to have fundraising letters, brochures — you gotta have at least three brochures, then you have bumper strips, newspaper advertising, radio advertising, and we haven’t yet talked about television commercials. And remember before you start buying T.V. spots, you gotta produce the damn things; we’re talking about thousands of dollars...” “How much does it cost these days to run for the U.S. Senate in Oregon?” Our informant doesn 't blink. “About a million dollars. You don’t raise your big money for a statewide campaign within Oregon, of course; you get it from national sources.” “Which ones?” “Lobby groups, special interest groups, labor, industries.” But is David Force right? Does Packwood already have a decisive jump on any Democratic opponent regarding major funding sources? Any analysis of the Senator’s fiscal efforts must be made in the context of his legislative record. Bob Packwood was born 46 years ago in Portland, attended Willamette University, and received his law degree from New York University in 1957. In the sixties, Packwood served three terms in the State Legislature representing Multnomah County, before his election to the Senate in 1968 (against Wayne Morse) and his re-election in 1974 (against Betty Roberts). Packwood’s decade in the Senate has been essentially colorless but, if you think hard, a few things about his record come to mind: his opposition to the Longshore strike in 1971, his early call for Nixon’s resignation in 1974, his consistent identification with women’s rights, and his second-term support for certain labor measures: i.e. situs picketing, cargo preference, aind the union-backed Labor Reform Act. As modest as this record is. Packwood has set out to make the most of it. His support of situs picketing has endeared him to building trades workers while his endorsement of cargo preference has continued his friendship with the maritime associations. The national headquarters of the building trades union, for example, threw an “ appreciation dinner” for the Senator last winter in Washington. Packwood’s advocacy of women’s rights has been long-standing. In 1970 he introduced legislation to legalize abortion nationally; in 1977 he was the only Senator to vote against the confirmation of HEW Secretary Califano because Califano deplores abortion. These actions inspired Gloria Steinem last spring to endorse the Senator for re-election and help raise funds for his campaign. “Bob Packwood is a man of integrity and compassion,” wrote one of the founders of Ms. Magazine in a letter to friends. “That’s why I’m doing something I’ve rarely done before. I’m writing you personally to ask that you send a political contribution to Senator Packwood’s re-election campaign.” Within two months, Steinem’s letter has netted Packwood $200,000; before the campaign is over, observers expect that figure to more than double. With Packwood receiving labor and feminist backing, what’s a good Democrat to do? In Jackson County, for example, David Force notes that, even at this early date, “ Packwood has co-opted traditional Democratic financial bases. An opponent would either have to build a fund-raising system based on individual givers or attack Packwood froi>.the right on issues like abortion and labor.” (Attacking from the right, of course, is not something Neil Goldschmidt is likely to do.) Yet the situation for a Democrat is not completely hopeless. Not every labor union is in Packwood’s pocket. Mike Hereford of the Retail Clerks union points out that Packwood’s voting record, as computed by the national office of the AFL-CIO, is less than 50 percent effective and that “each of those votes was important. Goldschmidt would need to appeal to Labor is a social movement,” said many of the very labor leaders he Hereford, “and Packwood's record on alienated by his opposition to the Mt. social issues isn’t good.” Referring to Hood Freeway. And not without a next June’s state convention of the competitive message to liberal women, AFL-CIO, Hereford warned. “ If the convincing them that it would be vote were held today, he wouldn’t have better for them in the long-run to vote enough votes to win an endorsement.” for a socially-liberal Democrat than a Which means a Democrat could get moderate Republican who happens to that endorsement, with the likely constand with them on a few issues. sequence of over a quarter of a million “There may be some singular addollars funding support from the vantages to his not running,” an old national headquarters of the AFL- friend of the Mayor's informed us at CIO. press time. “ It may give him a chance Can Neil Goldschmidt beat Bob to recover some psychic energy after Packwood in 1980? Not without a two terms as Mayor. And it may give well-financed campaign to overcome him some time to deal with downstate an unfamiliar name. Not without a elements that associate him with Portstatewide effort to persuade semi- land. If he passes this one up, he could urban and rural voters that he can lay out for a couple of years and take think beyond Portland and Eugene. on the incumbent governor in 1982.” Not without an eleventh-hour drive to Can Goldschmidt beat Packwood? reverse Bob Packwood’s headstart in Not without an uphill fight. And most gaining AFL-CIO endorsement; in observers think that, at 39 years old, this last-minute push, incidentally. he does not have to wage that fight. GOOD MORNING. OREGON. WOULD YOU L IK E ME TO PLAY CHESS WITH YOU OR WOULD YOU RATHER I CALCULATE WHAT A PACKWOODGOLDSCHMIDT RACE WOULD BE L I K E . . .OKAY , HERE S MY EOREOAST EXPECTED TURNOUT - 70? COUNTY REG. VOTERS PACKWOOD GOLDSCHMIDT MULTNOMAH 3 4 8 , 1 2 1 4 8? 52? LANE 1 5 9 , 5 9 5 4 7? 53? CLACKAMAS 1 3 5 , 4 6 1 54? 46? WASHINGTON 1 2 9 , 8 7 5 58? 42? MARION 1 0 6 , 9 2 1 56? 44? JACKSON 7 0 , 9 8 7 5 3? 4 7? DOUGLAS 4 8 , 3 6 0 55? 4 5? L INN 4 4 , 2 9 1 52? 4 8? OTHERS 4 3 8 , 7 2 8 54? 46? TOTAL 1 , 4 8 2 , 3 3 9 52? 48X CONCLUSION - PACKWOOD BY •4X OR MY NAME A IN T C L IN T WILD CARD - T . KENNEDY 5
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