On the Record

On to November. What happened in Massachusetts, Washington, D.C., and Oklahoma is easy to read: Voters want most incumbents out. “There was this tidal wave coming and we happened to be standing on the beach when it hit,” explained Massachusetts Attorney General James Shannon, who went down to defeat in primary along with virtually every other elected official running in Massachusetts, Democrat or Republican . . . John Silber, maverick winner of Democratic gubernatorial primary, says, “I’m the one who understood what was going on. I understood the outrage.” . . . Moderate Republican William Weld, coming up from 20-point deficit a fortnight earlier to win the GOP nod over state House Minority Leader Steven Pierce, is given fighting chance of being first Republican governor of Massachusetts since Francis Sargent in 1970 . . . Significant: post-primary Boston Globe poll shows GOP senatorial candidate Jim Rappaport just 4 percentage points behind incumbent Sen. John Kerry (45 to 41 per cent) . . . Although only 13.5 per cent of Massachusetts voters are registered Republicans, Democrats are reregistering as independents in droves, the secretary of state reports . . . Good news: John McGovern, a founder of Dartmouth Review, got GOP nod in Massachusetts 5th CD. He’s running against liberal Rep. Chester Atkins. … In D.C., voters showed their disgust with status quo by choosing Sharon Pratt Dixon—the outsider whose campaign symbol was a shovel: to clean up the muck—-over four political retreads. . . . Oklahomans voted in a primary initiative to limit the terms of their state legislators to 12 years, and polls in California, where two term-limitation initiatives will be on November ballot, show 60 per cent support for them.

Other campaign developments: California polls show Sen. Pete Wilson ahead of Democrat Dianne Feinstein by a hair in gubernatorial contest. What could make the difference is Tom Hayden’s Big Green, the monster environmental proposition. (Mrs. Feinstein supports it, Sen. Wilson opposes it.) Robert K. Hattoy, of Sierra Club, feels that what is at stake transcends the election. “If Big Green loses it will look like the movement cannot translate the rhetoric of Earth Day into the reality of Election Day.” . . . Polls taken since Connecticut primary show Lowell Weicker still well ahead in gubernatorial race, but down 15 points from a month ago. New figures: Weicker 34 per cent, Democrat Bruce Morrison 21 per cent, Republican John Rowland 18 per cent. . . . In Senate races, two GOP representatives, Claudine Schneider (R.I.) and Lynn Martin (Ill.), running less well than expected against Democrats Claiborne Pell and Paul Simon, both of whom had been considered vulnerable. Miss Martin trails Simon by 25 points; Miss Schneider trails Pell by 12 points. Miss Schneider is about as liberal as Republicans come. Congressional Quarterly reports she voted against Ronald Reagan in 1987 more often than any other House Republican. . . . But in Kentucky, where Republican Sen. Mitch McConnell was regarded as very vulnerable, he continues to hold a healthy 15-point lead over Harvey Sloane.

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On to November. What happened in Massachusetts, Washington, D.C., and Oklahoma is easy to read: Voters want most incumbents out. “There was this tidal wave coming and we happened to be standing on the beach when it hit,” explained Massachusetts Attorney General James Shannon, who went down to defeat in primary along with virtually every other elected official running in Massachusetts, Democrat or Republican . . . John Silber, maverick winner of Democratic gubernatorial primary, says, “I’m the one who understood what was going on. I understood the outrage.” . . . Moderate Republican William Weld, coming up from 20-point deficit a fortnight earlier to win the GOP nod over state House Minority Leader Steven Pierce, is given fighting chance of being first Republican governor of Massachusetts since Francis Sargent in 1970 . . . Significant: post-primary Boston Globe poll shows GOP senatorial candidate Jim Rappaport just 4 percentage points behind incumbent Sen. John Kerry (45 to 41 per cent) . . . Although only 13.5 per cent of Massachusetts voters are registered Republicans, Democrats are reregistering as independents in droves, the secretary of state reports . . . Good news: John McGovern, a founder of Dartmouth Review, got GOP nod in Massachusetts 5th CD. He’s running against liberal Rep. Chester Atkins. … In D.C., voters showed their disgust with status quo by choosing Sharon Pratt Dixon—the outsider whose campaign symbol was a shovel: to clean up the muck—-over four political retreads. . . . Oklahomans voted in a primary initiative to limit the terms of their state legislators to 12 years, and polls in California, where two term-limitation initiatives will be on November ballot, show 60 per cent support for them.

Other campaign developments: California polls show Sen. Pete Wilson ahead of Democrat Dianne Feinstein by a hair in gubernatorial contest. What could make the difference is Tom Hayden’s Big Green, the monster environmental proposition. (Mrs. Feinstein supports it, Sen. Wilson opposes it.) Robert K. Hattoy, of Sierra Club, feels that what is at stake transcends the election. “If Big Green loses it will look like the movement cannot translate the rhetoric of Earth Day into the reality of Election Day.” . . . Polls taken since Connecticut primary show Lowell Weicker still well ahead in gubernatorial race, but down 15 points from a month ago. New figures: Weicker 34 per cent, Democrat Bruce Morrison 21 per cent, Republican John Rowland 18 per cent. . . . In Senate races, two GOP representatives, Claudine Schneider (R.I.) and Lynn Martin (Ill.), running less well than expected against Democrats Claiborne Pell and Paul Simon, both of whom had been considered vulnerable. Miss Martin trails Simon by 25 points; Miss Schneider trails Pell by 12 points. Miss Schneider is about as liberal as Republicans come. Congressional Quarterly reports she voted against Ronald Reagan in 1987 more often than any other House Republican. . . . But in Kentucky, where Republican Sen. Mitch McConnell was regarded as very vulnerable, he continues to hold a healthy 15-point lead over Harvey Sloane.