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Pag* 6 NORTHWEST HERALD Section B Wednesday, August7, IMS Opinion Political war chests (s&n&yfera Seach Sunday f! Whatever happened to election campaign spending reform? The recent reports detailing the obscene amounts of money candi­ dates have in their 'war chests' is pretty disheartening to those of us who realize that campaign contri­ butions can often be thought of as bribes. A few years ago, plans were instituted io help all candidates have a fair chance with their cam­ paign spending. It was a logical idea. After all, unless candidates were wealthy, the only way they could raise fund­ ing for campaigns was through po­ litical contributions. However, these initial "reforms" have lead to unbelievably huge amounts of money raised. . The 1978 Illinois gubernatorial campaign saw about $4 million spent by the candidates. In 1982, more than $8 million dollars went into the ̂ campaigns. In 1986, who knows for sure what massive fig­ ures will be expended? There is too much money being raised and spent by political candi­ dates. The time has come to put a cap on such expenditures. A spend­ ing limit which won't hurt the well- known office seeker nor hurt the underdog. It can be done. Presidential candidates indeed can go home WASHINGTON (UPI) - Con­ gressional Quarterly recently pro­ duced an interesting study of whether there is political life after failure for presidential candidates. The short answer is usually. CQ, the weekly compendium of national legislative and political affairs, put together a chart of 30 elections involving 25 governors, senators and House members who ran unsuccessfully for president. The chart, covering the six pres­ idential elections from 1960 through 1980, showed that four candidates lost their next elections after seeking the presidency, one lost the second time out and 13 won but with lower percentages of the vote than in their last elections before the presidential bid. Two candidates had no change and 10 actually had higher per­ centages in the next election after their failed bid for the White House. (The study missed Sen. Barry Goldwater, R-Ariz., who re­ turned to the Senate in 1968 after losing the presidency in 1964.) The study is of interest to politi­ cians because it looked to some in 1980 as if running for president and losing was a sure way to end a career in public office. ;mocratic Sens. Birch Bayh, Frank Church, Idaho, failed presidential bids in George McGovern, who lost in the 1972 presidential race but won re-election to the Senate in 1974 with a reduced margin, all lost their seats in 1980. To make it look even more like a trend, California Gov. Edmund G: Brown, a presidential hopeful in 1976 and 1980, won re-election with a higher precentage in 1978 but lost a bid for the Senate in 1982. The fourth loser was Sen. Vance Hartke, D-Ind., who was unseated in 1976 after a losing 1972 presiden­ tial effort. National editorial sampler St. Louis Post-Dispatch Philippines President Ferdinand Marcos has returned to his prac­ tice of bidding up the price of U.S. bases in terms of U.S. support of his regime.... The question for the U.S. is whether it could not do without the bases. ... The growth of the insurgency measures the growth of disillusion with the Marcos goverment, its authoritarianism, crony system, corruption, disdain for social re­ form, inability to resolve serious economic problems, and above all, its steadfast unwillingness to change. ... the U.S. should try to distance itself as far as possible from Presi­ dent Marcos and to pay more than lip service to the need for democ­ racy and reform in the Philip­ pines. NORTHWEST HERALD I "The closest to perfec- 1 tion a person ever comes is Iwhen he fills out a job ! application." • Stanley J. Randall ROBERTA. SHAW Editor and Publisher LEONARD M. INGRASSIA Executive Editor < STEVEN H. HUNTER Marketing Director MICHAEL E. MORSCH News Editor/Regional DENNISM. McNAMAR/ Editorial Page Editor RONALD L. STANLEY Circulation Director Arnold Sawislak But the rest of the figures in the chart make losing a presidential bid look far less politically danger­ ous. For example, of the 13 candi- * dates who won their next contests with reduced margins, only one or two were really jeopardized. Sen. Edward Kennedy, D-Mass., "fell" all the way from 69 percent to 61 percent, still a genuine land­ slide, after losing his 1976 presi­ dential run, and Rep. Phil Crane, R-IU., plummeted from 80 percent to 74 percent after his ill-fated 1980 White House bid. About the only presidential los­ ers who were cut enough in their next outings to be concerned were Rep. Paul McCloskey, R-Calif., down from 78 percent to 55 percent after 1972, and Gov. Ronald Rea­ gan, R-Calif., down from 58 per­ cent to 53 percent after his brief 1968 presidential effort. He made a comeback later. Some candidates had spectacu­ lar results after failed presidential candidacies. Sen. Robert Dole, R- Kans., went up from 51 percent to 64 percent after his 1976 effort, Sen^ Hubert Humphrey, D-Minn., jumped from 58 percent to 68 per­ cent after losing his 1972 nomina­ tion bid and Gov. George Wallace, D-Ala., increased his margin from 75 percent to 83 percent after los­ ing his presidential effort in 1972. The issue also is of some interest because at least three senators will be seeking re-election after losing in the 1984 presidential cam­ paign. Dole and Democratic Sens. Alan Cranston, Calif., and John Glenn, Ohio, already are running again and may be joined by Sen. Gary Hart, D-Colo., in 1986. (Arnold Sawislak a senior editor for United Press International) % "I'd say the environment we're testing these cans in is a bit more WITLESS than WEIGHTLESS..." Musings on the 'Pep ski' crusade Mr. Lowell Ponte, who is roving science editor for Readers Digest, has organized a group that calls itself People Against Pepski, a val­ iant effort to vernacularize the or­ ganization's purpose. It is to mobi­ lize a national boycott of Pepsi- Cola ,on the grounds that the company is striving diligently to increase production in the Soviet Union from the current level of $200 million per year to double that figure in 1990. Mr. Ponte could of course ad­ duce any number of reasons why we should have moral qualms about trading with the Soviet Union, but he elects in his fliers to point to just one, more or less by way of synecdoche. Recently the Soviet Union has taken to dropping from airplanes, in resistance areas in Afghanistan, toy dolls. Little children pick these up, and guess what happens? Right. They ex­ plode, leaving the children without hands. Mr. Ponte takes the position that in trading with the Soviet Union we are, however indirectly, involved in blowing up the hands of Afghan children. Those who tell you that the joinerwork in that logic is just a little, too attenuated to stand up will have a problem telling us how it is that we are responsible for apartheid in South Africa to the extent that we trade there. He points to the wonderful example of Geraldine Ferraro. You will re­ member her as the lady who went from promoting the Democratic national "platform to promoting Pepsi-Cola, unquestionably a high­ er pursuit. She was accosted last May about Pepsi-Cola, the com­ plaint of the questioner being that Pepsi had a plant in South Africa. "I'm glad you asked me that ques­ tion," Ms. Ferraro said instantly, Williaip F. Buckley because I have news for you, which is that Pepsi is going to sell its plant in South Africa. If it weren't for this, you can bet your bottom dollar that I would have nothing to do with Pepsi-Cola. ... So that we had here the same person requiring divestment in South Africa and tacitly encourag­ ing vigorous expansion of activity in the Soviet Union. But of course the hypocrisy is obvious, and we owe it to those who engage in it to try to under­ stand their position. To make out the best case we can for them, I suppose the rationale would be somewhat as follows: Look (they'd say), the fact of it is that there isn't anything we can do about what the Soviet Union practices. Unless we wage a nucle­ ar war, which we aren't about to wage, what can we do about Af­ ghanistan? For that matter, what can we do about martial law in Poland? For that matter, what can we do about ther persecution of the Jews inside the Soviet Union? Now South Africa is just plain different, for one very simple rea­ son: South Africa is a country run by 5 million whites, and 5 million whites aren't much of a problem, if you add up all the pressure that can be exerted by a couple ot hun­ dred million Americans, a like number of Europeans, and a like number of Russians. The 15-year-old who takes on the 13-year-old bully is guided by both idealism and prudence. The 15- year-old who takes on another 15- year-old bully is taking on some­ thing he can't handle, and what exactly is the point of doing that? But just because you don't take on the brawny equal doesn't mean you should suspend your idealistic instincts by ignoring the puny 13- year-old bully. So beat him up. In fact, the arguments here are not trivial. You do not suspend your obligation to cope with minor problems by merely reciting your inability to cope with major prob­ lems. Still, Mr. Ponte's organiza­ tion has some appeal. Harry Tru­ man confessed that he "liked old Joe" Stalin, a remark that must have struck the 10 million resi­ dents of Gulag in the same way that the 6 million transient visitors to the liquidation camps would have been struck if Churchill had said, "I like old Adolf." Reader Forum Dark Ages? ToTheEditor: I would like to take issue with several statements made by Marilyn McNally, an Eagle Forum member, in a recent guest editorial. She states, "the state ... can replace or undermine many parental responsibilities by providing day care centers, early childhood educa­ tion for preschoolers, federally financed abortions.... and recogni­ tion of homosexual marriages." When a man leaves his wife, or abuses her until she is forced to leave, and she must work to support herself and her children, who is undermining parental responsibili­ ty? If a single mother is living in poverty, and must work to survive, she cannot afford to send her children to a private day care facili­ ty. Mrs. McNally also claims that, "Feminists seek to lower the salaries of workers in male-dominated fields by a theory called comparable worth .... destroying free enterprise and raising taxes by billions." Feminists want equal pay for equal work, and if that destroys the free-enterprise system, then it must be awfully fragile. There is nothing wrong with a woman who chooses to work in the home, certainly a valuable occupa­ tion. But, Mrs. McNally and other members of the Eagle Forum must realize that some women desire to work outside the home, and many women have to. The disintegration of the family is as much due to the failure on men's part to assume their child-rearing responsibilities, as it is to women who work outside of the home. v Jeremy Wallace Crystal Lake, IL 60014 Pet limits ToTheEditor: Dear Members of the Village Board, I could not believe the newest from the board meeting. The problem is not the quantity of pets kept in a household, but the quality of the pet owners. Many peo­ ple have the ability to keep twenty cats without a health problem developihg and, if it should become apparent that there is a problem, surely there are steps that can be taken to remedy the situation. Having lost all my furry family members this winter, I was forced to start looking for replacements. Tom and I saw many catteries with 30 and more cats and, surprise, no one would have known it unless you saw them (absolutely the cleanest condi­ tions - cats or no cats). Having lived in this community for 13 years, I have made several obser­ vations. Yes, we do have a "dogs run­ ning at large" problem. Yes, we have cats running loose and causing pro­ blems. No, the problem cannot be solved by simply limiting the number of pets per household. These types of problems have no simple solutions. To think along these lines is to ignore Write us! r Send letters to Reader Forum, The Herald/ 7803 Pyott Road, Crystal Lake IL 60014. Letters must be signed and give the author's ad­ dress and telephone number for the editor's reference. We recommend letters of 300 words or less. All let­ ters are subject to editing for clari­ ty and brevity. human feelings and an individuals personal freedom. Many older people have more than three cats and dogs and are very capable of caring for them beautiful­ ly. Their pets, in some cases, have treated them better and given them more love than even their own children. Who's to tell these people which little friends to give up? Who has the right to tell a family which has always been a responsible pet owner that 1, 2, or 3 family members must be abandoned? For the sake of your fellow citizens and just good common sense, do not punish all for the sake of a few - those few do not care. Here are a few suggestions that I feel might help: 1. Make it mandatory to have all cats and dogs vaccinated for rabies. You pass this ordinance and you are going to drive the good pet owners underground - you have enough trou­ ble getting animals vaccinate}! without this. Those who could not af­ ford the shots would just have to cut back - they cannot be considered good neighbors if they refuse to prd- tect the public from this disease. | 2. Raise the "dog running at large* fine to $50 - make it hurt. 3. Fine those who walk their dogfc (without means of picking it up)i Have the police check on theif rounds. « 4. Have pet owners keep their pets in at night to eliminate the barking dogs and crying cat problems. The good pet owners should havij no problems with my four points because they have been considering these points as part of being good neighbors and their obligation td their fellow citizens that do not share their love of pets. Mary VanSistine Lake in the HillS