Tuckered Out

Weeks ago, the Republican National Committee pinpointed the St. Louis mayoralty race as a prime target in a G.O.P. drive to win the big U.S. cities back from the Democrats. To achieve this aim in St. Louis, the Republicans needed a strong candidate if they expected to beat two-term Democratic Mayor Raymond R. Tucker. But if the G.O.P. had the right idea, it picked the wrong man: last week Tucker swamped Republican Auto Dealer Ben H. Lindenbusch by a near 2-1 vote of 100,899 to 59,471.

Ben Lindenbusch, 53, had an uphill fight all the way, for he was reduced to fault-finding with an administration that had done a creditable job. Ray Tucker, 64, could point to an ambitious urban renewal program, a start on expressways, a successful $110 million bond issue for programs ranging from new street lights to a planetarium, an improved salary schedule for city officials--and, importantly, a happy way of rallying businessmen and newspapers to his causes. Conceding that Lindenbusch stood to lose by at least 25,000 votes--a margin they hoped would narrow as the G.O.P. gained momentum in the years ahead--the Republicans brought in some outside political muscle. Arizona's Barry Goldwater helped kick off Lindenbusch's campaign. Into St. Louis came Jack Stiles, who directed the G.O.P. national registration drive last year, and Assistant National Committee Chairman Clare B. Williams.

The Republicans mounted a hot campaign by charging Democratic election frauds in Chicago in the last presidential election. They set trees out in buckets on downtown sidewalks, proclaiming: BEAUTIFY OUR STREETS--ELECT LINDY. But Lindenbusch himself put on a stumbling, colorless campaign, and the Republican effort came to nothing. Ray Tucker won every one of St. Louis' 28 wards, and it was widely agreed that Ben Lindenbusch, who had never before run for public office, never should again.

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