Michigan: The Crazy Quilt

(2 of 3)

With that, Romney set out to woo independent votes by kicking himself free from the state's regular, right-wing Republicans—commonly known to Michiganders as "the Neanderthals." And he promptly ran into his own problems. To get the conservative-dominated convention to agree on a new constitution—which will be presented to the voters next year—Romney had to modify some of his more progressive proposals, was accused of "selling out." Since then, Romney has divorced himself so completely from the party that the word "Republican" is conspicuously absent from his campaign literature and billboards. He even turned down a chance to have Dwight Eisenhower campaign for him.

Romney still insists that he alone can pull together all the hostile factions in Michigan and work effectively with the legislature. "The key issue is leadership." he says. "We must stop pulling Michigan apart and start pulling it together again."

Romney accuses Swainson of being a slave of the United Auto Workers. As the man who popularized the compact car while president of American Motors Corp., Romney claims he knows how to expand the state's industry. "We need a million more jobs by 1970, 130,000 each year, and I know what it takes to create them."

Something Borrowed. As a campaigner, Romney is tireless. Invited recently to a union meeting, he vigorously matched shouts and charges with labor leaders. He swoops down small-town streets at a half-trot with newsmen panting in his wake, sniffs out voters like a pointer. In one city, a worker asked him: "What makes you think you can get along with the Neanderthals?" Romney grabbed his questioner by the arm: "If men are treated like Neanderthals, they'll respond like Neanderthals. I'll get along with them." He is not above borrowing a phrase from Democrat John Kennedy. Says he: "We've got to get this state moving again."

While Romney is running as Romney, Swainson is running as an all-out Democrat: "I'm proud of my party. I'm proud of its ticket, and I'm not ashamed to wear its label." As for his accomplishments, Swainson points to the state's excellent highway system, increased aid for schools and the mentally retarded, and a current unemployment rate of 4.9%—the lowest in Michigan in seven years.

In contrast to his ebullient, even evangelical opponent, Swainson sometimes seems colorless. A wounded World War II veteran—he lost both legs below the knee to a land mine in France—Swainson gets around remarkably well on artificial limbs. He has a quiet warmth that often fails to show on the public platform or on the TV screen.