Michigan State University - Red Cedar Log Yearbook (East Lansing, MI)

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Livonia. Election day saw record voter turnouts in some states, while nationally 53 per cent of the regis- tered voters made it to the polls. Voter turnout in Michigan was 70 per cent of the 5.2 million regis- tered voters. Carter won the election with 51 to 48 per cent of the popular vote. He carried every Southern state except Virginia, and won in New York, Ohio, Minnesota, Wisconsin and Hawaii. Ford controlled the West, but came up short in his bid to retain the presidency. Carter captured 2.97 of the votes in the Electoral College, 27 more than required. An issue which may have cost Ford the election was the pardoning of former President Nixon shortly after Ford took office. Although Ford's running mate, Kansas Sen. Robert Dole, called the Watergate issue a cheap shot on the part of Carter and Mondale, it was on the minds of many people as they went to vote. Enthusiasm marks Ford campaign With the tossing of hats into the political arena, presidential candidates in 1976 hit the campaign trail with smiles, hopes and promises. Throughout the United States, re- publican supporters and enthusiasts rallied together behind one man - incumbent Gerald Ford. As thousands of students descended upon the cam- pus fall term, For'd campaign coordin- ators were scouting for recruits, work- ing up enthusiasm and planning strategies to keep their man in the White House. Without any large pep rallies, the campaign tended to have a more subtle approach but did not mask the vibrant enthusiasm of the Ford volunteers. The tasks and duties of individual campaigners were quick- ly brought into focus as over 200 stu- dents manned caravans to neighbor- Students for Ford prepare to canvass in Eaton Rapids. ing communities, handed out assorted political paraphernalia, phoned area residents and canvassed the campus to get out the vote. The student organization began with the efforts of chairperson Kir- sten Frank, co-chairperson Scott Ayl- ward and many residence hall repre- sentatives whose work supplemented party activity. The main push of the Republican party was the phone cen- ter located at 404 E. Michigan Ave. in Lansing. Students manned phones morning and evening seeking com- munity support for Ford, Frank said. She noted that most of the volunteers had no strong party ties. The major- ity were not Republicans, but either Independents or Democrats who sup- ported the Democratic ticket exclud- ing Jimmy Carter, said said. One of the unique qualities of the 1976 election was the tremendous vot- er turn-out across the country a espe- cially within the student population. At the beginning there was some apathy, Frank observed, but as the momentum picked up, students were more positive and enthusiastic toward Ford. In the early hours of November 3, newspapers were rolling off the presses predicting the victory of Jim- my Carter. Ford supporters hung on to reports of suspected ballot stuffing in New York, but the White House soon made it known that there would be no investigation into the matter. To the disbelief of many, President Ford John Herman

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In the Carter-Mondale campaign headquarters on Michigan Avenue, Walt McNiece, a general business and pre-law major, managed the Stu- dents for Carter-Mondale campaign because he wanted to see some fresh- ness in government. We needed a change, we needed somebody to lead this country, McNiece said. I saw this in Carter and that's why I worked. Some 150 volunteers operating from the Lansing headquarters did much the same kind of work that went on in other Democratic head- quarters. Philip Filner, MSU professor of biochemistry and plant research and a key organizer for the entire Lan- sing campaign, said the whole thing never would have gotten off the ground without people like McNiece and Kay Williams. He added, Al- though it has not been a good year for student support in Democratic poli- tics, the students here were concerned enough to do something. Filner be- came involved in his first active cam- paign because he was tired of reading what was wrong with the government and wanted to do something about it. Richard Nixon convinced me that reading was not enough, he cracked. Fred Goldberg A Carter campaign worker is delighted that his man has won the election. This was much the same reason that Williams and Greg Stein, a gra- duate student from New York, be- came active campaigners. Williams, a sophomore, had been working about three hours a week since the primary. I've never been politically active, but I wanted to get involved and know what was happening, she said. Stein, who studied as an undergraduate at Queen's College in New York, arrived at MSU in the fall and became inter- ested in the campaign soon after. I think it's important as a student - a person supporting myself e to be- come involved, he said. We need a change. It's definitely necessary. by Jeff Hittler take of the campaign appeared in the November edition of Playboy magazine. Although his re- marks about lust were a small part of an interest- ing interview, Carter suffered when those re- marks received exaggerated national attention. I've looked on a lot of women with lust. I've committed adultery in my heart many times. This is something that God recognizes I will do and God forgives me for it, Carter said in the inter- VleW. By election eve, Carter's huge lead in the polls had vanished. The pollsters termed the race too close to call with an amazing 20 per cent of the public still undecided. President Ford, who even- tually lost his voice from the strain of campaign- ing, appeared in over 100 cities during the last ten days of the race. Both Carter and Ford ended their campaigns in Michigan with rallies in Flint and

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The only third party candidate to receive any national attention was former Minnesota Sen. Eugene McCarthy. Unable to receive any of the public millions which aided Carter and Ford, Mc- Carthy was crippled by financing. He was also prevented by the US. Supreme Court from par- ticipating in the presidential debates. In some states McCarthy had to sue to get on the ballot. With Carter's victory came a commitment to keep some big campaign promises. He pledged conceded to President-elect Carter. People were in a complete state of shock after the election and were walking around saying I don't be- lieve it! Aylward said. Many volun- teers didn't know that Ford was in that much danger, he mused, but others who had tuned into the polls from the very beginning were aware that he was behind all the way. Despite his loss, Ford trailed Carter by only a few percentage points on election day. On campus, 12 of 15 stu- dent precincts voted substantially in favor of Ford. They voted not on the basis of party ticket or rhetoric, but on what both candidates had to offer, Frank said. Her co-worker Aylward observed, The results showed that the old myth that students never vote for the candidate who represents the 'Establishment' is untrue. The stu- dents were looking for a change and many felt Ford could supply it, he said. Throughout the nation there was apprehension that with the Carter ad- ministration would also come changes. Many were ready for change, but Carter's failure to explain his plans left concern about the type, ex- tent and effects of his proposals. From the moment all votes were counted until Inauguration Day, people sat in limbo trying to anticipate what was in store for the country. I want to be optimistic toward the Carter adminis- tration, said a Ford supporter, but I am one person that he is going to have to prove himself to. I don't want to have to put a bumper sticker on my car that says, 'Don't blame me, I voted for Ford', in a few years. by Collette Pollard more jobs, a fight against crime, a reorganization of the federal bureaucracy and a promise to par- don all Vietnam draft resisters. I pray I can live up to your confidence and never disappoint you, Carter said in his victory speech. In East Lansing, Ford won the presidential race by a wide margin. What can explain a usually liberal community like East Lansing going to the Republican President? For the first time in Michi- gan history, the incumbent in the White House Aaron Sussell Sen. Walter Mondale, jimmy Carter's choice for vice-president, addressed an overflow crowd at the Union Building in September. 23