The Senate: A Thoroughbred Stumbles

Rarely--and rightly--have Americans been so critical of Congress, a circumstance that lends particular zest and importance to this year's contests. On these two pages, TIME this week begins regular coverage for the duration of the campaign of races for the Senate and House that are significant not only for their effect on the balance of power in the 97th Congress but also for their insight into local and state issues that color the rich mosaic of America.

Growing Old in New York

As the senior Senator walked down a Capitol corridor last week, Democrat John Stennis of Mississippi, an old ideological foe, embraced him. Said Democrat Thomas Eagleton of Missouri: "You're the best and the brightest in every respect." Republican Paul Laxalt of Nevada, another longtime antagonist, grabbed the veteran's elbow and said, "You were a thoroughbred, sir, a thoroughbred."

Just a day earlier, the thoroughbred had stumbled. After 24 years as the Senator from New York, Republican Jacob Javits, 76, lost his party's nomination for a fifth term, to an obscure suburban official from Long Island. Javits' reputation had once made him seem as durable as the Empire State Building. But he was always a member of an endangered species, a liberal Republican, and until last week he had never faced a primary fight, thanks to the late Nelson Rockefeller's iron-fisted rule of New York Republicans.

Conservative Challenger Alfonse D'Amato, 43, the presiding supervisor of Hempstead Township (pop. 800,000), attacked Javits for supporting SALT II, the Equal Rights Amendment and Government-paid abortions. With questionable taste, D'Amato also made issues out of his opponent's age and health. Javits admitted that he suffers from motor neuron disease, which is slowly withering his muscles. One D'Amato commercial showed a wrinkled Javits poster slowly falling to the ground as an announcer intoned: "And now, at age 76 and in failing health, he wants another six years."

Javits denounced the ads as "ghoulish," but surveys showed that his age and illness did influence voters. Said Businessman Marshall Merritt as he left the polls in Manhattan: "Javits is too old and sick for the job. The Senate shouldn't be a club for superannuated public servants." In Washington, Javits vowed to take on D'Amato again in November, as the candidate of New York's small Liberal Party. Said Javits of the coming campaign: "I assure you that it will be vigorous."

His task in forging a winning coalition will be made difficult by the liberal credentials of the Democratic nominee, four-term Congresswoman Elizabeth Holtzman of Brooklyn. A graduate of Harvard Law School, Holtzman, 39, impressed constituents as a tough-questioning member of the House Judiciary Committee during its 1974 impeachment hearings on Richard Nixon. She was the principal sponsor of the three-year extension for ratification of the Equal Rights Amendment. She backed efforts to expel Nazi war criminals from the U.S. and helped expose the fraud in a New York City summer food program that led to 17 convictions.

In winning the Senate nomination last week, she handily beat four opponents, including former New York City Mayor John Lindsay. Her principal competition was Bess Myerson, 55, who had the backing of New York City Mayor Ed Koch, Governor Hugh Carey and Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan. Myerson mounted a $1.3 million TV campaign, financed mostly by herself and her wealthy friends, in an attempt to convince New Yorkers that her experience as New York City's commissioner of consumer affairs from 1969 to 1974 qualified her for the Senate. But Holtzman raised $1.2 million, mostly from small contributions from 35,000 people, and staged a last-minute TV blitz of her own (built around her campaign theme: "You know what she's done in the House; think what she could do in the Senate"). She also put together an organization of 5,000 volunteers.

As election day drew near, the campaign turned bitter. Holtzman sniped at Myerson's lucrative consumer consultant contracts with major corporations. Myerson lambasted the Congresswoman for never having voted for a defense appropriation bill. But in the end, even Holtzman's supporters were surprised by her lopsided victory (41% vs. 30% for Myerson).

No sooner had the primary ended than all three candidates began campaigning for the November election. Holtzman was the initial favorite, chiefly because the state is mostly Democratic, and she has strong support among Jews, the elderly and women. D'Amato and Javits immediately began scrambling for the moderate vote. Scoffed D'Amato of Javits and Holtzman: "Tweedledum and Tweedledee." Because of Holtzman's votes against defense budgets, D'Amato complained, the U.S. military would "have trouble buying a popgun." But with endorsements, from the state's tiny Conservative and Right-to-Life parties, D'Amato may have trouble attracting enough moderates to win.

Javits' last hope is to forge a coalition of independents and moderate Republicans and Democrats. But he will have to build a statewide campaign organization from scratch and raise a planned budget of at least $1 million. The task is formidable. Said an old friend and veteran New York politican: "Jack promised to campaign for the Liberal Party, and he always keeps his promises. But I don't think you'll find that his heart is in it any more."

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