Word: lukens
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Dates: during 1970-1979
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...eastern half of Cincinnati and suburban Hamilton County. The district is 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...
...Luken's campaign target was the Nixon Administration, and his 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...
...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 Richardson. To match the Republican effort, Luken brought in Maine Senator Edmund Muskie, Ohio Governor John Gilligan and Veteran Political Consultant Mark Shields. His advice to Luken was to focus the campaign even more squarely on the President...
...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 that news of the campaign was overshadowed by headlines about "gas prices going up, milk prices going up, half the White House indicted...