Word: spoiler
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After Bruin spoiler Tom Jirele--who last year stomped all over his Harvard opponents in the same event--grabbed the sixth spot, coach Bill McCurdy's feeling that "there was no way we could lose this thing" seemed a bit of an understatement...
...potential spoiler, Alvin Thompson, may be joined by others in the weeks before August 21, when nominating petitions must be returned. And, as one political veteran pointed out. "There is more than enough time between now and November for this thing to change in half a dozen different directions. Still, Crane's departure and the strong field of CCA nominees will focus attention for the next four months on the battle for majority control of the council
...turns of Old Soldier Dayan's political maneuvers. Early last month he announced the formation of his own Movement for National Renewal. As an independent candidate Dayan appeared to be a possible spoiler in the campaign, able to attract as many as 20 or 25 seats in the Knesset. But by last week the latest poll showed him taking only four seats. One possible explanation for his rapid slippage: voters' memories of a comparably idealistic third party in 1977, which generated high hopes but quickly split into bickering factions...
Marchais's speech was characteristic of the perverse, often perplexing performance that has made him the spoiler of the campaign. That role has taken on a bizarre urgency as the two-round election draws close. Polls indicate that in the first round, April 26, Mitterrand should handily defeat both Marchais and the fourth challenger, Gaullist Leader Jacques Chirac, and run a close second to Giscard...
Playing the role of the spoiler, however, could backfire. Some polls give Marchais a mere 15% of the presidential vote-a huge comedown from the 20% the Communists achieved in 1978. If Marchais's showing proved to be that poor, the chances are that his leadership of the party would be challenged soon after the election. As it is, Marchais's support inside the party is hardly unanimous. Members of the rank and file are unhappy with his strict, sometimes overbearing control of party machinery. Many intellectuals have bolted over his obdurate refusal to allow internal debate...