University of Michigan - Michiganensian Yearbook (Ann Arbor, MI)

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(continued from page 5) dencies untainted by public scandal. He made extensive use of the whistle-stop train approach reminiscent of the purer, simpler days created by the Truman administration. From Flint to Niles, the President was greeted by cheering crowds, brass bands, and the sounds of an ail-American college song Hail to the Victors. Carter arrived with running mate Walter Mondale and a united Democratic party in New York. It was July and their nomination became accepted. The following month, Ford and Reagan battled it out in Kansas City on a procedural technicality. Ford, with some difficulty, finally won the nomi- nation. The next campaign move came in early September, when Ford cleverly opened his campaign at the University of Michi- gan. This was an unanticipated surprise to students returning and settling down to the business of school. A few years be- fore, a, Republican candidate would have never even consid- ered the university as a background setting for his nationwide campaign kick-off for fear of being shouted off the stage. But. the campus mood had changed. Students integrated them- selves with those on the traditional political scene. They were accepted, and not as the radical outsiders many considered them to have been before, but rather as numbers, quantities potential votes that could give a candidate the electoral edge he needed. The presidential speech filled Crisler Arena. And Ford made the most of it. He fraternized with the number one ranked Wolverines, the football team he himself once played for, while the band played on, and the campaign starting point became colored with shades of a homecoming pep rally. Warmly preceded by football broadcaster, Bob Ufer, and the Michigan Marching Band, Ford was greeted by a noisy crowd of 14,000 people. He called for specifics not smiles - critically aiming a blow to Carter ' s grinning image. Despite (continued on page 8) Cartel

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. , (continued from page 6) some heckling, which was drowned out by enthusiastic cheers, and a firecracker that momentarily terrorized the entire au- dience, Ford proved that for the first time in years the changed campus mood would allow a warm reception for Republican as well as Democratic candidates. In the meantime, Carter became the subject of extensive criticism for his participation in an interview printed in Playboy magazine. In the article Carter admitted to lusting in his heart, and used language that many considered religiously unbecoming, not to mention unbecoming as a presidential candidate. A similar scandal broke out in the Ford camp. The President ' s Secretary of Agriculture, Earl Butz, was re- vealed as making an obscene racial joke about the priorities of blacks. Issues themselves were difficult to uncover midst the cam- paign rhetoric. But some issues did become clear as the cam- paign livened up when the first of a series of televised presi- dential debates crowded prime time slots. Random polls taken immediately after the confrontation showed each candidate as winning one debate and tying the third. Both Ford and Carter ended their campaigns in Michigan, a key state in what promised to be a close national race. This was a promise that was kept. As the nation huddled around television sets for election returns, Carter emerged with a narrow lead. Throughout the night it held, but it wasn ' t until almost 4 a.m. that the last network declared Carter the winner. The former Georgian Governor received barely enough electoral votes, evidenced by a 51-48 per cent vote margin. Several states were tossed from Carter to Ford be- cause of Independent party candidate, Eugene McCarthy. While the presidential race drew the most attention, it was only one of the many election races being run. Scores of candidates vied for various offices, from sheriff to senator. The Senate race, between Marvin Esch and Donald Riegle proved to be one of the most controversial in recent history. The Detroit News, editorially supporting Esch, revealed a Riegle blunder, in stating that Riegle had forged his former wife ' s name to an income tax return rebate check without her prior knowledge. Little more than a week before the election, the News struck again, this time disclosing that Riegle had had an affair with an unpaid staff member seven years earlier, while still married to his first wife. Riegle, obviously, did not take kindly to such personal background revelations, and an- (continued on page 12)