For the Record

In mid primary season, both Democrats and Republicans express confidence that they’ll carry the Senate in November. Sen. George Mitchell (Me.), chairman of Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, sees Democratic gains in five states: Maryland, South Dakota, Idaho, Florida, North Carolina. Not so, counters Sen. Jack Heinz (Pa.), Mitchell’s Republican counterpart. If elections were today, says Heinz, the GOP might even pick up a seat. Heinz cites Ronald Reagan’s continued popularity (highest ever on the charts), the strong economy, and the big bucks Republican candidates have raised as major plusses for GOP senators. . . . Getting to specifics, in recent primary states: Democratic former N.C. Gov. Terry Sanford starts race ten points ahead of Republican nominee, Rep. James Broyhill, but Broyhill has just come through divisive intra-party fight. Broyhill, although tarred as the “moderate” in primary against former Amb. David Funderburk (Jesse Helms’s candidate), has 82 per cent career voting record from ACU; was picked by Congressional Quarterly last year as one of the most underrated congressmen. … In Texas, GOP primary winner, former Gov. Bill Clements, leads Democratic incumbent Mark White in polls; turnout in Republican primary was record high for Texas; Democratic turnout was low. … In Maryland it looks as if liberal Rep. Barbara Mikulski will get the Democratic senatorial nomination, and probably win in November. Miss Mikulski has gotten important financial support from EMILY’S List (Early Money Is Like Yeast), an organization established to support women candidates. . . . With South Dakota’s June 3 primary just a hop and a skip away, Republican Sen. Jim Abdnor has edged ahead of popular Republican Gov. Bill Janklow, but whoever wins faces tough race against Democratic candidate, Rep. Tom Daschle. . . . In Florida, things continue to look bad for Republican Sen. Paula Hawkins. … In New York, Democratic leaders may have persuaded former state Power Authority head John S. Dyson to take on Republican Sen. Alfonse D’Amato and his bulging war chest. Dyson, they say, is willing to spend $3 million on his own candidacy. Only other contender is former Ralph Nader aide Mark Green, about whom party leaders are unenthusiastic.

Recent polls show Democratic frontrunner in ’88, Gary Hart, running slightly better than George Bush (46 to 44 per cent) and much better than rest of GOP field. This, says pollster Lou Harris, “could mean that the twenty-year cycle of virtual Republican dominance of presidential elections could be coming to a close.” . . . Democratic pros are less sanguine. Former LBJ White House aide Horace Busby feels the party’s vocal left wing has hurt it. “The public reacts to Gloria Steinem or Jane Fonda in terms that have nothing to do with mainstream Democrats. . . . These unilateral-disarmament people muck up the Democratic image.” … At “New Directions” conference in Washington, called by left wing of Democratic Party, socialist Michael Harrington lamented that of “all the Democrats mentioned for the 1988 presidential race only one [Mario Cuomo] is a liberal.” . . . Joseph Rauh Jr. sounded a death knell for liberalism: “There’s a national fatigue with progress. The people think we’ve done enough for them.” . . . The ADA’s Ann F. Lewis blamed the party’s decline on what she calls “these modern-day neo-Democrats” who are rushing “to the right or the center, or wherever they think the political terrain is safest.” . . . Arizona Gov. Bruce Babbitt (“neoDemocrat”) says the fault lies elsewhere. “The Democrats have got to understand that the New Deal is dead. The rules have changed and the Democratic Party is going to have to come to grips with that.”

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In mid primary season, both Democrats and Republicans express confidence that they’ll carry the Senate in November. Sen. George Mitchell (Me.), chairman of Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, sees Democratic gains in five states: Maryland, South Dakota, Idaho, Florida, North Carolina. Not so, counters Sen. Jack Heinz (Pa.), Mitchell’s Republican counterpart. If elections were today, says Heinz, the GOP might even pick up a seat. Heinz cites Ronald Reagan’s continued popularity (highest ever on the charts), the strong economy, and the big bucks Republican candidates have raised as major plusses for GOP senators. . . . Getting to specifics, in recent primary states: Democratic former N.C. Gov. Terry Sanford starts race ten points ahead of Republican nominee, Rep. James Broyhill, but Broyhill has just come through divisive intra-party fight. Broyhill, although tarred as the “moderate” in primary against former Amb. David Funderburk (Jesse Helms’s candidate), has 82 per cent career voting record from ACU; was picked by Congressional Quarterly last year as one of the most underrated congressmen. … In Texas, GOP primary winner, former Gov. Bill Clements, leads Democratic incumbent Mark White in polls; turnout in Republican primary was record high for Texas; Democratic turnout was low. … In Maryland it looks as if liberal Rep. Barbara Mikulski will get the Democratic senatorial nomination, and probably win in November. Miss Mikulski has gotten important financial support from EMILY’S List (Early Money Is Like Yeast), an organization established to support women candidates. . . . With South Dakota’s June 3 primary just a hop and a skip away, Republican Sen. Jim Abdnor has edged ahead of popular Republican Gov. Bill Janklow, but whoever wins faces tough race against Democratic candidate, Rep. Tom Daschle. . . . In Florida, things continue to look bad for Republican Sen. Paula Hawkins. … In New York, Democratic leaders may have persuaded former state Power Authority head John S. Dyson to take on Republican Sen. Alfonse D’Amato and his bulging war chest. Dyson, they say, is willing to spend $3 million on his own candidacy. Only other contender is former Ralph Nader aide Mark Green, about whom party leaders are unenthusiastic.

Recent polls show Democratic frontrunner in ’88, Gary Hart, running slightly better than George Bush (46 to 44 per cent) and much better than rest of GOP field. This, says pollster Lou Harris, “could mean that the twenty-year cycle of virtual Republican dominance of presidential elections could be coming to a close.” . . . Democratic pros are less sanguine. Former LBJ White House aide Horace Busby feels the party’s vocal left wing has hurt it. “The public reacts to Gloria Steinem or Jane Fonda in terms that have nothing to do with mainstream Democrats. . . . These unilateral-disarmament people muck up the Democratic image.” … At “New Directions” conference in Washington, called by left wing of Democratic Party, socialist Michael Harrington lamented that of “all the Democrats mentioned for the 1988 presidential race only one [Mario Cuomo] is a liberal.” . . . Joseph Rauh Jr. sounded a death knell for liberalism: “There’s a national fatigue with progress. The people think we’ve done enough for them.” . . . The ADA’s Ann F. Lewis blamed the party’s decline on what she calls “these modern-day neo-Democrats” who are rushing “to the right or the center, or wherever they think the political terrain is safest.” . . . Arizona Gov. Bruce Babbitt (“neoDemocrat”) says the fault lies elsewhere. “The Democrats have got to understand that the New Deal is dead. The rules have changed and the Democratic Party is going to have to come to grips with that.”