The Senate: Arguing on the Issues

Congressional politics almost inevitably is a complicated blend of personalities and issues. But in the Senate, two contests this year offer voters clear ideological choices. The issues do matter and may dominate the outcome. In the House, some G.O.P. leaders are making an unprecedented and, some old hands would say, most unsportsmanlike effort to unseat several of their Democratic counterparts, contrary to clubby tradition.

A Sedate Seminar

The race is more like a sedate college seminar than a campaign for the U.S. Senate--a refreshing antidote to the bitterly personal presidential contest. Running for the seat being vacated by Connecticut Democrat Abraham Ribicoff, who is retiring after 18 years, are two candidates who offer a sharp ideological choice. Liberal Democrat Christopher Dodd, 36, a popular three-term Congressman, calls for more effective Government rather than less of it. His conservative G.O.P. opponent, former New York Senator James Buckley, 57, wants a much reduced federal presence in Americans' lives. Says moderate Republican Sid Gardner, who heads John Anderson's campaign in the state: "This is a clear and direct battle. It boils down to how the people of Connecticut perceive what the '80s are all about."

In a state where Democrats and independents outnumber Republicans by more than 2 to 1. Dodd seems to have a comfortable lead. He is an ebullient, back-slapping campaigner and the Democrats' sentimental favorite. His father, Thomas Dodd, served in the Senate for twelve years, until he failed to win renomination after being censured for misuse of campaign funds. Buckley, a restrained, somewhat stiff campaigner, lives in the family home in Sharon, Conn., but he is regarded by many voters as a carpetbagger because he served as New York's Senator from 1971-77. Henry Kissinger and George Bush joined Buckley on the campaign trail last week, while Senator Edward Kennedy came to Connecticut to help Dodd. In a display of solidarity, so did Vice President Walter Mondale.

Buckley faults Dodd as a big spender and for "consistently supporting Carter's willingness to allow the U.S. strategic position to erode." Buckley favors a bigger defense budget, a 10% tax cut and total decontrol of energy prices. Like many other liberals this year, Dodd calls for a moderate buildup of conventional military forces and restoration of price controls on all domestic oil.

Though Buckley is outspending Dodd by 2 to 1, he needs a sizable slice of the independent and Democratic blue-collar vote if he is going to win. But for the moment at least, that part of the electorate seems reasonably content with his liberal Democratic opponent, even in what is supposed to be a conservative year.

A Shrewd Tactician

In Madison, S. Dak., a gray-haired bicyclist shouted at the candidate: "I'm saving energy, George!" In Sioux Falls, half a dozen strangers greeted him on the street as if he were an old friend. That night, as he walked unobtrusively by the bleachers during a high school football game, teen-agers shouted: "Hey, George!" At 58, George McGovern is probably South Dakota's best-known and, on a personal level, best-liked politician. Nonetheless, this year McGovern is in trouble because many of the same constituents who think he is so personable have decided that he is too liberal.

His opponent, conservative Republican James Abdnor, 57, a bachelor wheat farmer and popular four-term Congressman, maintains that McGovern has lost touch with South Dakotans. Says Abdnor: "I'm the first working farmer off a tractor that South Dakota ever sent to Washington. I represent the mainstream." Abdnor favors Government price supports for farm products and a stronger national defense, but less Government spending on social welfare programs--all popular stands in the state, where nearly 25% of the 689,000 people live on farms.

But McGovern has begun closing the gap with an aggressive campaign that belies his reserved style on the stump. He reminds voters that he, too, is a fervent backer of farm price supports, that he is the No. 2 Democrat on the Senate Agriculture Committee, and that he supports increased benefits for the elderly (more than 17% of South Dakota's population is over 60, one of the highest percentages in the nation). He makes no apologies for being a liberal, which he defines as "one who believes the power of the U.S. Government ought to be thrown on the side of ordinary people."

He also has proved to be a shrewd campaign tactician. When a national conservative group passed out handbills that called McGovern, the father of five, a "baby killer" because he believes women should have a right to abortions, he objected to being smeared by out-of-staters. So many South Dakotans sided with him that Abdnor had to disavow the group's support.

Then, when former President Gerald Ford spent a day campaigning for Abdnor, McGovern ran full-page newspaper advertisements noting that he and the ex-President both supported the Panama Canal Treaties, SALT II and the Equal Rights Amendment, all of which are opposed by Abdnor. As a result, Ford spent much of his time fending off hostile questions. Ford also goofed by urging that the candidates debate; apparently no one had told him that Abdnor, who has a slight speech impediment, has repeatedly refused to do just that.

McGovern has come from behind five times to win election in South Dakota, but this year he predicts only that "it's going to be a tough finish." Win or lose, he promises that this will be his last campaign.

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