The House: Matters of Morality

Fighting the Church

When the Vatican ordered Massachusetts Democrat Robert Drinan, a Jesuit priest, to withdraw from public office last May, 15 politicians lunged for his seat in Congress. By August, polls indicated that Barney Frank, 40, a Harvard-educated former aide to Boston Mayor Kevin White and a popular state legislator for eight years, was the clear favorite. Frank had been endorsed by Drinan and Senator Edward Kennedy. Moreover, voters in the largely liberal district, which includes wealthy Boston suburbs and factory towns in central Massachusetts, liked the rumpled candidate's advocacy of more public spending on mass transit, senior citizens' programs, and housing for the poor.

But the district is also heavily Catholic. On the Sunday before last week's primary, priests in the Boston-area Catholic churches read a pastoral letter from Humberto Cardinal Medeiros. Proclaimed the archbishop: "Those who make abortion possible by law cannot separate themselves from the guilt which accompanies this horrendous crime and deadly sin." His targets were two front runners who had been outspokenly liberal on abortion: first-term incumbent Congressman James Shannon, a Catholic, in the Fifth District, northwest of Boston,* and Frank, a Jew, in the Fourth District, who is a strong supporter of the ERA and equal rights for homosexuals, as well as public financing of abortions for poor women. His chief opponent, six-term Waltham Mayor Arthur Clark, a Catholic, had staunchly opposed abortions and had received heavy financial support from anti-abortion groups. Said Clark: "The church has the right to step in because there is an erosion of moral fiber in this country."

But others in the Boston area were upset with Medeiros for having crossed the line between church and state. When Worcester's Monsignor Leo Battista and 29 other Catholic clergymen asked Drinan to withdraw his endorsement of Frank, the priest refused. He warned the hierarchy that it risked damaging the church by involving itself in the race. Said he: "The authority of the church in parts of this district is dreadful."

Despite the clergy's opposition, Frank won the nomination by a slim margin of 4,499 votes. More than half of his support came from the richer and less Catholic eastern end of the district. Said Frank: "I sometimes felt as though I was wrestling a tag team, with different people coming into the ring against me." Winning the district's Democratic nomination is usually tantamount to election. Moreover, Frank's Republican opponent is little known: retired Army Dentist Richard Jones, 45, a conservative from the town of Harvard, who opposes gun control and federal funding of abortions. But Frank intends to take no chances, and will run flat out. The conservatives' tag game almost worked last week--and in one of the most liberal districts in the country.

Tucking Tail and Running Claude ("Buddy") Leach's political future looked bleak indeed after he narrowly won his congressional seat in Louisiana's Fourth District two years ago. He was subsequently indicted for buying votes in both the primary and general elections. A total of 35 people have been convicted in the scandal, including the mayor of Leach's home town of Leesville, but Leach was acquitted.

In his campaign for reelection, Leach, 46, turned the affair into a major issue. Radio and TV ads called his indictment "one of the worst political injustices in history." Said a commercial: "He made one terrible error--he won. So they beat him with headlines and lawsuits, with indignities and insults." In another TV ad, his wife Laura Ann, on the verge of tears, described their twelve-year-old daughter's reaction to the indictment: "She took his hand and said, 'I know you could never do anything wrong.' "

The strategy has been working well enough. In last week's primary, Leach led a field of six candidates with 29% of the vote. He now faces a runoff in November against Businessman Charles ("Buddy") Roemer III, 36. Leach's constituents have a rather relaxed view of ballot buying, or what in Louisiana is quaintly called the "commercial vote." Says a Bossier City lawyer, with a chuckle: "There's nothing new about it. It's just against the law."

The Fourth District, which includes oil-booming Shreveport, is about half urban, half rural and, say residents, 100% conservative. "Down there," says a Fourth District trucking executive, referring to southern Louisiana, "they are for free spending, free love and horse racing. We're ultraconservative." Even the black vote, which favored Roemer, is considered fairly conservative. Observes a black educator: "This is a very unique area."

On the stump, Leach scarcely differed from his opponents in opposing inflation and favoring tax reduction and a strong national defense. He keeps things simple. In a speech to a group of nutritionists, he declared: "The breakdown in human relations is the result of early childhood training."

The runoff is expected to be close. Roemer, who owns a farm, a computer service and two Mexican restaurants, is a trimmer, more polished performer than Leach. But he also has scandal in his background. His father, Charles Roemer II, former state commissioner of administration, has been indicted for bribery in Brilab, an FBI sting operation, in New Orleans.

So far, there has been no sign of the commercial vote in this year's election in the Fourth District. Explains a businessman: "Even dummies know when to tuck their tails and run."

*Who nonetheless coasted to renomination.

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