The Senate: Issues on the Sidelines

The Senate candidates in Florida have such similar views on the issues that voters are left with mostly a choice between personalities. Similarly, in Indiana the Senate contest revolves around the question How many years in Washington are too many? Among House incumbents, a liberal Democrat has run into trouble in Texas, and a conservative Republican is being hard-pressed in California.

Consumer Report in Florida

The Democrat is a man, the Republican is a woman, but there ends the major difference between the contestants for the Florida Senate seat being vacated by Democrat Richard Stone. William Gunter, 46, who sank Stone in a primary runoff, has been a strong consumer advocate as state insurance commissioner since 1976. He ordered auto insurance companies to cut their premiums by more than $125 million. Republican Nominee Paula Hawkins, 53, earned a similar reputation as a member of the state's public service commission from 1972 to 1978 by voting against utility rate increases.

The two also resemble each other in personality. Gunter is feisty and blunt. During her years on the commission, Hawkins was a tart-tongued, self-styled "fighter," though she preferred to describe herself as a "Maitland housewife." But as accustomed as they are to a good scrap, the two candidates have so far kept the gloves on. Both tirelessly remind voters of their records and promise to focus on pocketbook issues in the Senate. Standing in a drizzle in downtown St. Petersburg last week, Gunter told an elderly crowd that he would fight for improvements in Medicare and for banning all mandatory retirement. The next day, Hawkins, campaigning in brilliant sunshine in Port Saint Joe, promised to seek a Senate investigation to determine whether, as she suspects, the U.S. has sufficient oil reserves for the next 300 years.

They attack each other only indirectly. Gunter has depicted himself as "someone with experience in public office," a thinly veiled reference to Hawkins' lack of legislative experience (Gunter served as a Congressman from 1973 to 1975). Hawkins tells audiences that "I come to this job with clean hands," an equally unsubtle dig at Gunter for accepting donations from insurance agents (Gunter says he limits them to $100 each). Though Gunter expects to raise more money than Hawkins ($1.5 million vs. $1 million), she will have outspent him, $500,000 to $350,000, on radio and TV spots during the final weeks of the campaign.

The candidates are running even, with the outcome probably hinging on the retired, mostly Jewish voters in the condominiums of Miami and the rest of southern Florida. In a state that has elected only one Republican to the Senate in this century, Hawkins must persuade these traditional Democrats that she is the better bargain.

Memories in Indiana

Liberal Democrat Birch Bayh well remembers Indiana's political history, but contrary to George Santayana, he may still be condemned to repeat it. In 1962, campaigning as a fresh young face, he upset veteran Republican Homer Capehart, then 65, in part because Hoosiers were reluctant to grant the incumbent an unprecedented full fourth term. Now Bayh, 52, is himself running for a fourth term against a moderate Republican opponent, Dan Quayle, whose age (33), experience (four years in Congress) and youthful good looks remind many voters of--guess who? Quayle underscores the resemblance by telling voters that one of Bayh's 1962 campaign themes was: "Eighteen years in Washington is too long."

Quayle repeatedly reminds voters that Indiana's unemployment rate of 12% is second highest in the nation. Campaigning in the steel center of Gary, which has 14% unemployment, he contended that many layoffs have been forced by unreasonable air-quality standards that are supported by Bayh. Though Bayh is one of the Senators marked for defeat by national right-wing organizations, they are having little effect on the race, largely because Quayle has strongly disavowed their support.

The two candidates are equally matched in cash (about $2 million apiece), but Bayh has the more professional staff and is the better stump speaker. Bayh, like other beleaguered liberals, emphasizes his success in getting federal cash for the home folks: for example, $17 million to renovate the statehouse district in Indianapolis. "I've done my share of spending," he admits, in reply to one of Quayle's major attacks. "But if you look at the piece of the pie I've been responsible for--transportation, veterans' programs, Meals-on-Wheels for the elderly--I think that shows responsibility." He attacks Quayle as an ineffective Congressman. Charges Bayh: "He hasn't blocked one regulation or stopped one dollar of federal spending."

The campaign seems a toss-up that could be decided by any of several factors, not the least being Republican-leaning Indiana's complicated voting machines, many of which make ticket splitting difficult. But Bayh's greatest worry is that many Democrats, embittered by economic distress, will stay home this year.

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