The Fight for the 69

Throughout the 360-mile length of Wisconsin's sprawling Seventh Congressional District, overalled farmers, aproned waitresses, white-collared clerks and blue-collared factory hands last week listened to the latest political litanies. Democrats, they heard, are soft on law-and-order, profligate with public funds, cop-outs on Viet Nam. Republicans, they were told, represent recession, militarism, the special interests of the rich. On Nov. 3, the Wisconsin Seventh will decide which set of accusations they believe.

The Seventh is a microcosm of American political concern and action in 1970. Its rich dairyland country increasingly feels the encroachments of large factories. Its economy is lagging. Taxes are high. Republican Andre LeTendre is emphasizing his support of Richard Nixon (and the Green Bay Packers) as he asks his neighbors to send him to Congress. Democrat David Obey is there now and wants to stay.

Marginal Seats. Of 435 congressional districts, only 69 are considered marginal--won by 5% or less of the total vote m the last election. Obey squeaked through with a mere 51.5% in a 1969 special election to choose a successor to Melvin Laird, who had resigned to become Secretary of Defense. It is in such close races that the tilt of the next House of Representatives will be determined.

On a crisp, clear, early autumn morning last week, LeTendre began a typical 16-hour campaign day--typical for him and for the 137 other Republicans and Democrats competing for marginal seats. Young (33), articulate, conservative and a former president of the National Jaycees, LeTendre ventured into a feed mill, roadside restaurant, bakery and hardware store. His opponent was "spending crazy," LeTendre charged. Agreeing with a disgruntled early morning beer drinker that property tax revenues should not be used for welfare, the candidate argued that Nixon's proposal to share federal revenues with the states would ease the local tax burden. As 60 citizens sipped coffee and ate doughnuts, LeTendre told them Nixon "is bringing our men out of Vietnam." He aligned himself with the deep-seated revulsion against campus violence that was inflamed by an August bombing at the University of Wisconsin. He countered Democratic arguments that defense spending must be cut: "A strong America is more important than even clean air, waste disposal and pollution." In the main, listeners were interested and impressed. At another point one farmer shocked the candidate. "It doesn't make much difference who goes to Congress," he grumbled. "They try to line their own pockets."

Issues Clear. Confined to Washington during the week by House business, Obey, 32, is counterattacking in person on weekends, and otherwise via 30-and 60-second TV spots. The commercials show Obey in a chat with a rural constituent, stressing the evils of "corporate and hobby farming," advocating strict curbs on cheese imports, arguing the need for better health services. Obey, an unabashed liberal, tells his constituents that only by curtailing the flow of billions of tax dollars to the development of weapons systems, only by getting U.S. troops out of Viet Nam, only by limiting outlays for space adventures can the nation meet its pressing educational, health and social needs. For voters of the Wisconsin Seventh, the issues are clearly drawn.

1972 Portent. At power centers of the two major political parties, such tests of voter sentiment as the Obey-LeTendre fight are being closely watched. In off years, congressional elections afford the nearest approximation of a national referendum that is available in the American political system. Nearly always, the party holding the White House suffers losses.* This year, Republicans expect to retain most of the 188 seats that are now theirs; the most optimistic among them foresee small inroads into the 243-seat Democratic bastion (there are four vacancies). Virtually no one concedes the G.O.P. a chance of winning control.

Though the personalities of the candidates and local concerns loom large in all of the 69 marginal districts, voters will be registering a judgment on the way Richard Nixon and his Republican Administration are running the country. Politicians of both parties need look back only to 1966 for a dramatic example of how off-year elections can become portents of the future. The Democrats lost 47 House seats that year; two years later they lost the most important seat of all--the one in the Oval Office at the White House.

*Only twice in this century has the incumbent President's party gained House seats in off years--in 1902 and 1934. The average off-year loss is 41 seats.

This file is automatically generated by a robot program, so reader's discretion is required.