New Politics and Old

Successful political Candidates usually ascribe their victories to the wisdom of the voters. But not the Rev. Robert Drinan, the Jesuit who last week upset Congressman Philip Philbin, a 14-term House veteran, in the Massachusetts Democratic primary. "It was a miracle," said Drinan, who is on leave from his deanship at Boston College Law School. It was, however, something a lot more mundane that made Drinan almost a sure bet to become the first Catholic cleric in 145 years to go to Congress.

An outspoken dove, Drinan blended new technology and causes with the old techniques of ward politics. Fifty young campaign workers oversaw a house-by-house survey that reached 75% of the Democratic voters in his district that includes liberal Boston suburbs and rural upstate towns. The canvassers fed the householders' views on the issues into computers, then followed up with mailings. When an election-day rainstorm held the vote down, Drinan's staff assembled 250 student volunteers in an hour's time and put them to work driving the computer-identified faithful to the polls.

Vain Reminder. Drinan's well-honed campaign was made possible by the peace movement's decision not to hobble its effectiveness by splitting its votes among several dove candidates, as had happened in 1968. A "citizens' caucus" nominated Drinan, then threw money and volunteers behind him. Drinan, 49, conducted an expensive television campaign and was photographed with such prominent personalities as New York Mayor John Lindsay and former Attorney General Ramsey Clark.

Philbin, 72, barely bestirred himself. He relied on the state's tradition of renominating House incumbents. He also reminded voters that, as No. 2 man on the Armed Services Committee, he attracts defense spending to the district. That approach had been effective in the past, but not against Drinan's young machine. The count was Drinan, 28,612, Philbin, 22,132.

In Boston proper, it was the hard-lining, non-campaigning candidate who won nomination for Congress. City Councilwoman Louise Day Hicks captured the Democratic designation for the seat held by House Speaker John McCormack, who is retiring. Mrs. Hicks made her name three years ago with her vociferous opposition to school busing for integration. Pre-campaign poll showed that all but 1% of the voters knew who she was. So she ran a subliminal campaign that avoided public forums and policy statements and concentrated on kaffeeklatsches.

"The hardhats," she says, "they're my kind of people." One TV station offered her seven opportunities to debate her lesser-known opponents, Black Lawyer David Nelson and State Senator John Moakley; she refused, counting on the public's memory of where she stood. She won with 39% of the vote, and may run for mayor of Boston next year.