Word: polisher
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Dates: during 1970-1979
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After listening to Mr. Ford, Polish Communist Party Chief Edward Gierek died...
That not very funny Polish joke is even less of a laughing matter for Jerry Ford. It echoes his troubles among Polish Americans and other people of Eastern European descent who make up 10% or more of the population in such pivotal states as New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Connecticut, Michigan, Illinois and Wisconsin. A loss of a relatively few ethnic votes in those battlegrounds could cost Ford dearly, and many of these voters were surprised and offended by his celebrated gaffe in the second debate with Jimmy Carter. "There is no Soviet domination of Eastern Europe," said the President...
Wounded Feelings. Ford obviously did not mean what he said. But his remark wounded the feelings of many Polish Americans and others of Eastern European extraction. The postwar immigrants in particular are bitter about the oppression of Communism, and they are inclined to regard their homelands with much the same fervor that American Jews feel for Israel. While people now living in Eastern Europe have generally made their accommodation with the regimes, the immigrants-and many first-and second-generation Americans - remain unalterably opposed to Communism and await, however forlornly, its overthrow...
...drift to Ford was abruptly stalled by his Polish remark. Said Congressman Dan Rostenkowski, an Illinois Democrat: "There was a revulsion on the part of people, many of whom still send clothes over there and go there two weeks every summer." Added Terry Gabinski. a Democratic alderman in Chicago: "Everywhere I go, I hear people talking about Carter being proabortion. Now I hear people saying they just can't believe the President said what he did." Invited to speak at a long-scheduled Polish American Congress dinner in Chicago last week. Bishop Alfred L. Abramowicz agonized over whether...
Wasting No Time. Ethnic voters waited impatiently for a retraction from Ford, and many thought it was too long coming. Finally a delegation of 18 American ethnic leaders visited the White House at the invitation of the President. Afterward, Aloysius (Al) Masewski, president of the Chicago-based Polish National Alliance, announced that he was satisfied. "What I wanted Ford to say was that it was a mistake...