Main Street Revisited: Changing Views on Watergate

Last spring, just as the Senate Watergate hearings began, TIME correspondents interviewed citizens in five diverse communities to sample reactions to the break-in and coverup. They found that with few exceptions, people were confused by the charges and countercharges. Some claimed that they were losing interest; others insisted that previous Administrations had done similarly scandalous things but had not been caught. Nearly everyone thought that impeachment was too fearful a prospect to be considered seriously (TIME, May 28). Last week correspondents returned to the same people in the same communities to find out how public attitudes have changed after five more months of disclosures and crisis:

LEXINGTON, VA.: Last May Mrs. Julie Martin, then 46, an administrative assistant at Virginia Military Institute, was not sure what to think about Watergate and the President. Now she says: "The public's confidence in him and his Administration is so riddled with doubt that for the good of the country he should be persuaded to step down." She still shies away from backing impeachment, but believes: "As painful as impeachment might be, perhaps it is necessary, to demonstrate that we as a people insist upon ethical government. I have to believe he's guilty of using the Government and people and his position to his own advantage. When you put it all together, it doesn't leave you much room for charity--and I'm a charitable person."

Her views illustrate how public opinion in this farming community (pop. 8,440) has hardened among some people. Those who were suspicious of Nixon now totally distrust him. But many still defend him and are insistent that the liberal news media are partly to blame. Farmer Carl Sensabaugh, 69, and his wife Katrina, 70, still pay more attention to the price of chicken feed, but are concerned about what is going on in Washington. He says: "I don't keep up with it except on TV, but I kinda feel like if they would leave the President alone, he'd do a better job."

BEAVER FALLS, PA.: Many people interviewed in this steel-fabricating town (pop. 14,000) hope Nixon will end the crisis by resigning. Even those who try to give Nixon the benefit of the doubt find it difficult to support him. One such is Dr. George W. Carson, 51, minister at Trinity United Presbyterian Church. He cautiously argues: "If President Nixon defended these tapes because of a principle, then it is to his credit. But if it is proved that he was protecting himself, then it's contrary to the spirit of our country." What does Carson believe? "I believe he's protecting himself, but I don't want to believe it."

Nixon has some defenders in town, such as Auto Dealer Edward A. Sahli, 69, who still likes former Vice President Spiro Agnew, thinks the President is a victim of "harassment and persecution," and insists that the public is bored with Watergate ("It's like going to see Uncle Tom's Cabin ten times"). More typical are the views of Karen Phillips, 23, director of Christian education at Trinity United. She no longer defends Nixon, explaining: "My dad would say, 'All politicians are crooks,' and I used to say no. Now I agree. I feel betrayed."

SHAKER HEIGHTS, OHIO: In an auto service shop of this prosperous suburb (pop. 36,000) of Cleveland, Mechanic Ken Masshart, 35, ridiculed Watergate for months as just another political squabble. He even used to skip over newspaper stories about it. But Spiro Agnew's resignation convinced him that something was terribly wrong in Washington. He explains: "All of a sudden, I started reading about politics again; I got wrapped up in it." For the image of the country, he thinks that "Nixon should resign before impeachment, if it comes to that."

Librarian Margaret Campbell, 60, also keeps up with the Watergate news, yet she finds herself "just as confused as I always was" about what's happening. Indeed, she thinks that the actions of those involved in Watergate defy understanding: "Maybe they read too many books about suspense and intrigue."

Mrs. Patricia Plotkin, 41, past president of the local League of Women Voters and a first-year law student, used to be on the fence about Watergate. Now she declares: "I have zero faith in the President, at least in his integrity." To her, impeachment is still "a frightening prospect," but she adds: "I frankly would be willing to accept the fear. I don't feel that is any reason we should keep a President in office when there are fundamental questions about his honesty and his ability to serve."

PORTLAND, ORE.: President Nixon still has a few loyalists in this city (pop. 390,000), such as President John Howard, 51, of Lewis and Clark College, who says of the press and Congress: "They are like sharks. When they smell blood, they go mad." Another is J. Richard Nokes, 58, managing editor of the Oregonian, who declares: "A lynch-mob atmosphere has developed in the Washington press corps and in Congress. Now it has spread through the country." But majority sentiment in Portland is illustrated by the fact that Nokes' own newspaper receives 40 times as many anti-Nixon letters as pro-Nixon; one family alone wrote five angry letters in a single week.

For months Democratic Mayor Neil Goldschmidt, 32, was cautious in his criticism of Nixon because he did not want to jeopardize the city's application for $20 million in federal funds for law enforcement. Now he exclaims: "Think of the men who have sat in that office, the dignity surrounding it. What will be left when he gets through with it, Lord only knows." Says Mrs. Margene Williams, 53, a gift shop operator: "When Agnew resigned we caught the flea but not the rat." Adds Tom Cook, 52, a printer: "I can do without steak, but I don't want my three kids to grow up in the country the way it is now."

Most bewildered of all are the city's Republicans. Clyde Brummell, 47, a carpenter and a Republican precinct committeeman, says: "When I was growing up, all I heard was that Herbert Hoover caused the Depression. Now they are trying to Hooverize the Republican Party again, saddling us with something we didn't cause."

In the opinion of Mrs. Connie McCready, 52, a public utilities commissioner and a Republican, the situation has worsened since May. She explains: "Every week you pick up a newspaper you have to say, 'My God.' I feel like I'm standing in the surf, and just as I am hit by one wave, another comes and hits me until I'm reeling. I feel myself drawing inward, pulling in my head like a turtle. I think the country can survive this; we can survive anything. But I'm awfully worried."

MILWAUKEE: On the blue-collar, white ethnic South Side of this city (pop. 708,000), Watergate as a topic of conversation still ranks behind street crime and the Green Bay Packers. In May people were unbelieving and bored with Watergate; now most apparently have decided Nixon should be removed, but they feel uncomfortable talking about it. Explains the Rev. James Czachowski, 47, of St. Ignatius Church: "Last May nobody would point a finger at the President; now they all think he's guilty. But we want him removed without having to do the dirty work ourselves. When Agnew resigned people said, 'Maybe he's showing the way for Nixon.' But if the President does go, what will we have? They can give us all those constitutional successors, but we elected a President. All those other people are strangers."

Not all South Siders share his concern. At Pinky's bowling alley, Grace Londo, a nursing assistant, declares: "Last May I had my doubts. No more. My woman's intuition says Nixon's a liar. He's gone beyond politics as usual; he's taken advantage of being President. Impeach him." Just as emphatically, others disagree. "My business is going good; let's not disrupt the country," says Pat Platto, 41, owner of a linoleum company.

But Machinist Bud Bongard, 46, expresses the views of most South Siders: "I've never felt so helpless. What can we people at the bottom do? We used to take pride in our vote. We thought we were electing the lesser of two evils last year, and look what we got. I'm thinking about not voting next time."

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