Arizona Republic from Phoenix, Arizona • Page 7

Jim Clarh Phoenix, Monday, July 10, 1972 The "rzr- i i tztt i ALL EDITIONS JL limp, il I mil i i ii iiHiniMpip-i do not agree tcifi a tiord tfiaf you ay, but I uill defend to the death your right to say iC-( attributed to Voltaire) Better storm ivarnings needed Wallace lacked WASHINGTON In this anything-can-happen political year, one of the most remarkable and sobering facts has been almost entirely overlooked: George Wallace could have arrived in Miami Beach today as the leading contender for the Democratic presidential nomination. This will no doubt strike many as unthinkable, just as it was generally considered impossible in January that Sen. George McGovern would be as close as he is to capturing the prize. Surely not Wallace. Clearly he has been a mere spoiler.

Certainly the Democrats could never choose a right-wing Southern-sym-bol-of-segregation as their leader. The author, former Washington correspondent for the Miami News and until recently deputy press secretary for Sen. Hubert Humphrey, currently is working on a book about the Wallace campaign. But the evidence of the pre-convention period suggests otherwise. The Alabama governor could have been going into the convention with as many as 1,200 delegates, many of them subtracted from McGovern's total.

And if he were not ultimately nominated, Wallace could at least have swung the platform sharply to the right, probably putting unbearable strains on the Democratic coalition. The main reason none of this has happened or will happen is unsettlingly simple. It is Wallace's lack of organizationthe absence of machinery to turn his strength in the primaries, and his potential power in state caucuses, into national convention delegates. The Wallace "machine," in fact, resembles a high school class election campaign, only on a larger scale. Except for the Florida primary, the campaign was a series of disasters.

If Wallace had had anything like the organization of George McGovern, or even the equivalent of Hubert Humphrey's campaign, a different tale would start unfolding at Miami Beach today. And what that tale tells should give pause to those who believe the Democratic Party and the country are moving inexorably to the left. Consider Wallace's performance in the primaries compared with McGovern's. In the 14 primary states where he was on the ballot, Wallace pulled in 3.4 million votes (one out of three) and picked up 296 delegates. McGovern, in the 14 presidential preference primaries where he was entered, received 3.8 million (one out of three), including 1.5 million in California alone and got 600 delegates before the credentials committee fight.

In Wisconsin, Wallace did not have any organization and only appeared in the state a handful of times, but he came in second with 22 per cent, polling a quarter of a million votes. Still, he did not get a single delegate. Humphrey, who came in third, got 13 delegates. In Pennsylvania, his greatest delegate disaster Wallace failed to file slates. He campaigned in the state only once, but again he finished second (this time behind Humphrey) with 287,998 votes.

Yet Art Stuchwald "In the name of peaee, we must defeat oFTrirkv Dickf "So, to further our rause we must go to Miami Beaehr 'And rip the holy hell out of the Democratic conventionT Ilichard Wilson New era dawns MIAMI BEACH -Attendance a a 19th consecutive national political convention sets no record, but it does induce reflections on the windy assumptions whirling around Democratic Convention Hall here. By most accounts, this convention is to be a fascinating spectacle of the newly democratized Democratic Party at work. A great upsurge of the young, the black and the female has revolutionized the party, kicked out the old hacks and is now proceeding to nominate a broad-lapelled, long sideburn candidate of the new era. The old election-winning Roosevelt coalition of labor, the blacks, ethnic groups, and the intellectual elite is coming down in the reckless adventurism of war-hating liberals, disaffected young, liberated women, militant blacks and all other elements which are disgusted with the establishment and don't like the way things are going in general. A great deal of this is simply media-type build-up, another part is bunk, and some of it is true but in far less vivid terms.

In any case, the McGovern revolution does not represent an uncontrollable upsurge of the new Democratic left. Women are not represented in proportion to population by a long shot. Blacks fare better but still fall below their quota of delegates. Labor is not represented in the strength it has had before. Many of the old bosses are out, and old faces familiar for two generations are seen no more.

Elected officials from the South and North feel alienated and are not overwhelmed but merely horrified by a national convention in which abortion, marijuana and homosexuality are deemed to have political content along with sharing the wealth. The very young are notable only because some of them are actually here and able to vote. Otherwise the convention is a familiar replay of an old theme which has been heard before in both political parties, most often recently in the Republican Party. Wendell L. Willkie, Thomas E.

Dewey, Harold E. Stassen successively represented a revolt against the old guard in the Republican Party over a period of some 20 years. They and their associates beat the old guard in battle after battle by attracting younger elements and women, by advocating new ideas foreign to the old conservatism, and, in short, by fighting the establishment They did not shatter the ileavy! Right on! "Maul Do I ever dig your logicP in Miami Beach Republican Party but reinvigorated it and, in the end, forced the nomination of a sure winner, Dwight D. Eisenhower, with a young running mate, Richard M. Nixon, who himself later became presi dent.

These champions of the new Republicanism, Eisenhower excepted, were all younger than the present leading contender for the Democratic nomination, who is 49. Dewey was 42 when nominated. He was first a candidate at 38. Willkie was 48. Nixon was a mere 39 when first nominated for vice president and 47 when nominated for president the first time.

At 43, John F. Kennedy captivated the old leadership of the Democratic Party in a pre-convention blitz no less dazzling than McGovern's and only slightly less laden with predictions of sure defeat because Kennedy was a Catholic. Throughout this long process there were always dire predcitions that the spurned would "sit on their hands" in the election campaign or bolt the party, or form a new party, or switch to the opposite party. But in fact, no new party of any consequence was formed. Wholesale defections, although on both the left and right, did not beat Harry S.

Truman, or elect either George C. or Henry A. Wallace. A Democratic revolt against Franklin D. Roosevelt's third term did not elect Wendell Willkie.

In short, both major parties survived intact to fight again and win again, notwithstanding such disasters as Senator Goldwater's defeat. In the longer context, therefore, doubt must attach to the idea that the Democratic Party will be wrecked if McGovern is nominated, and if he is not. If he is not, the frustration level will rise very high, but will the frustrated wish to be parties to Nixon's election? If McGovern is nominated, will labor wish to risk creating a landslide that would sweep away not only the presidency but Democratic control of Congress? When the heat of battle has subsided in political conventions, the contending factions, however angry, usually find their common foe in the opposite party. Observations I By Sydney J. Harris What enough Americans haven't learned yet is that dictators don't become such by placing themselves above the crowd, but by pretending to be one of it, only more articulate.

Over-answering a question stifles a child's curiosity quite as much as ignoring or evading it. Page 7 na are "sitting ducks" for all the dirty weather that so often steals upon us from Baja and the Gulf of California. I am no newcomer to the state, having lived here almost 23 years. I remember time and time again after some particularly vicious storm that we were casually told that no one knew it was coming, as it crept in from Mexico. I don't like to cast aspersions on our usually reliable weather system but this lack of adequate warning of storms from Mexico seems to me to be criminal negligence.

Since four of our southwestern states (California, Arizona, New Mexico and Texas) border Mexico, it would appear that it wouldn't break our national budget to have a competent weather station in that country which could keep us advised and warned of dangerous weather. As for another matter, what would be wrong with having our Civil Defense air raid "sirens blow when we are facing a natural disaster? According to Civil Defense authorities (whom I called the day after the storm), they are not allowed to sound the sirens unless it is an air raid (God forbid). Surely there can be a new rule initiated whereby the sirens could be used in case of hurricanes, torrential rain, earthquakes or any disaster heading our way. We could all be advised that whenever we hear the sirens we immediately turn on our radios or television sets for safety instructions. This fact alone might have saved property damage from the recent storms, as very few people knew that windows and doors on the side of the building away from the wind should have been opened to break the vacuum that exploded so many dwellings in Paradise Valley CHARLOTTE ELDRIDGE SUTTER, Phoenix winning team' gram, however, which allowed more than 20 per cent of the students to participate.

I had looked forward to moving up to intercollegiate basketball this coming fall, but it seems that my hopes, and those of others like myself, have been destroyed because we will now have to compete against "superstars" from all across the country, shipped in to SCC to build "a winning team." No longer will the local ball player be able to represent his school as far as Scottsdale Community College is concerned. The new Intercollegiate Athletics department has already recruited 16 players from out of state, and makes no secret of the fact that it will continue to use this process to put together a strong team. As a matter of fact, the new Athletics Department, headed by former ASU coach Bob Owens, has gone so far as to announce to SCC's student body president that in addition to a future emphasis of intercollegiate athletics, intramural athletics at SCC will be de-emphasized. Why bother calling the SCC athletic teams community college teams, if community players are deprived from participation? Perhaps it might be more appropriate to re-classify the Athletics Department as a professional sport fran-. chise.

Maybe then the money received from the franchise might be enough to finance a real community athletic program at Scottsdale Community College. RICHARD LANG, Scottsdale Act of piracy I believe the recent decision of the Democratic Convention's Credentials Committee to take away more than half of George McGovern's 271 California delegates after the election had been, held is piracy in the first degree. The main contender in that primary, Hubert Humphrey, agreed to the fact that the victor would get all the delegates, and his campaign reflected this factor. Of course, everyone knows what the result was. Then about two weeks later Senator Humphrey and a few other candidates who did not figure in the primary, claimed that the election was "illegal," on the premise that the new Democratic reforms state that the delegates must be apportioned according to the popular vote.

But it had already been determined that California would not have this kind of delegate apportioning until 1976. If this decision is upheld at the Democratic National Convention, which will probably deny McGovern the nomination, at least on the first ballot, then the Democratic Party will be so divided by it that all chances of defeating President Nixon this November will go down the drain. MIKE FTMEA, Phoenix Arizona Republic organization he picked up only two delegates, who had filed on their own. McGovern finished third and got 56 delegates, and Muskie came in fourth and got 39 delegates. Wallace admits that he erred badly in Pennsylvania, both in failing to campaign and in not filing delegates.

If he had filed delegates, he could have picked up between 40 and 50. In West Virginia, in a two-way primary with Humphrey, Wallace received a third of the popular vote, again without campaigning. But when it came time to choose delegates, Muskie and McGovern got Wallace's share becausa Wallace again did not compete. In Indiana, Wallace came in second behind Humphrey, and there is a possibility that with a more effective campaign Wallace might have won. As it was, he got 21 delegates to Humphrey's 55, even though he lost to Humphrey by only 40,000 votes out of more than 700,000 cast.

North Carolina, Tennessee and Maryland also showed the weaknesses of the Wallace organization. He won all three primaries by comfortable margins. Yet he failed to file complete slates and found that his delegates in many cases were actually McGovern supporters. In Tennessee, only one of the 49 delegates he won was a Wallace supporter. In Nebraska, New Mexico, Rhode Island and Massachusetts, there was no Wallace effort, although it appears now that any effort would have paid off.

Wallace has also told friends that if he had gone into Ohio, he might have won. And if he had been on the ballot in California he certainly could have pulled in more votes. If the primaries showed how to win votes and lose delegates, the caucus states were a perfect example of how to not even try. In four of the five Southern states that Wallace carried in the 1968 presidential campaign (excluding Alabama, where he won nearly all of the delegates), he picked up a total of three delegates all from Louisiana in the caucus process. He failed to get caucus delegates in Georgia, Arkansas, Mississippi, South Carolina, Virginia, Kentucky or Oklahoma states where he had done well in 18.

1 Potomac Fever By PAT MAHAN Soviet secret police are now exiling political dissidents to the West. A whole new outlet for "Love It Or Leave It" bumper stickers. The tallest building in Moscow has 32 stories. No, it's not the Liars' Club, it's the university. Some sources say that the Navy plans to send their trained porpoises to Florida for further research.

Hopefully the political conventions won't insult their intelligence. The state delegations caucused right on the floor, trying to get people to change their minds. But it was impossible. On NBC, John Chancellor and David Brinkley became short-tempered and refused to talk to each other. Howard K.

Smith and Harry Reasoner on ABC were also not speaking to each other, and on CBS, Walter Cronkite wasn't talking to himself. It was obvious to everyone in and out of the convention hall that a compromise candidate had to be found one who had not already been nominated. But who? The Democratic Party leaders call a recess behind the podium. They argue and thrash it out for several hours. The only man whose name is proposed as the compromise candidate is a very famous, but controversial, figure on the American scene.

He has announced many times that he is not a candidate for the presidency or the vice presidency, and has said under no conditions would be accept a draft. Yet, the leaders argue he is the one person who can save the party. This young man, whose name had been associated with a very embarrassing incident, is a household word now. Because of the deadlock at the convention, he is the only one who can possibly beat Nixon in November. The compromise candidate is at the convention.

He has purposely stayed away so people would believe he was not interested in the nomination. O'Brien puts in a call to him. Everyone, in turn, gets on the phone and tells him he has to be the candidate. .1 The compromise candidate speaks to George McGovern, Humphrey, Muskie and Wallace. They urge him to run.

The candidate finally agrees to draft and says he will take the next plane to Miami. And that's how Bobby Fischer, the U.S. chess champion, became the Democratic presidential nominee for 1972. Editor, The Arizona Republic: After the recent wind and flood disaster of June 21 and 22, 1 was shocked to learn that Arizona has no weather station in Mexico, and hence no warnings of tornadoes and torrential rains. While I was told that the weather situation from our neighbor to the south is infinitely better than it was four or five years ago, it seems to me that it still leaves much to be desired.

We in Arizo- Middle class needs In St. Louis they have a system in which express buses operate from outlying parking lots to the business areas during the morning rush hours, returning their riders to the parking areas in the evening. Transfers are available to regular buses. There is a small extra charge for this service, which is gladly paid by the people who avail themselves of the service. These buses are crowded every day.

Regular buses operate all over the city around the clock seven days a week, and St. Louis is sprawled out just the same as Phoenix, with numerous satellite communities on the outskirts. The fare there is the same as here, except for the express bus charges, and they are much less than parking an auto would be for a whole day. Instead of rolling out the red carpet for the people with money, why can't this city pay more attention to the needs of middle class folks; with better mass transportation? Remember, we number in the hundreds of thousands, whereas the affluent people number only in the hundreds and a lot of them are here only part of the year. MRS.

IHROLD W. SCHLUTOW, Phoenix Emphasis on 'a I would like to express a view regarding the betrayal of the community college concept. I am speaking in direct reference to the athletics program at Scottsdale Community College. like many other students my age, had enjoyed playing basketball for my high school. Upon enrolling at Scottsdale Community College last September, I had hopes of possibly playing intercollegiate basketball for SCC.

But because the school was so new, it offered only an intramural athletic program. It was a very well organized and satisfying pro- Best candidate Cong. Sam Steiger, under a great work load in his own district, has taken on election management in the 4th District. This is one of the few times I can't make common cause with Congressman Steiger. He should have helped prevent the Republicans from selecting a candidate by the flip of a coin.

He should not lend encouragement to the candidate of the Democratic Party. He should not furnish columnist Bernie Wynn with ammunition against a party candidate. As an offset to the coin flipping, I wanted to lend my aid to a capable candidate. I wanted to keep the Democrats from getting control of the 4th District. It developed that Sen.

John Conlan was the only possibility available. He is young, capable and has had legislative experience and the energy to do the job. He has helped in several legislative instances in the agricultural field. I was amazed at the leading citizens who put on a testimonial dinner for Conlan, Many were business and agricultural leaders and, yes, I noticed several churchmen. Somewhere in the Republican Party is campaign of innuendo against Senator Conlan, similar to Congressman Stei-ger's charge that he "isn't fit to be a congressman." Let's stop the in-fighting and get behind John Conlan for Congress in the 4th District.

Conlan is the only Republican capable of carrying the district for the Republicans. He will fit right in with our other Washington representatives from Arizona. HAROLD C. DECKER, Phoenix Nominated Before things go too far, I would like to nominate Martha Mitchell for president. I would vote for her even if she ran as a Republican.

I want to watch Mr. Brezhnev's shaggy, black eyebrows turn white, and to hear the poem that Chairman Mao would compose, in self-defense, v. All would be welL E. R. MCCARTNEY, Sedona A perfect compromise candidate WASHINGTON -Everyone has his own scenario for this week's Democratic National Convention.

The way things have been going with the party, one scenario has as much validity as the next. This is the one that I have written and if it comes true, remember, you read it here. It is the fourth day of the convention and the Democrats have been unable to decide on a presidential candidate. The fight to seat delegations has taken up three days and those people who were ruled ineligible have refused to give up their seats to those who were officially designated as delegates to the convention. Almost every state delegation has two people sitting in every chair.

No one dares leave the floor for fear that someone will grab his seat. When someone tries to speak he Is hooted down by the opposition faction. Larry O'Brien, the chairman of the party, has the podium ringed with the National Guard so no one can grab the microphone. The nomination speeches have not been heard, but the candidates have been nominated McGovern, Humphrey, Wallace, Chisholm, Jackson and Muskie. There have been no demonstrations for the candidates in the hall because everyone is afraid if he gets up and marches they won't let him back in his section again.

On the first ballot McGovern picked up 1,234 votes, well shy of the 1,509 he needed. The rest were split between the other candidates with the uncommitted refusing to vote for anyone. The second and third ballot found no one budging. By the 10th ballot of Wednesday's all-night session, the convention was hopelessly deadlocked. 4I dortt remember writing this in the rules HTsrH imi in.