A New Challenge to the Daley Machine

...Walker built a personal structure in places where there had been no Democratic workers before, Stevenson's strong showing in traditionally Republican areas gave him his landslide victory over the lackluster incumbent, Ralph Tyler Smith Though Walker has said, "You can't really transfer an organization," his files burgeon with the names of people who worked for Stevenson, and he's obviously hoping to duplicate that kind of success Undaunted by Mayor Daley's easy reelection last April—he won 70 per cent of the vote—Walker believes he has a good chance to beat the machine in a statewide race He expects to lose Chicago, which contains two-fifths of the state's Democrats, by a 2-1 margin, but intends to offset that with strong runs in the suburbs and downstate In addition, he's counting on votes from a major portion of Illinois' 800,000 new 18-21-year-old voters Ultimately, Walker's chances will depend on voter turnout Machines have historically done well in primaries because they could mobilize the faithful, supporters of independent candidates have been less zealous about going to the polls There are 2 2 million registered Democrats in Illinois, and Daley can dehver about a third of them Consequently, Walker estimates, "If the total vote is under 1 million, I'm going to lose If it's over 1.5 million, I'm going to win, and if it's in between, it's a horse race " Turnout will also have much to do with the sort of group Illinois sends to the 1972 Democratic National Convention For the first time, delegates will be elected from congressional districts rather than selected "It I beat the machine," Walker notes, "Daley will be less of a boss and there will be more chance of an open convention " Walker, not the mayor, would be the titular head of the state Democratic party Daley, of course, knows what's at stake He must pick the organization's candidate for the statehouse from among Foran, two downstaters?Lieutenant Governor Paul Simon and State Auditor Michael J How-rett—and the Cook County board chairman, George Dunn While the relatively obscure Howlett seems to be angling for another spot on the state ticket, Simon, considered a liberal, has held a few fund-raising dinners recently and some say he will soon announce his candidacy Still, he would be unlikely to run in the primary without Daley's backing Daley might be willing to slate an independent liberal against Senator Charles Percy, regarded as unbeatable in 1972, but Walker insists there is no chance the mayor will accept an independent Democrat for governor "You know the kinds ot concerns the mayor has about state government," Walker says "He needs a governor who will say yes if he wants a reapportionment bill vetoed, or a veto on a bill that cuts the guts out ot the patronage system " Accordingly, Paul Simon has been trimming his sails of late, hoping to become acceptable to Daley But Walker observes, "With the mayor thinking he can beat me with the machine and easily beat Ogilvie, why would he give that plum to somebody who's just not a member of the club...

...National Reports A NEW CHALLENGE TO THE DALEY MACHINE BY HARVEY D SHAPIRO CHICAGO When Dan Walker sauntered out of a diner in Paducah, Kentucky, last summer to launch his 1,000-mile walk to Chicago, he set himself on a collision course with the Daley steamroller working its way down-state A 48-year-old liberal reformer who has been pursuing the Democratic gubernatorial nomination for a full year, Walker is presenting Illinois with the prospect of its first primary for governor in more than a decade Walker's challenge has national implications as well, for running with him in March 1972 will be the insurgent candidates for Illinois' delegation to the Democratic National Convention Since New York and California Democrats are in their usual disarray, Mayor Richard J Daley could hold the key to the Presidential nomination if he and his gubernatorial pick emerge from the primary unscathed Daley's choice to run against incumbent Governor Richard Ogilvie could be Thomas Foran, prosecutor of the "Conspiracy 7" after the 1968 convention Ironically, Walker was the man who wrote the Presidential commission report, "Rights in Conflict," which blamed the August disorders on the "not" of the Mayor's police department Thus the Democratic primary may provide a dia-matic clash between two distinct eras in Amencan politics This theme is being emphasized by the National Committee to Elect Dan Walker, whose members include Eugene McCarthy, Ramsey Clark, Paul O'Dwyer, and Reverend Joseph Duffey Yet no matter how much support Walker garners in Manhattan and Georgetown, the Daley machine will remain a formidable foe "The usual channels for campaign funds are closed to me in Illinois," Walkei says McCarthy threw a party for him in Washington, inviting all 12 Demociatic House members from Illinois, none showed up Senator Adlar Stevenson III, whose successful candidacy Walker managed in 1970, is expected to remain neutral in the gubernatorial race While both Walker and the senator insist their long-standing friendship continues unabated, it is believed they were at odds last fall after Stevenson named Foran his campaign co-manager, began wearing a flag pin in his lapel, and embraced Mayor Daley with seemingly excessive warmth In contrast...

...Walker maugurated his race by announcing that he would not even accept the unlikely support of the Daley apparatus He is hoping to be nominated through a combination of good publicity and effective suburban organization Extensive publicity is essential, for Walker is still unknown in much of the state despite long years of participation in public affairs The tall, sandy-haired lawyer served as an aide to Governor Adlai Stevenson and in the 1950s helped organize a liberal study group, the Committee on Illinois Government In the '60s he was president of the Chicago Crime Commission, which investigated the hnks between organized racketeers and vanous Chicago individuals and businesses It was this experience that led the President's Commission on Violence to ask him to examine the 1968 disorders To become better known beyond the Chicago area, Walker picked up Senatoi Lawton J Chiles' (D -Fla ) idea of walking the length of the state This patent publicity stunt enabled Chiles, an old fnend of Walk-ei's and previously a political unknown, to defeat six opponents in the primary and win election last fall Since early July, Walker has been hiking north through Illinois, accompanied by two of his seven children and preceded by a camper-bus Dressed m khaki trousers, a blue work shirt, a red bandana, and a floppy fishing hat to shield him from the sun, the wealthy subuibamte started out looking like a refugee from a Junior League costume ball Now tanned and blistered, he is trudging through such towns as Gol-conda and Cave In Rock at an avei-age of three miles an hour, and expects to reach Chicago at the end ot this month HARVEY D SHAPIRO is a free-lance journalist who frequently repoits in these paqes from the Chicago aiea Each day an advance man ar-ranges for local residents to feed Walker and to lodge him overnight Many of the people complain to Walker that they feel neglected by the Chicago politicians who dominate the state, and outraged by the ever present scandals (For instance, former Democratic Secretary of State Paul Powell died suddenly and left behind several caches crammed with over $1 million in checks and cash ) 'When I get through with this trip,' says Walker, "I'm going to know what's on the minds of the people of Illinois, and they are going to be able to size me up " Ot course, his trip not only provides him with exposure downstate but also is colorful grist for Chicago's media mills Around Chicago, the challenger hopes to turn this publicity into votes through a well-honed organization For Stevenson's senatorial campaign...

...To be sure, Walker finds it easier to raise money and support by holding out the specter of Tom Foran as Daley's choice, nevertheless, the argument is persuasive Foran, a 46-year-old Irish Catholic, is moderate enough on bread-and-butter economic issues and conservative on moral matters After the conspiracy trial, he called Abbie Hoffman, Jerry Rubin and the other defendants the vanguard of a "freaking fag revolution " In short, he's Daley s kind of man Foran handled sensitive land condemnation cases for the city in the early 1960s, and in 1968 Daley had him appointed U S Attorney for the Chicago area Now a financially successful partner in a Chicago law firm, he is clearly interested in being governor A committee of over 1,000 members was formed in July to "persuade" him to run Although Simon has been cultivating the mayor, Daley is obviously more comfortable with Foran Daley's choice, however, will be decided neither by Foran nor Simon but by Walker and Ogilvie So far, the organization has written off Walker and believes Ogilvie is highly vulnerable, yet if either shows signs of strength, Daley will probably slate Simon because of his following downstate and his ability to compete for Walker's liberal support If it looks like a romp, Daley will choose Foran and sacrifice Simon to Percy The governorship is crucial to Daley, not only because of what it can do fot his machine in terms of patronage jobs and state contracts, but also because of what it could do to that machine if a reformer like Dan Walker captured the State-house After all these years, much to the mayor's dismay, liberal reformers have not given up their efforts to wm a political and legislative base from which to dismantle his handiwork...