Newspaper Page Text
—Op. Ed. Page
|Millard Grimes
| Ted Comes Down From Olympus |
Well, here comes
Teddy, upsetting the
smart predictions, in
cluding his own, about
when he would run for
president.
He has been looming on
all of our political
horizons ever since 1968,
an inevitable choice to be
faced, but one which
supporters and detrac
tors alike seemed willing
to delay as long as
possible.
When Ted Kennedy
actually steps down from
that unique Olumpus in
which he had been en
sconced and ventures
outside of Massachusetts
and those ethereal polls
where he finds such favor
he probably will sacrifice
both influence and
popular esteem.
In some respects he
already enjoys a position
loftier than the
presidency, but without
the responsibilities, the
scrutiny and the danger.
Only 47, Kennedy had
time to wait. If elected in
1980 he would be the third
youngest President, as
only his brother, John,
and his namesake, Teddy
Roosevelt, held the office
at an earlier age.
BUT FOR THE
American people it may
be better to face the
rendezvous with Kennedy
in 1980 than in a later
year. The odds against
his election should be
higher now and Ted
Kennedy will be no more
palatable as a
prospective president of
the United States in 1984
than he is in 1980.
Admittedly, the first
southerner to become
President in more than a
century has not been an
unqualified success in the
job. Any neighborhood
alderman probably
thinks he could knock off
Carter in 1980 which
perhaps explains part of
the reason why the heir to
Camelot decided to
exercise his claim.
But Carter was also
regarded as an easy
mark in 1976, especially
by his opponents for the
Democratic nomination
who were issue-images of
f ■ >
l/h Sncoiuaging BAio g 4
Rev. Don Ariail Vk
First Baptist Church ms?
V. /
The son of an im
migrant family, who
became wealthy as the
owner of a feed and seed
outlet, decided to build
the grandest home in one
of the most exclusive
residential sections of
Nashville, Tennessee, in
the early 1900’s. The
finest cut stone, banded
with polished stone, was
used in the construction.
HOUSTON
HOME JOURNAL
(USPS 252-7®)
The Houston Homo
journal Is published
semi weekly by The
Houston Home Journal,
Inc. Entered at the Post
Office at Perry, Georgia,
as second class mall
matter, under the Act of
March 3, 1879, Second
class postage Is paid at
Perry, Ga.
Postmaster send ad
dress changes to P.O.
Drawer M, Perry, Ga,
31069.
The Houston Home
Journal Is the official
legal organ of Houston
County and Perry,
Georgia.
Subscription rates:
Houston and adjoining
counties *12.00 a year; 2
years *22.00; 3 years
*30.00. Everywhere else
*15.00 a year.
Ted Kennedy.
The voters turned them
aside, mainly because
they perceived Carter to
be the more moderate of
the Democratic hopefuls.
In 1972 the Democrats
had taken the ideological
route with Sen. George
McGovern and suffered
the party’s worst
presidential defeat since
1920.
In that same year the
party’s other candidates
were winning significant
victories for House,
Senate and guvernatorial
offices.
Nor was the
Republican president,
Richard Nixon, enor
mously popular. The
evidence indicates that
many voters chose Nixon
only because they feared
McGovern and the liberal
policies he advocated.
McGOVERN
CRUSHING defeat
tended to obscure some
instructive developments
during that campaign.
The Watergate burglary
and Nixon’s efforts to
cover up his campaign
workers’ part in the
burglary occurred in
Time. 1972, some five
months before the
general election, and
McGovern -- to his credit -
- tried mightily to make
Watergate an issue in the
1972 campaign.
It was fairly obvious
that Nixon had some
knowledge of Watergate
and its related travesties,
John Mitchell resigned as
his campaign manager
just one week after the
incident, a clue of
remarkable clarity that
Mitchell was considered
culpable.
McGovern sought to
forge an effective issue
out of the very facts
which would cause Nixon
to resign 20 months later
but the voters ignored
him.
It might be noted that
McGovern had as his
running mate, Sargent
Shriver, brother-in-law of
Sen. Ted Kennedy and the
late President John
Kennedy, but Shriver’s
connection with Camelot
proved no help.
The tainted Spiro
Riches To Rags
The mansion was
elegant, elaborate, and
impressively large. It
was patterned after some
of the larger Southern
plantation houses with
their winding stairways,
crown molding and dentil
trim gracing the dining
room, and with superb
furnishings throughout.
When the costly
mansion was finished, the
proud father wanted to
introduce his family
properly to society, and
society to his family.
Engraved invitations
were mailed, a caterer
hired, orchestra tuned,
and the host and his
family were dressed in
elaborate formal attire.
Few, if any, guests
came. This family was
simply not accepted into
the social establishment
of this snobbish neigh
borhood. The host was so
humiliated and hurt that
he moved from the house
the next day to some
living quarters in his
store and never came
back to the house.
Plotting revenge, he gave
strict instructions to his
wife and children that
they were never to repair
one item on the house
from that day forward.
He had built the finest
house in the area, but
they would not accept
j
Agnew, who had already
been under investigation
for the sins which would
bring about his
resignation, was of far
more help to Nixon’s
campaign and vote totals
than Shriver was to
McGovern’s.
FOUR YEARS
LATER, when the
Democrats had a chance
to choose among Shriver,
Sen. Birch Bayh and
other clearly-defined
Democratic liberals, they
preferred the little-known
Georgia ex-governor, and
his strongest competition
came not from the
Kennedy surrogates but
from Sen. Henry Jackson
and in the late stages
Gov. Jerry Brown of
California.
In short, the voters
have been wary of doc
trinaire liberals in
national elections and
based on his voting
record, his stated
positions and the entire
thrust of his public stance
Ted Kennedy would be
the most doctrinaire
liberal nominated by a
major party in this
century, surpassing even
McGovern in that
respect.
More distressing the
people around Kennedy
who will be putting the
words in his mouth, the
position papers in his
hands and selecting the
bureaucrats of a Kennedy
Administration are even
more dedicated and
unswerving than Ken
nedy himself to statist
solutions for individual
problems and to a
weakened America in a
dangerous world.
Kennedy comes from a
him; so he would turn the
finest house into the
worst eyesore in the
region.
As instructed, the heirs
never repaired one item
for more than half a
century. As the roof
began to leak, it was left
that way. Water pipes
froze and burst, and the
water was cut off, never
to be reconnected. The
elegant curtains rotted in
place and fell to the floor.
Some of the family
became recluses, never
leaving the house. The
last heir wore rags
pinned together for
clothes but rejected an
offer of $150,000 for the
house. When she died, the
once magnificent home
was auctioned to the
highest bidder.
In St. Luke 14, Jesus
told about another man
who also sent many in
vitations to a great
supper. He received in
return many lame ex
cuses and felt rejected.
But instead of closing his
house in revenge, he
enlarged his guest list to
include the poor, the
crippled, and the blind.
As there was still room,
he sent servants into the
outlying areas with
compelling invitation
until his house was filled.
HOUSTON HOME JOURNAL, WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 7, 1979
part of the political
spectrum that is not
popular with the majority
of voters.
BUT, OF COURSE, he
is a Kennedy. Shriver
was just an in-law. He
does have that dramatic
catch in his voice as he
delivers rather tired and
empty phrases. And for
some strange reason the
polls indicate that he is
regarded as a "strong
leader.”
How does that
description hold up under
scrutiny? Not very well.
Kennedy, the youngest
of nine children, got
through law school with
the help of a pilfered
exam, by his own ad
mission. He worked in his
brother’s presidential
campaign in 1960 and was
elected to the Senate: at
Santa’s Making Lots Os Folks I
Happy This Christmas! /
I They Took Time To Open A Christmas Club Account Last Year I
\ And Will Receive Their Checks Beginning Fri., Nov. 9 I
\ Open Your Christmas Club Account I
I Now & Make Next Christmas I
Your Nicest! I
I You’ll Receive A Set Os 4 Hostess Holiday Candles I
I With The Opening Os A Christmas Club For *lO. I
\ Or More (while supply lasts). I
\ Start Your Christmas Club For Next Year On Nov. 9 I
Save For 49 Weeks ■■ We Pay The 50th Coupon! /
sl, $3, $5, $lO, & S2O Amount /
f|THE BANK OF PERRY
Eastgate Office
g— Main Office Downtown f
■ IDIC Plaza Office \BANKy
the tender age of 30, in
1962. From a wealthy
background which
sheltered himt. from the
decisions most people
must make in their
younger years Kennedy
has never been in a
position of responsibility
or leadership or final
decision-making, except
in the supervision of his
office staff.
His 17 Senate years
should have given him a
larger role, but in the
decisive test of his
esteem among other
senators he was defeated
by West Virginia Sen.
Robert Byrd for the
assistant majority
leader’s post. Byrd later
became the majority
leader while Kennedy’s
most important position
is chairmanship of the
Judiciary Committee,
earned through seniority,
not by election.
The legislation to which
he has devoted his longest
and most visible effort is
National Health In
surance and yet the
version of that legislation
with any chance of ap
proval is the one put
forward by President
Carter, who is widely
considered as being
without leadership
qualities.
AND THEN, OF
COURSE, there is
Chappaquiddick, which is
a very legitimate and
crucial issue. To argue
that Chappaquiddick
should not be an issue is
akin to saying that
Watergate should not be
an issue if Richard Nixon
attempted a comeback.
It matters not that the
incident occurred 10
years ago. Kennedy
refused to give a
plausible account of his
actions at Chap
paquiddick as recently as
the last time he was
asked. In other words, the
“coverup” is still on, and
there are 10 people who
were with hi Hi that
fateful night who all have
some idea of what really
happened. Like the
original Watergate
burglars they are time
bombs that could go off if
they are not sufficiently
persuaded that their
continued silence i« in the
best interests of the
nation or themselves.
Kennedy supporters
were surprised at the
prevalence of Chap
paquiddick questions
during the recent Florida
caucuses.
IN 1980, A liberal
senator with little
leadership background
and a questionable
personal history would
seem to be a most
candidate for
president of the United
States, no matter what
his name.
But such a candidate is
PAGE 5-A
now committed to t
race, and apparently
is a candidate the nati
one day had to face. T
first line of defense is t
beleagured incumbt
president, whose m(
remarkable pa
achievement was wi
ning the 1976 Democra
nomination.
Carter dotes
challenges and
believes that the me
reason he has had d
ficulty in establishing 1
right to the Presiden
office is because he d
not have to defeat T
Kennedy.
Now he’ll have th
opportunity. Whoev
takes the oath in 1981 w
the undisputed nation
champion, without t!
shadow of Ted Kenne<
looming from Olymp
and casting doubt ov
his credentials.
That may be as good
reason as any why tl
nation is fortunate th
Kennedy has decided
make his move nc
rather than later.