Word: durkin
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Democrat John A. Durkin was elected to the United States Senate from New Hampshire yesterday, ending the longest Senate campaign in history...
...this election at least, the Union Leader is playing a relatively minor role, although the paper may have given Durkin enough of a scare to cause him to modify his views--he stated his opposotion to gun control laws last week, lest he come down on the wrong side of one of William Loeb's favorite issues...
...Durkin also still has a lot left of his image as a consumer advocate, which made him such a surprisingly strong challenger in the first campaign. As a popular and innovative insurance commissioner, he developed a solid state-wide consituency, which is now a good match for Wyman's established base of support in the southern part of the state--his Congressional district for ten years. The question then comes down to the swing vote--some 20 per cent of the electorate declared themselves undecided in a poll conducted only last week...
...President Ford's visit should ensure a large turnout at the polls. Essentially then, one of two things could happen with the undecided vote. A large number could opt for Carmen C. Chimento, the Independent Party candidate, in a protest vote, thus detracting from Wyman's total, and giving Durkin the victory. Chimento, who last week refused to welcome Ford, charging that the President is "a dupe of the Russian slavemasters," is trying to succeed where others have failed with his third party campaign. John Schmitz faired very badly in New Hampshire in the 1972 Presidential election, despite abundant coverage...
Which leaves the second possibility--that the undecideds will divide up pretty evenly between the two major candidates, giving Wyman only a slight edge, but just enough to win the seat. Durkin is very much past his peak, the machinations in Washington simply did not make him look good, and the chances of him winning are very small. Which means that Louis Wyman will finally win a long desired promotion to the upper house, and will have to bring his campaign against "the forces of big labor" to the U.S. Senate...