Congress in Crisis: My Life as a Congressional Candidate
Michaelsen, Mark G.
MY LIFE AS A CONGRESSIONAL CANDIDATE I t was quite late and I was in bed, just drifting off to sleep, when the telephone rang. The caller identified herself as working for the New Republic. I...
...I snapped to attention...
...And my name was really hard to pronounce, an alliterative tongue-twister which confounded broadcasters, statesmen, and voters...
...My roof-mounted loudspeakers crashed to the ground...
...Ah, you've got a tough row to hoe," observed my new acquaintance...
...His son and daughter-in-law were expecting their first child any day...
...Twenty feet from the exit the van's roof began to scrape on the concrete ceiling...
...A native of central Wisconsin, I was working at Hillsdale College in Michigan in early 1984, when I learned that Wisconsin state senator Walter John Chilsen was mulling a run against Obey...
...Cows were admired, good deeds were praised, and hands were shaken...
...Mark G. Michaelsen is a policy advisor to the Michigan State Senate Majority in Lansing, Michigan...
...I stepped forward...
...I didn't hold public office...
...That night only thirteen GOP candidates would unseat Democratic opponents despite the avalanche of support for President Reagan at the top of the ticket...
...On the advice of Chilsen's consultant, I procured a promise from district Republican leaders to raise a hefty amount of startup cash...
...Melvin R. Laird vacated the seat to become Nixon's defense secretary...
...Regardless of tone, a New Republic article mentioning my candidacy would surely unlock a torrent of political action committee contributions, instantly transforming my campaign from amateur shoestring effort to formidable, well-financed juggernaut...
...My campaign treasury finished with a slight surplus...
...Desperate, I left the van in a parking ramp near the studio...
...that might have tempted me to run again in 1986...
...I had some connections in the conservative movement in Washington...
...If this is just an oversight, we'll be happy to continue sending you the New Republic until we receive your check...
...What would the article say, I wondered...
...Instead, I mumbled something about having worked for Hillsdale, which he had visited and praised...
...I hadn't lived in Wisconsin for four years...
...The PACs, seeing no "viability" (their word for a snowball's chance in hell) in my election, weren't about to invest in my race...
...He hadn't heard a word...
...I retrieved them and continued my progress toward the exit...
...As the Republican candidate for Congress in Wisconsin's Seventh District in 1984, I was accustomed to late-night calls from journalists, usually wire-service reporters racing to meet a deadline...
...I'm Mark Michaelsen," I said, smiling and proffering my calloused mitt...
...I faced the American campaign Catch 22: I couldn't raise money until I showed momentum, I couldn't show momentum until I raised money...
...Big Mo was just around the corner...
...President, dairy farmers of northern Wisconsin are concerned about your agriculture policy" or implored him to come campaign on my behalf...
...You've got a tough, uphill road to hoe," said the voter...
...But never had I received a call from such an important publication...
...I was already kicking myself for being such a boob with President Reagan...
...That same night, President Ronald Reagan trounced Walter Mon-dale in one of history's great landslides...
...Headroom continued to shrink...
...Maybe it was the Ogema Christmas Tree Festival...
...It would be tough, but with a strong coattail effect from Reagan's re-election, a ton of money spent on advertising and mail, and a little bit of luck, Chilsen could win in November...
...Or the Central Wisconsin State Fair...
...The New Republic...
...I owed no creditors...
...In Wisconsin's Seventh Congressional District, Reagan beat Mondale 53 percent to 46 percent...
...The obvious question is why...
...Imagine a man using a garden implement to try to dislodge asphalt from a road running almost straight uphill, like one of Hercules's mythological labors...
...I figured these weaknesses could be overcome with an advertising campaign which started with a spot where people mispronounced my name, perhaps ending with a tag line such as "It doesn't matter how you say it...
...It didn't really matter...
...That was me...
...I'm Mark Michaelsen," I said, extending my hand...
...ignored my call for debates throughout the district...
...That's just north of my old stomping ground in Illinois...
...David R. Obey, who received 61 percent of the vote...
...Or the Spooner Rodeo...
...But most impressive was the public address system, which allowed me to blare Sousa marches at deafening volumes while I greeted voters along parade routes...
...Although Obey outspent me nearly five to one, my 92,507 votes were both the highest total and highest percentage of votes cast against Dave Obey since he was elected in 1969...
...He put me in touch with his Washington consultant, who suggested I become campaign finance director...
...This wasn't a reporter, it was a telephone solicitor...
...I could taste it...
...Was it my stand on family issues or defense...
...Those were my strengths...
...I'm Mark Michaelsen," I said, dratting the troublesome moniker, and offering a handshake...
...And, worst of all, my opponent ignored me—ignored my stinging press releases, critical of his votes on school prayer, national security, and federal spending...
...Obey had edged the former senate majority leader in the 1969 special election to fill Laird's seat...
...At least I had the van...
...I inquired about one of his sons whom I'd also met in 1980...
...I pored over district vote totals and read whatever I could find about district demographics, fund-raising, issues, Obey's voting record, and public speaking...
...What kind of idiot was causing their delay, I could feel them wondering...
...That money would be necessary to hire a talented campaign manager and finance director, and to get started raising big money and enlisting an army of volunteers for what would be the strongest challenge ever to Obey...
...As we sat in the ornate chairs by the fireplace, cameras whirring, he cocked his head and said, "Wisconsin...
...But I had weaknesses, too...
...For most of my acquaintances from campaign school, the night would end similarly...
...A small group of hometown supporters had purchased an aging Ford Econoline, painted it red, white, and blue, and outfitted it with a bed and desk...
...Newcomers to my current office see my pictures with Ronald Reagan and George Bush and assume the photographs are clever forgeries purchased from an arcade...
...I let Chilsen know that I was interested in helping him oust Obey...
...THE AMERICAN SPECTATOR NOVEMBER 1989...
...I won my hometown by a landslide, but lost my home county...
...He was a nice man...
...I'd spoken in his bad ear...
...ignored my very existence as a candidate...
...I had the energy, the knowledge of national issues, the speaking skills, and the fund-raising prowess to be the candidate...
...He leaned forward and put his hand on the arm of my chair...
...Michaelsen for Congress," answered my van in eight-inch letters...
...At least now I would never have to wonder what I could have done differently to put me over the top...
...Election after election, Seventh District Republicans had fielded token challengers with little financial support—retired vacuum cleaner salesmen, bankrupt mobile-home moguls, a fellow named Burger who campaigned wearing a chefs hat and a white apron, and so on...
...I was somewhat nervous and tongue-tied when I met the Leader of the Free World...
...When Chilsen opted not to vacate a safe seat in the state senate to challenge Obey, I was disappointed...
...I want to be your congressman...
...I want to work for you in Washington...
...I didn't mean to be the candidate...
...We've noticed we haven't received your subscription renewal," she said...
...I fared better with the Vice President...
...A s the grand finale to a candidate training school sponsored by the National Republican Congressional Committee, would-be GOP congressmen were herded into the Gold Room of the White House to be photographed with the President and Vice President...
...Why would a 26-year-old kid with no name identification challenge the formidable 49-year-old chairman of the Joint Economic Committee, who had served in Congress since 1969, when former Rep...
...We shook hands and I left, to be replaced by another candidate...
...The money trickled, not poured, in...
...Would it be favorable or unfavorable...
...None had received more than 38 percent of the vote...
...E lection night found me in a local watering hole, appropriately named The End of the Line, watching returns and swilling something strong with a few of my friends...
...There had been no rematch...
...I packed my belongings in a U-Haul trailer to head home for Wisconsin...
...I had to let nearly all the air out of the tires to finally escape...
...One day I was late for an interview at a television station in one of the district's remote cities and I couldn't find a place to park...
...I'd met George Bush twice before, during the 1980 Wisconsin presidential primary...
...My campaign manager quit...
...This unintentional mixed metaphor perfectly described my plight...
...What could I do for the caller, I asked...
...Behind me, a dozen cars were lined up, their egress blocked by my embarrassing plight...
...I'm running against Dave Obey...
...So much for coattails...
...Suddenly I heard a sickening crunch...
...My dreams popped like a big soap bubble...
...I was excited by the possibilities...
...Top consultants were hired, then fired...
...At the same time, my mind raced ahead: How did I come to their attention...
...Almost no one outside my hometown had ever heard of me...
...After the interview, I was leaving the ramp when I noticed how low the ceiling was getting...
...THE AMERICAN SPECTATOR NOVEMBER 1989 by Mark G. Michaelsen Fr he months flew by, an endless stream of parades, speeches, fundraisers, and county fairs...
...I had a deep love for, and knowledge of, the towns and cities, forests and dairy farms of the Wisconsin Seventh District, which sprawls across all or part of eighteen of the state's central and northwest counties...
...I told her what a fine magazine I thought the New Republic was and how much I had enjoyed a recent article on Sandinista human rights abuses...
...With pride and gratitude, I accepted the unanimous endorsement of Seventh District Republicans...
...The answer: almost by accident...
...For me, it could have been even worse...
...The promised Republican cash never materialized...
...he said he was homesick for Chicago...
...You've got an uphill road ahead of you," nodded the object of my greeting...
...I wasn't rich...
...On election night, 1984, I was O blown out by incumbent Rep...
...With name identification established, spots clobbering the incumbent on issues would follow...
...Mark Michaelsen for Congress...
...I should have said, "Mr...
...The media campaign would end with warm, sentimental spots about shared values and dreams for a better future, loaded up with pretty Wisconsin pictures: "It's morning again in north-central Wisconsin...
...President Reagan grinned genially, and we sat...
...The worst possible result would have been to amass a huge debt, come very close, and lose...
...My skillful exploitation of the resentment of northern Wisconsin sportsmen toward an agreement to let American Indians ignore fish and game laws...
...I cared deeply about America's future and was a dedicated conservative...
...The quixotic campaign of a 26-year-old neophyte against an entrenched seven-term liberal incumbent Democrat...
...I won one northern county and lost another by only five votes...
...Exactly...
...He became quite animated...
...As the returns came in it was clear that I had lost, and lost big...
Vol. 22 • November 1989 • No. 11
