The Journey With Senator Jim Buckley

...By Labor Day, all the prerequisites for a precision campaign were in evidence...

...Anyone who says such things about Jim Buckley can only lose ground...

...Before emerging as a political strategist of national stature and a public affairs counselor to elected officials and corporations, White had been a political activist in New York State Here was his chance to again attempt the impossible-but this time in his political backyard...

...street people, bums, Berkeley high schoolers, perverts, pickpockets, TV matters The young man is now back at his Training Center, and it is rumored that he told Mr X before leaving that he dust dreaded those multiplication tables...

...As Buckley gained, Ottinger became desperate, characterizing Buckley as a nutty right-winger who would drop nuclear bombs (in the Senate...

...By mid-August our full headquarters was set up (6,000 square feet, instead of the two-room suite used during the summer...

...3) Blue collar workers will not support a conservative candidate...

...Not just that he asserts a particular faith in America and a loyalty to the importance of the individual, but his election suggests that a movement may precede the pundits...

...ca merman, lunatics, tourists, professors-the typical campus crowd--several thousand of them, filling Sproul Plaza from Bancroft Way to the Kumquat Grove, milled around waiting for Cleaver...

...County organizations were beginning to function...

...So who says New York is in the grip of terror9 0 Arnold Steinberg, former editor of THE NEW GUARD, the national magazine of Young Americans for Freedon, served as press secretary during the Buckley campaign...

...But the net result of people acting out of higher motivations (independents and many Democrats voting for Buckley) would have dictated a Buckley victory (with about fifty-four per cent) over Ottinger in a two-man race...

...Clif White, who brilliantly managed the campaign to nominate Barry Goldwater, was a native of New York...

...The personal reason for his candidacy began to become apparent: "The headlines bear almost daily witness to new breakdowns in the system of order and self-restraint, of civility and mutual respect without which freedom cannot survive...

...But perhaps that was because I was no longer discouraged, but angry...

...I really have no urge to tell anyone, "I told you so...

...Cowles, 5.95...

...Cab drivers do talk to a lot of people, and I used to ask them about the Senate race...

...6) The campaign could not compete organizationally with Republican and Democratic campaigns...

...All our soundings and polls told us that he was running third with us second...

...Loads of campaign materials had been ordered, printed, shipped...

...Conservative: They glorify quick solutions .. Liberal: Thank God I'm not like them...

...Polls might show most people in accord with basic views of candidate Buckley, but the real poll on 3 November would reflect the degree to which voters understood this fact...

...Asked in May to become involved in James Buckley's campaign for Senator, I reacted skeptically and without enthusiasm...

...In 1968 less than five per cent of this group supported Buckley, when he ran as simply a "choice" candidate...

...But with the New Math, Freedom Schools, and now this, I am afraid I won't be of much help I guess I'll just have to sit back and be satisfied that at least my child is receiving the benefits of a progressive education that was never available to me O Michael McCollunt is a Senior in the Indiana University School of $usiness and research assistant in I. U.'s Kinsey Institute...

...When Newsweek telephoned repeatedly just prior to the election regarding postelection interviews, I felt like saying, "Why interview Jim Buckley after Tuesday when your magazine has flatly predicted an Ottinger victory...

...By election day, about ninety-five per cent of New Yorkers could do so...

...Meanwhile the Democratic Party is said to be furious, charging that the whole raid was an attempt by the Republican Administration in Indianapolis to uncover party secrets The Indiana State Teachers Associatioi has made no formal comment An insider reports that several members still don't endorse such teaching aids and hale spiked every attempt to reach a co'isensus Mr X's future seems rather uncertain ct the present The John Birch Society is said to control the PTA's in Indiana and he might have to throw himself on the services of some big Eastern lawyer like Herr Kunstler At any rate Mr X is sure to get many offers from TV networks, book publishers and movie makers Maybe the party will even take him back Since he is so interested in the educational process he is more likely to take to the lecture circuit and possibly do a series of essays on radical education for the New York He% iew of Books...

...I didn't tell him about those television commentators who left me so discouraged...

...When I arrived in New York City on 3 June, precisely five mori,hs before James Buckley would be elected United States Senator, I pessimistically reflected on the improbabilities...

...All the television commentators speculated on a Goodell-Ottinger race...

...The campaign destroyed many myths and negated many arguments, among them the following: 1) Third-party candidates are spoilers, not winners...

...we chose a new group which became an ad agency for the campaign...

...The Alternative January, 1971 14 Buckley, the -well-heeled potential contributors who lacked faith in the campaign and refused to support it, these memories persist--because the most cynical and skeptical suddenly become friends once the votes are counted Lacking grace or integrity, they would never acknowledge their pragmatic acts of sabotage, nor the helping hand they might have offered when the going was tough for the candidate and his campaign These people may leave later if the going gets tough, but one candidate, Jim Buckley, won without them, and in spite of them In a very real and tangible way, measured by vote totals on the television screen election night and confirmed by his certification of election, Jim Buckley reaffirms the traditional American drive and spirit...

...Over the summer a county-by-county organization based on the Conservative Party, some Republican leadership, and independent support, was structured for the fall campaign...

...I watched the election results of the Democratic primary...

...The cab ride from La Guardia Airport to Manhattan was what I expected and usually experienced...

...Then came the statistics, for example: "more than 4,500 bombings of private and public buildings in the past eighteen months" or "more than forty American policemen killed by snipers and bombers this year alone" or "more than three times as many New Yorkers killed this year by overdoses of heroin than by the enemy in Vietnam...

...But then, we were not taking him seriously...

...A third-party candidate with no prospect of adequate campaign financing had to convince over two million New Yorkers to cross party lines and vote for him On the other hand, one recent poll stood out in my mind--nearly two-thirds of New York's voters thought of themselves as either ''conservatives" or "moderates...

...we had volunteers who were trained by a former Nixon advance man, who volunteered his own time for our campaign...

...Sex Torture Boards and the Law By Michael McCollum The forces of progressive education received a devastating blow recently in Indianapolis, Indiana when the puritanical police force arrested a Mr X (we do not want to give the man any more publicity) and charged him with kidnapping and assault and battery with intent to commit sodomy Mr X is presently Director of News Services in the Indiana State Teachers Association Previous to this he worked in Public Relations with the Indiana Democratic State Central Committee At one time he also worked as a TV news reporter The police apparently went into action after hearing a complaint filed by one of Mr X's recent house guests, a young Federal Job Corpsmen who shall remain anonymous The Corpsman claimed that he was visiting the local Greyhound bus station when he was approached by Mr...

...Goodell was not taking us seriously...

...About thirty key staff members had been hired...

...I tried to do some Christmas shopping, but everybody kept stopping me to talk, and I couldn't get anything done...

...If there is a message in all this it would seem to be that we need to educate our policemen I must admit that it is a source of great disappointment to me though Since I will have children in school in a few years I was sort of looking forward to helping with the homework...

...Most associated the Senate race with Goodell, the incumbent, whom they termed a "turncoat" (the highestrated word in the word association part of Clif White's poll), and Richard Ottinger, who had won the Democratic nomination as a result of his charm, good looks, position on issues, accomplishments, charisma, brilliance and logic, and a campaign budget of $1.8 billion Ottinger's opponents suggested that all the factors except the last accounted for about 10 per cent of his votes I remember 23 June as a particularly melancholy date...

...And if you knew him, you wondered why such a nice guy was taking time away from a delightful family for politics Buckley was himself during the campaign He read what he signed, and read what somebody wanted him to say, and modified and approved statements attributed to him...

...In retrospect, the analysts have depicted Buckley's victory as simply the appeal to one set of voters (Conservative), while the other two opponents split the remaining (allegedly liberal) vote But if candidates were elected on the basis of what they believe and how they will vote, does anyone really believe we would have a Congress full of socialists who keep raising taxes, bringing government intrusion into our lives' Neither Goodell nor Ottinger ever stated what they and most liberals directly favor, or what always results from their ideas: higher taxes, greater inflation, less individual freedom, a further stifling of private initiative, and additional constraints on the most efficient tool of social progress, the free market Instead, they project themselves as benevolently inclined, and the conservative candidate as anti-progressive...

...But the recollection of the Republican office-holders and party officials who lacked the courage to endorse I Janies 1...

...X and invited to his home for a beer The Corpsman drank the beer in the company of Mr X and a friend described as "about 6'2" and 220 pounds " When he got up to leave, however, the two men grabbed him, chained him to the basement staircase, stripped him, photographed him in the nude and molested him After spending the weekend as Mr X's "guest," he managed to escape and went to the police Being the curious brutes that they are, the police decided to visit Mr X and observe his hospitality suite for themselves (I think it is safe to assume that they went in force as this wasn't the kind of case in which police customarily send an undercover man ) While searching the premises they found such modern conveniences as a "sex torture board," complete with leather and spikes, pulleytype belts and heavy chains with locks They also discovered four boxes of nude photos of men being tortured and committing lewd acts (party contributors no doubt), a sack of heavy chains, locks and a tube containing a red liquid marked "Vampire Blood " (And we thought Republicans practiced the "politics of tear ") By the middle of the week Mr X surrendered himself at the police headquarters protesting that he was not guilty because of "extenuating circumstances " It seems he was merely trying to teach his unfortunate guest to read Said Mr X, "The boy cannot read nor write and I felt sorry for him You can ask him-if I did not spend Sunday trying to teach him to read " A sex torture board may indeed be a source of considerable motivation to most people but the police still insisted that the whole affair amounted to attempted sodomy and even hinted that more charges may be forthcoming' (Having no formal training in progressive education I feel unqualified to pass judgment on Mr X's technique but I will say that I am glad to have obtained my education in one of Indiana's famed little red schoolhouses Regardless of how one views the affair, it would seem apparent that the Job Corpsman did indeed receive quite an illuminating education and as the liberals have long told us that's all that really Our Western Fruits "...a university is a place of con-course, whither students come from every quarter for every kind of knowledge...

...He is modest, softspoken, a good listener, and a straightforward, open person...

...Liberal: They oversimplify .. Cover Story The idea of toiling long hours in a political campaign simply to give New York voters a choice might interest the Good Samaritan, but not me...

...Though still a distant second, Buckley had the momentum...

...As irrelevant as serious philosophy and high principle seem to be for politics, they play the crucial role in motivating the most successful campaign supporters...

...They placed the prestige of the Republican party above God, principle, issues or individuality...

...Reaching a high in the summer polls of about 44 per cent, he learned that Buckley was rising fast...

...It is the place for great preachers, great orators, great nobles, great statesmen...in which inquiry is pushed forward and discoveries verified and perfected and rashness rendered innocuous...

...Paid advance men worked for other candidates...

...5) The news media will not treat a conservative candidate fairly...

...Early in a typical address he defined the challenge: "Either we will take hold of our destinies and restore common sense to our public affairs, or we will see this great republic slowly strangled by the bureaucratic webs we have spun around our lives...

...Thus, all those in the Buckley campaign realized that it did not matter that Ottinger and Goodell were simply liberal and generally alike in philosophy, it was more important that voters understand this to be the case...

...He had a young staff and more youth workers than his opponents...

...Finally he intoned the transcendent issue, symbolized by the campaign symbol (the American flag), of faith in America and a restoration of stability: "I intend in this campaign to speak for those millions of New Yorkers-that great majority of New Yorkers--who will not stand by and let the wreckers go to work...

...He never said what pie did not want to say He chose to concentrate on three issues which concerned him and which also concerned New Yorkers: crime and civil turmoil,student unrest and the drug problem These were the issues with which the candidate identified, in his statements and press releases, in his brochures and campaign material, in his newspaper and television advertising and in "The Speech"--the basic text he used throughout the campaign...

...But because two people for whom I held enormous respect, F. Clifton White and David Jones, were seriously considering the effort, I reasoned an adventure in New York politics might not be totally preposterous...

...or destroyed by violence and intimidation...

...That someone who never held elective office was elected United States Senator from New York testifies to the growing wisdom of voters The farther from government, the more likely is someone to have that healthy skepticism of new government programs which never solve problems, but only aggravate them and create new ones...

...But funds were coming in too slowly, and it would be mid-October before Buckley could overtake Ottinger...

...Thus, although the union bosses could commandeer a part of the workingman's wages as union dues, and compel workers to join such unions, they still could not tell him how to vote...

...Conservative: Thank God I'm not like them 0 versation at all--unless you are taking a poll During June and July I sought the opinion of every sort of New Yorker above the age of twenty-one...

...John R. Coyne, Jr., 1970 From Newman's idea of a university to the Berkeley uprisings of the late nineteensixties is little more than a hundred years-and little less than catastrophic If there is anyone disciplined and concerned enough to write history one hundred years from now, John Coyne's Tne Kumquat Statement will serve as an excellent source--indeed, perhaps the best source-The Kumquat Statement by John R. Coyne, Jr...

...If you ever have something exciting to do in New York, take an Eastern Airlines shuttle from Washington, your enthusiasm for the project will be significantly depleted...

...The Journey u'itb Senator Jim Buckley By Arnie Steinberg The Alternative January, 1971 13 Jim Buckley is himself the "average American," and he told the audience "Small wonder that at some point during the last few years, the average American has suddenly experienced a shock of nonrecognition...

...4) Young people support liberal candidates, Buckley had thousands of youthful supporters, especially evident election night...

...These were the Mickey Mouse Republicans (they would vote for the Republican candidate even if he were Mickey Mouse...

...October 1970 is a time I shall always cherish, for it was in that month that the liberal ideologues realized that Buckley might win...

...The need to communicate certain essentials in a brief period of time requires substantial media spending (in our case, $750,000...

...They would have voted for Buckley as their counterparts would have voted for Ot tinger, on the basis of party loyalty...

...Hearing these facts, Buckley remarked after election, "Yes, I bet that's right...

...I told him Ottinger won, and that things were going as well as could be expected (the initial campaign costs were being financed by a loan...

...These are the people, political scientists tell us, who stabilize American politics These were the people who, in New York State, would have voted for Buckley if he had run on the Republican line in a twoman race with Richard Ottinger...

...Students, ex-students, nonstudents, dogs, New Leftists, hippies...

...and condone the bayoneting of innocent kids...

...The established Madison Avenue agencies handled other campaigns...

...Much of our eventual war chest of $1.7 million did not come in until October, and substantial amounts were not in until the last ten days of the campaign...

...Liberal: They glorify quick solutions...

...The experienced political workers staffed the other campaigns...

...A summer publicity build-up (including scores of personal interviews between the candidate and newsmen, and meetings with editorial boards of over twenty newspapers) had set the stage for the eight weeks of intensive campaigning ahead...

...Now Ottinger was taking us seriously...

...The issues impact of the spots became increasingly apparent as the campaign continued, since the identification impact is achieved substantially during the initial exposure...

...A modest television campaign had already begun...

...Now, by Labor Day when the campaign would officially begin, we must convince the news media that this was a serious campaign, meriting coverage equivalent to our two opponents...

...If you didn't know Jim Buckley, you wanted to meet and know him...

...Again and again, the candidate appeared in 30-second spots succinctly and unequivocally repeating his positions on crime -or campus unrest...

...we chose bright, able workers who could get the job done...

...There is something about Buckley's election which cheers the American spirit...

...Then there was that segment of the Republican Party supporting Goodell for the reason that he was running on the Republican ticket...

...I recalled this statistic from fifty pages of detailed findings by a "survey of political attitudes in New York State"--a poll commissioned by Clif White...

...Thousands of volunteers were effectively recruited and put to work...

...2) Our campaign could not convince large contributors or many smaller ones to support a third party...

...Not simply because such things are untrue, but candidate Buckley never sounded nor looked like an extremist Even-tempered and easy-going, Buckley has all those qualities rare in politicians but abundant in decent people...

...Dave Jones, who simultaneously served as executive director of the Young Americans for Freedom and the American Conservative Union, was eager to apply his organizational expertise to the most challenging circumstances he had encountered in his career...

...John Henry Newman, 1856 Many classes didn't meet and those that did were sparsely attended, mostly by people who insisted that the professors talk about racism...

...Before the campaign it is estimated that twelve per cent of New York's voters could, during the summer, identify James Buckley as a candidate for United States Senator...

...Over 45,000 individuals contributed over $1.6 million...

...Buckley d eceived fair and complete news coverage...

...The cab driver complained about the city, poor tippers and the traffic...

...See the results...

...The next day one commentator did acknowledge a third candidate, the Conservative Party nominee, James Buckley, (chosen by party convention), but the TV pundit, shrewdly perceiving the irrelevance of Buckley to the November election, forgot his name...

...Most confused Jim Buckley with his brother Bill, and this could be an advantage or disadvantage...

...I was tempted to remind the cab driver that traffic is always poor, but--alas--the safest policy is not to engage the cab driver in con Conservative: They oversimplify...

...Conservative: Liberals are so wishywashy about communsim...

...Buckley called me the next day from Israel (he had stopped there on his return from Southeast Asia...

...Ruekley heing sworn in as New York's junior Senator...

...After the first Daily News poll (ten days before election), hysteria pervaded the liberal community The bosses of the labor unions were in a state of shock-New Yorkers were about to elect a Senator without approval of big labor Moreover, in a three-man race for Senator, two of every five union members were supporting Buckley...

...In 1970, running quite obviously to win and appealing to workers' concern for "social" issues, he received nearly 40 per cent of the blue collar vote...

...He is currently Special Assistant to Senator Buckley...