The Promised Land

Last week Michigan buzzed with candidates for public office. Republican Senator Homer Ferguson graced a Bay City fish fry. His Democratic opponent, Patrick McNamara, until recently a local leader of the pipe fitters' union, gazed with admiring eye on a St. Clair County plowing contest. Democratic Governor G. Mennen Williams was out exercising the charm that had won him the title (bestowed by a Republican) of "the Liberace of Michigan politics." His Republican rival, Lawyer Donald Leonard, politicked from Owosso to Kalamazoo.

Republicans in Michigan, as elsewhere, are banking heavily on President Eisenhower's personal popularity. They must fight off criticism of G.O.P. farm policy, and to do so, Homer Ferguson has taken a straight, shrewd Michigan line. Says he: "The rigid price-support program placed most of its emphasis on farm crops which account for less than 10% of the farm income for Michigan farmers."

Democrats are depending on unrest caused by layoffs in the Michigan auto industry. Says Patrick McNamara: "The No. 1 issue in the race is the upset of our economy under the Republicans . . . The simple truth is the Republicans promised the voters too much and a reaction has set in. It's a case of broken promises." And what does Candidate McNamara promise? Merely to work for 100% of parity and a federal minimum-wage law requiring $1.25 an hour.

There was some doubt about how much all the fuss was worth in terms of political value. A recent survey, conducted under Republican auspices, showed Homer Ferguson ahead of McNamara by 65% to 35%, with Governor Williams leading Republican Leonard by 60% to 40%. If the poll was close to accurate--and many observers thought it was--no amount of campaigning could make up the difference.

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