University of Virginia Library

Polling Tomorrow

Senate Candidates Hit The Home Stretch

By Rick Pearson
Cavalier Daily Staff Writer

Gee, folks, here it is almost
election day, and I bet you haven't
the foggiest idea of what's going on.
Well, don't feel too concerned, because
that seems to be the general
theme of this campaign. It's not
entirely the fault of the candidates,
for heaven knows they've tried
hard, but people in Virginia just
aren't used to seeing three, let alone
two names on the ballot.

In case you hadn't heard, or
you've just been asleep for thirty
years, the Democratic Party in Virginia
has been a leader in the fight
for ballot reform. While most states
boggle your mind with a massive
array of candidates and offices,
Virginia generally makes it very
easy for you. It puts one name on
the ballot, the Democratic one.

Now, while a lot can be said for
his method in the name of efficiency,
there's a lot that's left
unsaid. Like issues, and platforms,
and little things like that.

Courthouse To White House

The Democratic Party, which
used to mean Harry Byrd or more
recently his son of the same name,
hand-picked the men who would
hold office in Virginia, from the
Courthouse to the White House, as
they like to say. And like Joseph
Stalin's machine, or Richard Daley's
machine, Harry Byrd's machine
was very efficient. It also stifled
political expression and social progress
in Virginia for a whole bunch
of years.

But, as our favorite congressional
candidate and member of the
Board of Visitors will gladly tell
you, there is something new, and
that is The Changing Face of the
Byrd Machine. (Hmmm, sounds like
a catchy name for a book.)

Yes indeed, the Byrd Machine is
changing. Or should I say decaying.
Only last year the Machine had its
lifeline cut, when not only did the
Byrd Candidate for governor lose
the nomination, but the eventual
Democratic nominee lost out to the
Republicans. Yes, Virginia there IS
a Republican Party.

Life's Breath

I call this having one's lifeline
cut, because that is what the governor
ship is to any party, or to any
good machine. A senatorial race is
very symbolic, and it makes the
national news, but it is the governor
who is the life's breath for any
party. He hands out all those delightful
patronage positions to all
those faithful workers, and it's always
nice to keep your men happy
and within sight.

Thus, before we even get to
1970, we find the Byrd Machine in
trouble. It is undoubtedly on its
last legs now, but it is not dead.
This year The Man himself is up for
re-election, and that is cause for all
the dust to fly and all the scum to
rise to the top.

The Man is definitely putting on
a grand show, and it's enough to
almost bring tears to the eye. Almost.
Harry Junior is getting it all
together, as they say. Vagueness,
slogans, unavailability, ad apathy.

In case you didn't know, Harry
Junior is running against George
Rawlings, a Democrat, and Ray
Garland, the Republican. And that
leaves, for a change, Harry Byrd
without a party, so he's running as
an Independent.

The mere fact that a Byrd had
to leave the Democratic Party
ought to be enough to spell death
for him. But it isn't. Harry Junior
has played up his independence
very cleverly, and he's really got
people believing he's an unattached
maverick in the true American tradition.
(Shades of Sam "Maverick"
Yorty?)

These are the obstacles that
Messrs. Rawlings and Garland have
to face, and they're formidable
ones. One would almost be satisfied
to say that at least a three-man race
is a sign of progress, and leave it at
that. But there's a chance for much
more, there's a chance to actually
beat Harry Byrd, so it is hard to
simply sign and accept defeat.

Know What?

Harry Junior's campaign has
centered around the phrase "You
know what he stands for." It says
little, but it has large connotations:
massive resistance, regressive financing,
law and order. So far that's
about all Byrd has needed to say.
He has avoided all head-to-head
confrontations with his opponents,
and he has simply banked on sliding
in on inertia.

However, George Rawlings, and
Mr. Garland too on a smaller scale
has run an energetic, if poorly-financed,
campaign. He has hit
repeatedly on Harry Byrd's voting
record, and he has tried to show
that Byrd has been a representative
of the large corporations and not
the people of Virginia.

And these charges are true. Harry
Junior has consistently voted
against economic measures that
would have benefited the great majority
of the people and instead
voted in favor of tax and financial
benefits for the rich and the moneyed
interests. The Byrds have hurt
Virginians where it counts most,
financially, but it is hard to erase
the myths of conservatism.

Mr. Rawlings might also have
based his campaign on the Vietnam
War or Byrd's racism, both issues
on which he shows most strongly
his liberal credentials, but he hasn't.
Due to the unfortunate realities of
the day, Mr. Rawlings has centered
his attack on economic issues, and
he is making progress.

Mr. Garland is also making progress,
albeit more slowly. He has
tried valiantly, if a bit deceptively,
to link himself with the progressive
policies of Linwood Holton. He is
trying to corner the market on
moderation, but he's finding that
there is little demand for it this
year. He says Byrd is far to the
right and Rawlings is far to the left,
and that this leaves him with the
vast moderate vote. Unfortunately,
he is finding himself in a familiar
position for those who try to straddle
the fence: he is coming out
second best on every issue.

There happens to be a very
sizeable anti-Byrd vote in the state.
Even the Richmond Times-Dispatch
recognized it, but it has been largely
unaccounted for in the polls. By
all estimates Harry Byrd is ahead,
but nobody can seem to estimate
where all those undecided votes will
go.

It is here that the Rawlings
campaign will win or lose. Ray
Garland will continue to claim that
Rawlings has no chance and that an
anti-Byrd vote must go to him to be
effective, but he will be talking out
of the side of his mouth. Garland
has no chance. Ask the Young
Republicans at the University, who
have laughed at Garland all fall and
worked almost to a man for Byrd,
Or ask the blacks, who know that
Garland does not approach the caliber
of Linwood Holton. Or ask
President Nixon, who almost
pleaded with the Republicans not
to nominate anybody at all.

The Rawlings campaign is advancing,
it is winning the anti-Byrd
vote, but it must do even better. It
will have to turn out this vote, but
it must do even better. It will have
to turn out this vote in unprecedented
numbers. If it can do this
George Rawlings will be the (gasp!)
U.S. Senator from Virginia and
Harry Byrd will be back in Winchester
on his farm. If it can't, the Byrd
Machine will live on.