House Divided

Never in this century has a congressional race been so close. And rarely in modern times has a political question divided the House so violently. Some Republicans last week called their Democratic colleagues "thugs" and "slime" and spoke of using "guerrilla warfare" and "massive retaliation." There was even wild talk about Republican legislators staging mass sit-ins, locking the doors of the House chamber or chaining themselves to the rostrum in protest. The source of the bitterness: after months of recounts in the Eighth District of Indiana, a House panel ruled that Democratic Incumbent Francis McCloskey had beaten Republican Challenger Richard McIntyre by four votes out of 234,055 counted.

The trouble began on election night last November, when it appeared that McCloskey had defeated McIntyre by 72 votes. But when a partial recount showed McIntyre with a 34-vote lead, Indiana's Republican secretary of state sent an official certification of his victory to Washington. As Congress convened in January, another recount was under way, and the House leadership refused to swear in McIntyre. Finally, a House task force of two Democrats and one Republican was assigned to oversee another recount. It took more than just an adding machine: at the heart of the dispute was a batch of absentee ballots in invalid form, some of which had been lumped into the total while others had been kept aside. The panel's Republican member, William Thomas of California, assisted in drafting counting procedures, but when the tally showed McIntyre coming up short, he strongly criticized the system as unfair.

Firebrand Republicans, vowing not to permit "business as usual," forced an all-night session, with some 60 Congressmen taking the floor to condemn the "theft" of the seat. The next day, when the House Administration Committee met to vote on the task force's ruling, all seven Republican members walked out; the remaining twelve Democrats decided unanimously to recommend that McCloskey be seated.

The extreme reaction of the Republicans reflects a growing frustration among the party's Young Turks with the Democratic rule of the House--and with Republican Leader Robert Michel's collegial approach. The full House is scheduled to vote this week on a move to seat McCloskey. Republicans plan to offer a motion to declare the seat vacant. If that fails, McCloskey will begin his second term--and the unseemly war will probably continue.