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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (June 10, 1981)
Viewpoint The Battalion Wednesday Texas A&M University June 10, 1981 Humai Jjeen fc> UI deepest k cribed a< The rei Slouch By Jim Earle “He was here a week ago when I moved into this room, and I'm beginning to worry about him. He hasn ’t moved since. ” Congress viewed as stumbling, divided By DAVID S. BRODER DENVER — The meeting of Democratic state chairman was not half an hour old when Sylvia Hagen of North Dakota put the perplexity of the party in stark terms no one could ignore. There had been polite discus sion about the plans for the mid-term party conference the Democrats will hold some time next year. Then Hagen, a Bismarck political activist and state party vice- chairman, cut through the fog. “I hope ” she said, ‘‘we are not going to spend the next three days (of state chair men’s and national committee meetings) talking about the mid-term conference. The real issues are that we have got a very popular Republican President and a Demo cratic congressional leadership that looks stumbling and divided... I don’t know about your states, but in our state things can get a lot worse in 1982... if we don’t do something about it.” North Dakota went for Ronald Reagan, of course, and Republicans recaptured the governorship in 1980. But it was also the only state where a Democrat took over a vacant Republican House seat. In 1982, freshman Rep. Byron Dorgan (D-N.D.) and veteran Sen. Quentin Burdick (D- N. D.) will both face re-election challenges, so Hagen was talking about a very real threat. She was also talking about a problem a great many Democrats see, when she com plained that the impression the country is getting is of a “stumbling and divided” con gressional leadership. As she spoke. Democratic members of the House Ways and Means Committee were hammering out what they hoped would be a consensus alternative to the Reagan tax bill and another group of Demo crats was at the White House listening to Reagan pitch his plan. That night, both sets of Democrats were on television, express ing their divergent views. Two days earlier, there was a similar TV spectacle when the Democratic leaders of the House and Sen ate met with Reagan and then aired their disagreements with each other for the cameras. Except for the issue of Social Security cutbacks, where the Democrats saw Reagan’s mistake and pounced, almost ev ery issue that has come up so far has found the opposition party’s most visible spokes men — its congressional leaders — sending a signal of confusion to their fellow- partisans around the country. Their “titular leader,” Jimmy Carter, is licking his wounds and writing his memoirs, and there is no great demand for him to go public as the spokesman for the party he led to defeat. Their two most prominent survivors of 1980, Walter Mon dale and Ted Kennedy, are too deeply and obviously committed to their personal ambitions for 1984 to serve as spokesmen for anybody but themselves. So that leaves the job to Sen. Bob Byrd and Speaker Tip O’Neill and their lieute nants — and that is where the problem lies. Byrd and O’Neill, it is worth remembering, have no previous experience in this role. They came to the leadership of the party in the Senate and House at the same time Carter came to the presidency. This is the first time the absence of a Democratic Pres ident has shifted the spotlight to them. Byrd is struggling to adjust to being the Senate minority leader. O’Neill is working just as hard to find a way to knit together a coalition of House Democrats, no longer dominated by people of his own liberal tra dition. To ask these two men to devise and ex ecute a national political and public rela tions strategy that will counter that of the White House and the showman-President is to ask the impossible. But Hagen was not alone among the gras sroots Democratic leaders in demanding just that. “We need something out of the Democratic leadership in Congress,” said Nancy Pelosi, the head of the party in Reagan’s home state of California. She re ported that demands for “stronger” con gressional opposition to the Reagan prog ram dominated a recent survey of 55,000 California Democratic workers and contri butors. “The Democrats look weak — and that’s putting it mildly,” said Ed Campbell, the veteran Iowa Democratic chairman. “Peo ple want to know what the Democratic Par ty stands for. We’ve got to stand for some thing. ” The official answer of party chairman Charles T. Manatt to the rumbles of dis satisfaction is that, sometime later this sum mer, he will set up the party “strategy coun cil” he promised at the time of his election last February — a body that will supposedly include Byrd and O’Neill and their lieute nants. But the scuttlebutt around the Democratic meetings here was that, while O’Neill is being cooperative, Byrd is drag ging his feet on Senate participation in the council, apparently out of fear that it would further complicate his leadership prob lems. But it is clear that something will have to be done by the Democrats — and soon. Too many of them are looking to their spokes men in Washington and hearing nothing. Regents should air old trunk A television talk show discussion earlier this week brought to mind some thoughts re garding the role of the press in society, thoughts with local application. The general sentiment among members of the audience on this particular show was quite critical of the American media and the coverage they present to the American public. One person said journalists opened a few closed trunks back in the days of the Water gate scandal and since then all trunks every where have been opened and examined. “Can’t we just leave a few of them closed?” she asked. Much to my chagrin, the audience ap plauded. All of this brought to mind the current process of selecting a president for Texas A&M University. Something tells me that woman doesn’t know much about the mass media or the people who work therein. Reporters have an obligation to the public, an obligation to report factual accounts of what’s happening the world, the nation, the local com munity. It’s unfortunate that some trunks contain skeletons. Nonetheless, those are the very in rugged from San anthropol The ho prehistori the bone; ave — h Coffee Breaks Jane G. Brust trunks the public should know about — particularly if the trunk owners are public officials. I’d say an aggressive journalist — a trunk opener — is worth his weight in gold prin ter’s ink because he’s giving the public information that the public needs to know. The Board of Regents refuses to release the names of those persons under consider ation for the position. Understandably, it’s a personnel matter they’d like to keep quiet, and it’s a personal matter for those candidates involved. At the same time, however, thousands of students, former students, staff and faculty have a vested interest in whom the regents will select to lead the University. Thus, the Bryan-College Station Eagle in February requested the list of candidates from the University. That request was de nied of course, and so the Eagle in requested the attorney general’sopis §L Steele the matter. If the list of 20 candid- peved to commended by the search commi: perfect Vi deemed a public record, it will | go but dc suitable for publication. Ifnot, theli | ^ tee e ‘ sity gets to keep the list confident:! f The attorney general’s opinioni- tee has reviewed the case and has? its recommendation. That decisioai sently lying on Mark White’s desk for his rejection or approval. If and when the list is released, will be published. It’s not necessait case that the public — or the press-; the regents aren’t doing screening and interviewingcandidat not necessarily the case that anyone the regents will select an individmli unsuitable for the position. It is the case, however, thatas regents are secretive, the public know if they’re doing a goodjobof a suitable president. As long as there is the shadow of ilj the public needs to know what puHj eials are doing — just to be sure'j doing their jobs well. Escap jscue an i space shi by aero dents at for entry test this One aft” by estima iotal de\ :e-entry kirn an £ arth oi uverabi own on Anotl ners sele blunt no rudder i<£> wet eyono«3orwB>« N.y new# board t nent. 1 ost abo stud Presi daman t will not the worl and the i is viewe aintain That v aturday sistant rmarit I'niversi tional N Every lobbyist needs a hit list By DICK WEST United Press International WASHINGTON — The new game in town is called “Hit List.” If you are lobbying for any sort of cause — and who isn’t these days? — the first thing you should do is get yourself one. It is true that four prominent members of one “political action” committee resigned in protest last week when the group issued its 1982 hit list. But such negative reaction is rare. The group was only doing what comes naturally when it vowed to spend $400,000 trying to defeat four senators and five House members next year. A pressure group without a hit list has virtually no influence at all. On a political impact scale of 1 to 10, it weights in at minus 2.8. Lobbying without a hit list is some thing like peeping through a keyhole with a glass eye. For awhile, ratings were all the rage. Pressure groups would take the voting re cords of members of Congress and compute their percentages according to “right” and “wrong” positions on certain issues. But that tactic apparently was too subtle to be really effective. Now the “in” thing among pressure groups is to draw up specific lists of lawgiv ers targeted for defeat in the next election and to announce precisely the sums that will be spent to help them lose. With so many hit lists floating around, it’s an innocuous congressman indeed who isn’t marked for political extinction by at least two or more pressure groups. The beauty of multiple listing is that in any given election virtually all of the incum bents will have been targeted. Statistically, that improves the odds of someone on your own list being rejected by the voters. Under the rules of the game, when a senator or House member you have hit- listed fails to win re-election, you are enti tled to claim credit for his defeat. Needless to say, the more hits you can claim, the easier it is to raise funds to pour into the campaigns against the next hit-listed candidates. Thus, abitof] may be in order. When drawing up a hit list, examine elections slates all aroui country and pick out two or three ill bents who are facing tough racesandf" highly vulnerable. Arbitrarily add your list of targets. If the results are as predicted, | boost the percentage of victims ony and enhance your reputation as alol* Partial credit may even be claim!® hit-listed candidate retires from Co* before the campaign begins. In any event, never take a chanced | of the candidates on your hit list reelected. Any risk of such a disaster!) | avoided by hitlisting at least one man who has died in office. Warped By Scott McCullar A TRAGEDY TODAY, MR. GEORGE. WHIPPLE, LOCAL GROCERY STORE MANAGER, WAS CRUSHED TO DEATH IN HIS STORE'S CARD BOARD COM P AC TOP. MANAGER WHIPPLE WAS KW0W/V BY ALL OF HIS CUSTOMERS AND STAFF AS THAT "IDIOT M 0F\0ti ROT ONE OF His STAFF SAID WAS ALWAYS WORRIED ABOUT HIM, I MEAN, Squeezing TOILET PAPER', ALL HE EVER FELT WAS THE PLASTIC WRAPPER MR. WHIPPLE WILL BE buried in a casket UNEP WITH THE TOILET PAPER HE LOVED SO MUCH... The Battalion - U S P S 045 360 MEMBER Texas Press Association Southwest Journalism C.ongres LETTERS POLICY Editor Angelique Copeland City Editor JaneG. Brust Photo Editor Greg Gammon Sports Editor Ritchie Priddy Focus Editor Cathy Saathoff News Editors Marilyn Faulkenberry, Greg Gammon, Venita McCellon StaffWriters BernieFette, Kathy O’Connell, Denise Richter, Cartoonist Scott McCullar Letters to the Editor should not exceed 300 length, and are subject to being cut if they are longtt* editorial staff reserves the right to edit letters for shit® length, hut will make every effort to maintaintheatA® intent. Each letter must also he signed, showtlieaw* and phone number of the writer. t Columns and guest editorials are also welcome, aid® not subject to the same length constraints as It* Address all inquiries and correspondence to: Editor.•S Battalion, 216 Heed McDonald, Texas A&M Uniw* College Station, TX 77843. EDITORIAL POLICY The Battalion is a non-profit, self-supporting newspaper operated as a community service to Texas A&M University and Bryan-College Station. Opinions expressed in The Bat talion are those of the editor or the author, and do not necessarily represent the opinions of Texas A&M Universi ty administrators or faculty members, or of the Board of Regen ts. The Battalion also serves as a laboratory newspaper for students in reporting, editing and photography classes within the Department of Communications. Questions or comments concerning any editorial matter should be directed to the editor. The Battalion is published Tuesday, Wednesday Thursday during Texas A&M’s summer semesteis.' subscriptions are $16,75 per semester, $33.25 tier sd year and $35 per full year. Advertising rates funiisliid^ request. Our address: The Battalion, 216 Heed McDonaldB-dJ ing, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX 1 United Press International is entitled exclusivolyla® use for reproduction of all news dispatches creditfdtjl Bights of reproduction of all other matter herein rrsd 1 * Second class postage paid at College Station. TXT®