Senators: Toward a Furious Finish

In Senate races in Missouri and Virginia, every candidate seems to have an Achilles' heel--or two. But as the campaigns enter their final days, the candidates are still trying to step up the pace. The polls are showing their races too tight to call. Meanwhile, in important House battles in Illinois and California, Republican candidates are receiving White House aid, and Democratic opponents are trying hard to capitalize on voter concerns about the economy.

Close encounter

Just as Missouri lies at the statistical center of the U.S. population, first-term Senator John Danforth, 46, is at the political center of the Republican Party. And until very recently that seemed a decidedly safe place to be. But Danforth, who confidently hoped to coast to reelection, is being challenged by Harriett Woods, 55, a peppy, articulate liberal and the only woman running for the Senate this year under the Democratic banner. Several weeks ago, a poll by the St. Louis Globe-Democrat showed Danforth with a 17-point lead. Late last week the newspaper's latest poll had Woods pulling even.

The candidates' styles could not be more dissimilar. Danforth, an uncommonly shy campaigner who appears on the stump infrequently, is an ordained Episcopal priest and an heir to the Ralston Purina dog-food and cereal fortune. He is emphasizing his efforts to help two beleaguered groups--the state's auto workers (with increased tariff protections against imports) and its farmers (with rural enterprise zones). But, as the first Republican elected to the Senate from Missouri since 1946, Danforth is de-emphasizing his ties to the Reagan economic program. One of his political ads urges voters to forget the Republican Party and vote for the man.

Woods, a well-known radio and TV journalist before becoming a state senator from the St. Louis suburb of University City, last year upset the favored primary candidate of old-line Democrats. Playing up her criticism of Reaganomics, she has sought to picture Danforth, a member of the Senate Finance Committee, as an accomplice to the 10.1% unemployment rate. Woods vigorously supports increased aid to the elderly, legalized abortion and the ERA. Although her candidacy has been a magnet for women's groups from all over the country, she has raised only some $750,000 so far, not enough for the heavy TV exposure she may need to unseat an incumbent. To compensate, Woods marches in just about every parade she can find, arriving at the scene at the wheel of her own modest Chevette. She also calls on Son Pete, a former starting quarterback at the University of Missouri, for handshaking appearances.

By way of counterattack, Danforth is outspending Woods by roughly 2 to 1, with half of his $1.6 million budget earmarked for television. Alluding to the many women's groups flocking to his opponent, the normally understated candidate declares, "Any minute I expect Jane Fonda to storm the battlements of Missouri." She may not be needed. Several weeks ago, Danforth led Woods by a full ten points among women in the Globe-Democrat poll; according to last week's poll, Woods' support among women now tops Danforth's by 13 points. In the "Show Me" state, neither candidate is a shoo-in. .

Byrd-dogging

When Virginia's Independent Senator Harry F. Byrd Jr., 67, decided last June not to seek reelection, he ended a 50-year family monopoly on the post. He also set the stage for a photo-finish race between three-term Republican Congressman Paul Trible and Democratic Lieutenant Governor Richard Davis for his seat. For the past two months, Virginia's undecided vote has remained at 20% in a contest the pollsters now rate virtually a tossup.

The preppie-looking Trible, 35, is a conservative comer with deep roots in the state. He put in two years' worth of dogged spadework to guarantee himself the Republican senatorial nomination. His perseverance paid off; when Byrd bowed out, Trible swept in as the party's top choice.

The boyish Congressman has lashed himself tightly to Reagan's mast, voting for every piece of the President's program. Says he: "The Administration's policies have brought inflation under control, and the prime rate reflects that fact."

Davis, 61, a mortgage banker and former mayor of Portsmouth, is Trible's substantive and stylistic opposite. He says Reagan's policies are responsible for "a depression, not recession." He decries the Administration's refusal to cut the defense budget, and would hold domestic cuts at current levels. A former Democratic state party chairman, Davis was an eleventh-hour draft choice for his party's nomination when the front runner's campaign ran out of steam.

Both candidates have Achilles' heels--Davis in his liberal stand on the death penalty, Trible in his close kinship with Reagan--and they are noticeably tight-lipped about those touchy topics. Mindful of the President's slim hold on a Senate majority, the national Republican Party has assessed this Senate race as one of its most needed wins. Trible has had a veritable Who's Who of Administration heavies, including Reagan, troop through Virginia on his behalf in recent months. But in one of only three Senate races nationwide that does not feature an incumbent, the No. 1 issue could not be more clear-cut. As Trible and Davis wind up the campaign, the Republican tries to avoid talk of the economy and the Democrat talks of little else.

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