Word: gradison
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Dates: during 1970-1979
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...Caucus: "The word liberal has fallen into disfavor." Republicans gained only eleven seats in the November elections, and the Democrats remain firmly in control, 276 to 157 (with two vacancies). Regardless of party, however, members are responding to the protests of a tax-and inflation-weary electorate. Says Willis Gradison, a moderate Republican from Cincinnati: "The whole House is more conservative. It's not so much a change in faces but the result of what we heard in November from the voters...
...mostly white collar and prosperous; in 1972 it gave 70.3% of the vote to Republican William J. Keating, who resigned late last year. To succeed him, both parties nominated well-known and longtime city councilmen: Democrat Thomas Luken, 49, a lawyer and former Assistant U.S. Attorney; and Republican Willis Gradison Jr., 45, a wealthy stockbroker. Both had served as mayor-in Cincinnati, a post filled by vote of the city council-and neither had ever lost an election...
...theme was a sophisticated version of "Send Washington a message." At supermarkets, barber shops and factory gates, he inveighed against food and oil prices as examples of "corporate greed" and declared that "a vote for me is a vote against 'big money' politics." In sharp contrast, Gradison's early campaign was poorly organized and lackluster, depending too often on philosophical position papers and rambling speeches on subjects like "the status of ethics in politics." Often he seemed to be skirting the issues. For example, when Luken backed a constitutional amendment prohibiting abortion-an emotional topic...
...after the G.O.P. lost Vice President Gerald Ford's old district in Michigan, the worried Republican National Committee dispatched its director of political activities, Henry Edward (Eddie) Mahe, to take over Gradison's faltering campaign. Mahe coached the candidate on how to make the most of white suburban parents' fears about school busing. One Gradison TV spot described it as "a cruel experiment with our children." Mahe staged campaign appearances for Gradison by Vice President Ford, Senators Robert Taft Jr. of Ohio, James Buckley of New York and Charles Percy of Illinois and former Attorney General Elliot...
...Election Day, the Cincinnati Enquirer interviewed 819 voters leaving the polls; it found that the strongest single factor in the election was disapproval of Nixon, especially among Independents. As Mrs. Susan Levy explained, "Gradison is the better candidate, but a vote for him is a vote for Nixon." Added another housewife: "I feel so badly. I grew up on the same street with Bill, and he is the better candidate, but I voted for Luken as a protest against Nixon." Gradison lost by 51,057 votes to 55,171. Later, he refused to blame Watergate for his defeat but complained...