it will take to come up with a suitable
candidate to challenge Gov. Thone.
After all, aside from being a regis
tered Republican, Dworak was a dele
gate pledged to Ronald Reagan at
the last two Republican National
Conventions.
But, Dworak apparently soured on
many Reagan policies and decided
to change his political fortunes.
Many people in politics have
changed their party registration to
better their political career. Presi
dent Reagan used to be a Democrat
and the late Terry Carpenter of Scotts
bluff changed his registration when
ever he could benefit politically.
Nebraska Democrats must be ques
tioning their ability to survive next
fall'-s elections. Is the new Democratic
candidate going to be old Republican?
Is the only road to recovery going to
be finding candidates off of the typi
cal Democratic path?
Another Democrat may surface,
but so far, most state party members
have been strangely silent on the pos
sibility of a Dworak candidacy.
The whole scenario is similar to
George Bernard Shaw's "Pygmalion"
later adapted to film in "My Fair
Lady."
But in this instance, the Democrat
ic Party takes in a lost political soul
seeking higher office, dusts him off.
teaches him some new Democratic
tricks and then runs him for the
state's highest office.
Sounds like the new version might
be called "Our Fair Candidate."
HIS HONOR.
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Media masters puppet-like spokesmen
Through long practice, liberals in the news media have
become adept at a technique that might be called "jour
nalistic ventriloquism." This is the device whereby you
find someone else who expresses your own opinion and
then play it up as "news" - the "he said it, I didn't" ap
proach. A few examples:
Item: Yale's president, A. Bartlett Giamatti, recently
delivered a hysterical attack on the Moral Majority, calling
it "racist," "violent," "coercive."
5e)Gu sobran
This was the .liberal equivalent of Joe McCarthy's
famous Wheeling speech. Giamatti should have been called
on to say who, when, and where. But nobody pressed
him.
The liberal media simply relayed the attack as straight
news, without any of that vaunted skepticism with which
they profess to regard all our institutional spokesmen,
yea, even Yale presidents. Why? Because they shared Gia
matti's attitude.
Item: Barry Goldwater then delivered his own blast
against the Moral Majority. This too made the front
pages. Ordinarily, Goldwater can't get a classified ad in pa
pers like the New York Times.
But when he attacks other conservatives, he is treated,
suddenly, as an oracle, a bulwark against the extremism
these same papers used to accuse him of embodying.
Hardly mentioned was Goldwater's personal feud with
the Moral Majority over the appointment of his protege
Sandra O'Connor, which has recently led him to other in
temperate utterances, such as that Jerry FalwelTs derriere
should be kicked.
Item: Wall Street's nervousness about Reaganomics is
cited as proof that Reagan's program has "failed" - be
fore the first tax cut has even gone into effect. Also in the
hardly-worth-mentioning department is the fact that
many investors consider Reagan hasn't gone nearly far
enough, especially in spending cuts.
Item: The Washington Post runs a story under the
headline "Soviets Approach Haig Meeting Concerned
About New Arms Race." Got that? Moscow is "con
cerned" - how responsible that sounds - about the pros
pect of the bellicose Haig heating things up. Never mind
the revelations about Soviet military maneuvers and
threats to Poland, and, oh yes, that Afghanistan business.
Item: The Washington Post runs a sympathetic series
on the Marxist regime of Angola, with such headlines as
"Angola Sees Rebel Forces as Puppets of Pretoria "
Now there is a bit of cheek for you. Angola's regime
relying on outside help from Cuban and Russian forces
"sees native resistance forces as South African puppets "
and we, presumably, should "see" it from this viewpoint
too.
Enough. We need not mention all the media-sanctioned
"spokesmen," "critics," and "victims" who are incessant
ly quoted as predicting dire effects detonated by every
step the administration takes toward its domestic and for
eign policy goals.
Suffice it that in the heyday of liberalism, conservative
critics were never given such a free ride - or rather, a free
megaphone - when they voiced serious objections against
liberal programs and foreign policy postures.
Continued on Page 5
mm
Unified university
i ii - i I j -
noias sixanguiaiion
power over city
It's not often that the different factions of NU agree
on things.
On one hand you have students, on the other hand you
have faculty, on another hand (assume for the moment
you have more than two hands) you have the UNL admin
istration and on another hand you have UNL employees
- secretaries, groundskeepers, maintenance workers, etc.
It is rare that these different groups ever adhere to a
common political, social or economic policy. The reasons
are obvious. You have an age differential, you have politi
cal differences, you have idealisms which range from the
"who will be the leaders of the future" train of thought
to the "who will make the beer run before 1 a.m." train
of thought.
In short, UNL is a potpourri of personalities.
But there comes a time in every columnist's life when
he must stand up and shout (or rather sit down and write)
rallying cries which will inspire persons of diverse back
grounds to unite and take decisive steps in a common di
rection. With that in mind, my hands tremble and my fingers
race across the black keys of my Olympia typewriter as I
write the following words which just may change the
course of your lifetime: "UNL UNITE!"
Or, if that one doesn't quite suit you, try one of the fol
lowing rally cries: "Students and faculty unite!" "Univer
sity unite!" "UNL higher ups and lowlifers unite!" Or
how about "Two, four, six, eight, power goes to those
who coagulate!"
I know what you're thinking. You're thinking every
unification must have a purpose, a goal, a certain some
t thing worthy of the awesome power which a unified UNL
could bring.
Well, I thought of that something; it's called the city
of Lincoln.
I have it all figured out, and the figuring gies like this:
The economy is getting worse every day, and Lincoln is
ieeling the crunch of inflation. And we have dear Uncle
Ronald in the White House who is eliminating a great deal
1Qa eral aid which Lincoln has ben so heavily beneficient
and dependent on. And for the coup de grace, we have the
7 percent spending lid on government enforced by our
friendly Nebraska Legislature.
All these factors leave a part of Lincoln vulnerable: the
downtown area. Which is an extremely bad tactical ma
neuver on the part of government officials (good for a
rallying-crying columnist's purpose) because Lincoln's
government has continually reinforced the position that
SrStyWn k mSt P03"1 most "nd part of
You see, because of Lincoln's insistence on having
downtown the "center" of it all, they have put themselves
n a tricky position. The trends of the last year have been
towards less and less government, but downtown Lincoln
is extremely reliant upon government - city, state and
irrai 0 suP?01 its downtown.
Jt. nntom.eccas such as city nail, the Capitol, the
State Office Building and varied federal offices are less-
Zt pPdat'on WM have a negative effect on the
support of downtown Lincoln.
nnw? 5 7ith 8overn,ment a lesser role in the eco-
uTZL downtorn Urlcoln-that leav one potentially
untapped segment left to baU it out: UNL.
Continued on Page 5