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Show J;ick W and . Julis Witcowr The Salt Lake Tribune, Thursday, October 16, 198(1 A15 Polilical Nitpicking Just Routine As Dust Rises on Campaign Trail Chicago Tribune Service MLANTA - One of the first xliuts ined in the Senate campaign here his tall was a charge by Kepublican incumbent Mack Mattingly that his Democratic opponent f(e"p Wvche How let hail voted for an appropria non to line operators lor automatic levators in the Capitol Howler conceded that maybe he did vote fur those elevator operators but. wait a minute, you want to talk tug spending, then what about Mack Mattingly voting for a much bigger appropriation for a gymnasium for senators'' How about that1 What makes this enlightening exchange worth noting is the fact that this campaign is one of those that is supposed to be so critical to control of the Senate for the next two years a control, President Keagan and the Republicans seem to be suggesting, that may determine the Kate of the Republic." Given that hyperbole, it is a little jarring to come upon a campaign in which candidates are bickering about two-bi- t appropriations. Hut Mattingly and Fowler are no more or less guilty of playing political trivial pursuit than Senate candidates of both in most states this fall. On parties the contrary, it is the exceptions that tand out - a few- contests that may turn on the perceptions of differences between the candidates on issues To some extent, this politics is a predictable reflection of the fact there are no national issues of the kind that sometimes dominate mid-terelections as, for example, the economic recession dominated the debate of 1982. Quite beyond that, however, the differences between candidates and parties have blurred as Democrats -confronted with Ronald Reagan astride the political landscape -have moved closer to the ideological center. Whatever the reason, the campaigns of 1986 seem to be focused on issues" that define neither the candidates nor the central questions about national directions Item: In several major races, the candidates are still bickering over whether, and under what conditions, they will agree to debate. The usual rule is that the candidate with the comfortable lead finds reasons to' avoid debating. Thus, in California. Sen. Alan Cranston has been insisting the debate would have to include the minor candidates before he would face Republican Ed Zschau. And in New York. Gov. Mario Cuomo has been demanding that his Republican opponent, Andrew ORourke, release his tax returns and personal financial records as a kind of qualification for a debate. There are, however, exceptions to the debate conventions: Although she has been running consistently behind in the opinion polls, Republican Sen. Paula Hawkins of Florida has been ducking confrontations with her challenger, Democratic Gov. Bob Graham. Item: One of the hardy perennials of any campaign year is the charge that an incumbent has been missing so many roll-cavotes he hasnt been earning his congressional salary. Political professionals of both parties know there is no correlation between attendance records and effectiveness in Congress, but they figure many voters don't know that, so they lake the cheap shot. One example in Louisiana this year has been Republican Rep. Henson Moore's complaint that his Democratic opponent. John Breaux, has ' i - -- ll missed 1.UB3 votes in 14 years in the lluuse The commercial was taking a toll on Breaux - until he countered with a commercial that said l.uH.'i was really the number of jobs Louisi ana was losing every day under a Republican administration Item Another common lactic in widespread use this year is the distortion of the voting record Members of Congress often are able to have it both ways on issues by. for instance, voting for an unsuccessful amendment to a bill, then going along with the final version of the bill. But at campaign time, incumbents also can be nailed in these situations. In Florida Graham has accused Hawkins ol voting to reduce the funding for the Coast Guard and thus hampering its drug control activities. In fact, Hawkins voted for final passage of the Department of Transportation appropriation that reduced Coast Guard but earlier had supported funding unsuccessful amendments to give the Coast Guard more money. Item: Perhaps the least rewarding arguments in the campaign this year are those that center on political mechanics that is, disputes over which candidate is buying" the election with contributions, w hat poll figures are accurate or distorted. which candidate is being the most negative These are. however precisely the kind of questions that have been getting the prime attention from candidates so far this year. And that may be one of the reasons that, according to the Committee for the Study of the American Electorate, the turnout in primaries this year is down 12 percent from 1982, the last mid-terelection year, and at its lowest level in 20 years. Another reason for the decline in participation may be the fact that social issues many of the abortion, capital punishment, the prayer amendment, busing, gun control have lost much of their political volatility in the last two or three elections. Just why this has happened isn't entirely clear, but there seem to be several factors. In some cases, the issues have become a political wash" meaning one that evokes about the same amount of votes from each side. Public opinion experts say that is the case these days, for instance, with the the abortion issue. In other cases prayer amendment and busing, for the political steam has example drained out of issues because it has become apparent elected politicians . are not going to change things And in still other cases capital punishment most notably opinion has solidified to such a degree there is no longer any real debate The one national issue of this campaign is a social question of sorts -the drug issue that crystallized with the death of basketball player Len Bias last summer. But there is really only one side on drugs, and the is over how extreme anti-drumeasures should be. d - - very-much- only-debat- g In some cases, candidates are being thrown on the defensive because associaof their political history tion with either former President Jimmy Carter, w hich is pure political poison, or with the 1984 campaign of Democratic nominee Waller F. Mondale. which is almost as bad. Thus, a Republican candidate, looking ahead with relish to a televised debate with his Democratic opponent, tells a vis- - iting reporter: "The first question I'm going to ask him. the minute we go on the air. is Who did you vote for in Ronald Keagan ui Waller " 1984. Mon-dale'1- ' Mure often however the eandi dates being nailed on the recent past are the incumbent Republican senators who stuck with the Reagan ad ministration in the 1981 attempts to make cutbacks in the Social Security-benefitsAlthough the changes in the program eventually enacted were produced by a bipartisan agreement, that happened only after the White House and Republican senators had made some politically foolhardy-movethat backfired against them in the 1982 campaign and are still haunting some of them this year The preoccupation with political triv .a this year is not universal, however, And it is far less apparent in races In states with serious economic problems on which there can be dear differences in approach bv the two candidates. That is most obviously the case in the Farm Belt, in states and in oil states in which there are genuine and significant differences of opinion on the direction government policies should textile-producin- The Public Forum g Tribune Readers' Opinions take. There are also several campaigns which federal policy decisions have a special local meaning Thus, for instance, in Washington Republi can Sen. Slade Gorton is on the defensive against Democrat Brock Adams on the question of why he lacks the influence to keep the state from being one of three being considered as a national site for nuclear waste disposal Perhaps the most curious thing about the campaign of 1986. however, may be the fact that the central question in the campaign who controls the Senate? apparently is one that occupies Washington but is largely irrelevant to voters in most of the country. Indeed, there are only three campaigns in which the Senate question is a factor. in One is Nevada. Retiring Republican Sen. Paul Laxalt made a point of recruiting the candidate he consid- ered the potentially strongest, Rep. Jim Santini, specifically because of the importance he attached to holding the seat for the Republicans and his friend Reagan. This has made voters in Nevada more aware than most of the Senate control question but it remains to be seen if they will be influenced by it. Right now. Democratic Rep. Harry Reid is leading Santini by 5 to 10 points. A second is Idaho. This a state in which 65 percent of the land is owned by the federal government, so the Re- publicans have been making a case for maintaining Republican control and one of their own, Sen. James McClure. as chairman of the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources McClure is not running this year, but another Republican, Steven D. Symms, is locked in a close fight with Democrat John V. Evans. inflicted w ith tic- - disease, couldn t help himself, ami actually should be entitled to some 'ort of a disability for the rest of his life tor actions below and beyond the call of duty as an upstanding county attornoc Ills mistake as he neaicd the end of Ins term, was in thinking that Bullard part was behind him It is utivi ous that lie lias sacrificed his moral life- in Ins nnlile cause JAMES B MED1.IN Good, Bad. Ugly If what the news media reporting is true, we have have been the county attorney having sexual harassment charges filed against him. four police officers having sex with minors and one charged with sexual abuse with a boy and a school teacher having sexual abuse charges brought against horse racing is allowed. A constitu tioiul amendment is required only in the ease These are the "cream of the crop." the leaders of society. What do the bad people do in Salt Lake City" JAMES R. SANDERSON lottery Good Investment - him. ol a The governor is correct when lie says horse racing won't solve all of the .laic s problems." but it could go a long way III solving sumo of them MIKE EVANS It has become obvious that many I'tuhns refuse to take stock in our Iorum most valuable resource, our children, being instead content to wallow in Public Forum letters must he t heir selfishness. submitted exclusively to The T Gov Norm Bangerter says the and hear writer's full name, state will no longer provide Its youth signature and address. Names with a full education. He maintains must be printed on political letwe cannot afford kindergarten and ters but may be withheld for good reason on others. Writers are limsummer school, yet allows his attorited to one letter every HI dnvs. ney general to wage a personal, tax Preference will be given to short, supported decency campaign. Let the local districts shoulder the typewritten (double spaced) letters permitting use of the writer's , responsibility, says Bangerter. true name. All letters are subject as so often reported in the meto condensation. Mail to the Public dia. district budget bearings are conForum, The Salt Lake Tribune, tinually dominated by P.O. Box 867, Salt Lake Pity, I lah scrooges who hold the dollar far 84110. above our children's welfare. "Don't touch mine, and. "We got along fine in our day." they harp. Don't our children deserve the best start we can give them? Granted In reference to The Tribune article regarding parimutuel racing and taxes are too high, but let's not cut al those too young to fight back, too prea lottery on Sept. 27. perhaps somecious to forsake. one should explain to the governor MICHAEL H. KNORR that under I'tah law parimutuel Kulo Poelic Justice rih-un- e Ted Cannon said. "1 know of only one reason to secretly record conversations and one kind of person who clandestinely carries around a recorder taping what is said, and that is someone who is setting someone up " The synonym for "setting someone up" is "entrapment." I find it that Mr. Cannon, who used entrapment to foster his political career as an assistant city prosecutor and as a county prosecutor, should now be brought down with a mighty thud by the same tool he used fur years to convict others of assorted crimes. Actually, Ted has the perfect defense. He should plead that because, in his duties as a prosecutor, he devoted his life to examining all that pornographic material, that he was poetic-justic- e How-ever- ever-prese- Ifs Allowed Meanwhile, here in Georgia Wyche Fowler and his fellow Democrats are trying to make the case for the flip side of that issue that is, that the election of a Democratic Senate will help make Sen. Sam Nunn, the most respected political figure in the state, chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee. - The issue of Sam Nunn's future may not have much to do with whether a Georgia voter should support Wyche Fowler or Mack Mattingly Nov. 4. But it is surely as pertinent as whether Fowler voted to put operators in the automatic elevators in the Capitol. Save the Circus Acts for Halftime Chicago Tribune Service One minute after George Shultz's dour face filled the TV screen, my phone rang and my friend Tony began bellowing Can you believe this0" he said Are those politician people crazy0 Or are they Irving to drive me cra- the Russians still don't trust us and we don't trust them, right?" I suppose so. I mean, if Reagan and Gorbachev push the buttons tonight, then the whole world goes boom, just like it's been all along." Depressingly true. Then why zy0" Tony was talking, of course, about the decision by CBS and NBC to bust in on Sunday's football games for lengthy reports on the diplomatic doings in Iceland. work hard all week." Tony blustered. I bust my tail to earn a living I pay my taxes on time. So is it too much to ask that on my day off. I can 'it down and forget my problems and I watch the Bears0" Tony, you must understand that football is a mere game, a form of mass entertainment So what0 like entertainment. It makes me happy. What am I supposed to do for laughs on my day off - go to the morgue and look at corpses?" But you must understand that what has occurred in Iceland is of historic significance, with potential impact on unborn generations. "Ho. big deal So what occurred0' I The heads of the two most powerful nations on earth met to see if they could reach some tentative agreements on whether they can get together later and reach further agreements on controlling the arms race "Yeah. I read the papers. know what it's all about. And did anybody except the dummies w ho write about 1 this stuff in Washington expect them to agree on anything important0 Well, not really ! . i f f V'f "So, after all that talking, did they agree on anything important0" It doesn't appear so. "So nothing much happened, right?" I guess you could put it that wav "Then why couldn't they wait until the football game was over before they tell us that nothing much happened? Hey, I could wait a few hours for that kind of hot news. Or they could just break in during a time-ou- t and say 'We have an important an nouncement to make. It looks like nothing much went down in Iceland. " Stay tuned for the dull details later.' Tony, the assumption the networks and the politicians make is that because they are in Iceland, it is now the center of the universe, and the rest of us have been holding our breath waiting for news of the Iceland conference "I'm just holding my breath waiting for Shultz to stop talking." The point is. Tony, that even a failure to reach any agreement is news Before this meeting started. the Russians didn't trust us and we didn't trust the Russians, right'1 1 get it. Right 'So. Reagan and Gorbachev have this meeting And when it was over. h t cant I just enjoy watch- ing the Fridge fall on somebody and they can tell me about it later on the 0 o'clock news. Why do I ha ve to look at George Shultz and Dan Rather? I wish the Fridge would fall on both of them." It's a matter of journalistic responsibilities. The setting of priorities "What does that mean0" It means that the network news executives decided that they would be failing in their journalistic responsibilities if they didn't interrupt the football games to bring us the news from Iceland. "Even if nothing much happened " That's right. "I don't suppose that they figured that they spent a lot of money sending all those producers and directors and cameramen over there, so they want to have something to show for it, even if it's nothing." I suppose that might be a consider1 50 OFF MENS DIAMOND RINGS. ELEGANT GIFTS IN THEIR MOST DISTINCT FORM. dogs aren Lei's pul history straight diamonds aren retlect'On too Of a t t man's rust a woman s best fnend man's success and taste only best friend Diamonds are Am a tor the liner things in bfe That s why we te so proud to present this outstanding collection of mpn s diamond rings values All rings are set in all a! equally weights given here. 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