Election

By Richard Stengel

Propositions that were easy to resist. In referendums around the country, voters last week expressed a kind of social laissez-faire, a tolerance for diversity, an intolerance for efforts to legislate morality. The good citizens of Green Bay, Wis., for example, refused to ban the exhibition of obscene material. Californians unhesitatingly rejected an initiative sponsored by Lyndon LaRouchites that could have quarantined AIDS victims. Voters in Massachusetts, Oregon and Rhode Island resisted efforts to restrict a woman's right to have an abortion. Some of the propositions that did pass also reflected a spirit of tolerance for, well, spirits. Voters in Kansas overwhelmingly approved the sale of alcoholic drinks. The last time you could order liquor by the drink in Kansas was 1879.

No se habla espanol -- English only spoken here. When it comes to language, however, Californians showed little tolerance for speaking in foreign tongues. In polyglot California, where Spanish is practically a necessity and Korean is not a rarity, voters passed a measure making English the "official" language. Many saw the vote as a sign of xenophobia. Larry Berg, a professor of political science at the University of Southern California, describes the vote as reflecting "no-nothing, nativist resentment toward this massive influx of people." But former Senator S.I. Hayakawa, a formidable semanticist who led the crusade, promised it was not meant to homogenize Californian life. * "If you want to host at your home a prayer meeting or a crap game in Serbo-Croatian or Greek or Swahili, there will be no linguistic gestapo to come break up your game."

Forget accentuating the positive; here's how to negate the negative. In an election dominated by negative advertising, the most effective counterattack came in South Dakota, where Democrat Tom Daschle turned Republican Senator James Abdnor's ads against him. When we last tuned in, Abdnor was running a commercial linking Daschle to Actress Jane Fonda, who, the ad incorrectly claimed, eschewed red meat -- not a trifling charge in a state where beef is a leading farm product. During the three weeks that the ad aired, Abdnor made up about ten points in the polls. Then Daschle decided to attack the attack with an ad showing a bunch of cigar-smoking pols discussing ways to smear Daschle. "We'll distort the farm thing, confuse 'em with Fonda, all the usual liberal stuff," said one. When Abdnor's commercials became an issue, they lost their effectiveness. As California Campaign Consultant Clinton Reilly observes, "When voters feel it's a cheap shot, they turn against the guy who put it on the air."

One more slimy candidate jumps into the fray. In the race for county commissioner in Lawrence, Kans., Agnes T. Frog, a frog, won 27.4% of the votes in a valiant effort to unseat In- cumbent Nancy Hiebert. Agnes was a write-in candidate sponsored by opponents of a proposed highway that, they contend, would threaten the habitat of the northern crawfish frog. Despite the loss, Agnes' spokesman, John Simmons, a herpetologist (one who studies amphibians), was practically jumping up and down at her showing: "Agnes leapt into the contest with all four feet. The frognosis was good when we took a tad poll."

The John Connally Award for most dollars per vote in a losing cause. In the race for the Senate in Vermont, former Governor Richard Snelling, a Republican, shelled out $20.24 a vote, but he was defeated nearly 2 to 1 by incumbent Democrat Patrick Leahy. Leahy spent only $10.77 a vote, based on the latest reports. Democratic Senate candidates in four states upset Republicans who spent more than twice as much.

California voters exercise judicial restraint. During her nine years as Chief Justice of California, Rose Bird voted to overturn every death-penalty case that came before her. This made her unpopular in a state where 80% of the voters favor the death penalty. During the noisy campaign to unseat her, Bird maintained her dignity. Asked by reporters how she was taking her defeat, she smiled and said, "Just like a man."

Didn't Reagan and Clint Eastwood play more demanding roles? The ratings that Fred Grandy used to get as Gopher, the shambling, befuddled purser on Love Boat, will undoubtedly be better than those he gets on C-Span. The latest Republican ex-actor in Washington won a narrow congressional race in Iowa, despite criticism that he too lately sailed back into his native port.

Playing opposite Bill Bradley in the congressional front court. Unlike Bradley, newly elected Congressman Tom McMillen of Maryland did not, as a professional basketball player, move well without the ball. Like the New Jersey Senator, however, he is a neoliberal Democrat, a Rhodes scholar and a victor in his first race for office. At 6 ft. 11 in., he is 6 in. taller than Bradley and a full 2 ft. taller than his Maryland colleague, Senator-elect Barbara Mikulski (a savvy point guard if there ever was one).

The incredible vanishing voter. With the percentage turnout this year lower than any other time since 1942, the election was in one sense decided by those who stayed at home. The most critical no-shows were younger voters; only 17% of those eligible under the age of 30 showed up, compared with 26% who went to the polls two years ago. This time, apparently, they did not feel like going out to "win one more for the Gipper."