Word: sponged
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...Open housing ought to be a local matter," he says. "That's exactly what I said in my campaign, and I even said it directly to the Crusade for Voters." The Crusade is a powerful Negro political organization, whose energetic support was invaluable to win the primary. Spong's supporters use incidents like this to illustrate his remarkable candor. His desire to "tell people the truth about these things" has also led him to disclose publicly the sources of his campaign financing and his personal assets...
...evidently wants people to think that he isn't a politician at all. Anyone who meets him is impressed by his low-keyed good nature and with what could be an almost deliberate effort to be unpretentious. Spong seems to enjoy telling stories about the Senate or about his campaigns in Virginia more than analyzing his role in changing the political structure of the state...
...been active in party committees or conventions or anything like that," he says. His preference for legislation over political organizing reflects his view of himself as a lawyer rather than a politician; of course, it also testifies to the Byrd Organization's complete control of state Democratic machinery. Although Spong clearly represents a new political movement in the Old Dominion, National Committeeman Sydney Kellam, who has long been the Organization's chief strategist, still symbolizes Virginia Politics to Lyndon Johnson and his aides...
...Senator, Spong also considers his role to be legislative rather than political--"I've been keeping quiet and trying to do a good job on my committees, especially since they're dealing with things like highways and pollution that are important to urban areas...
...says, "I didn't do anything--I've set off a movement that will keep growing whether I do anything or not." The young lawyers who helped in his 1966 campaign are planning to move into politics for themselves, and "I couldn't stop them if I wanted to," Spong says...