Election '82: I thought I'd Seen Everything

• Share

(2 of 3)

But Stevenson, who won a Senate seat in 1970 and gave it up in 1980, seemed absentmindedly to sabotage his own campaign. Diffuse and rambling, hiding behind mounds of complex position papers, he was stricken with an inability to explain his own programs. Deemed "professorial," he was giving livelier academics a bad name. Perhaps nervous about Thompson's slogan, "A Tough Man for Tough Times," the shy Stevenson incriminated himself most when he made the extraordinary and unprovoked statement "I am not a wimp."

Thompson offered a study in contrasts. Master of the politico's one-two combination, a back pat followed by a shoulder squeeze, the gregarious Republican kept himself in the spotlight. His television spots were slick; his campaign coffers were brimming (he outspent Stevenson $4.3 million to $2.1 million); and he had the unqualified endorsement of every big newspaper in the state.

But Stevenson revved himself up along with Chicago's Democratic machine. After months of ignoring Stevenson (who, like his father, had alls ways preferred to ignore the Windy City's rough-hewn pols), the rusty Chicago machine was greased and began cranking away. The machine pledged $300,000 to his skimpy war chest and persuaded Democratic precinct captains to pull out all the stops for the patrician challenger. It zealously helped register tens of thousands of new voters. Led by an aggressive and ambitious alderman named Edward Vrdolyak, the machine strenuously promoted an extensive anti-Reaganomics campaign dubbed "Punch 10," the slogan for voting the straight Democratic ticket. Noted Andrew Kulley, a senior statistician for the Gallup organization: "It's very clear the machine in Chicago cracked the whip."

As Thompson tried to edge away from President Reagan, Stevenson denigrated him as the President's No. 1 cheerleader. He adroitly portrayed the Governor as a man more interested in national office than in Illinois' problems. Thompson, he cracked, was the only man he knew who was actively campaigning for Vice President. In Chicago, Stevenson ran ahead of Thompson 73% to 27%. Blacks apparently voted 15 to 1 for Stevenson. For the first time, Thompson lost his own precinct in the 43rd ward on the North Side of Chicago. In other Democratic strongholds, including high-unemployment areas like Rockford, Peoria and Springfield, voters turned out in large numbers and voted overwhelmingly for Stevenson. Turnout in Republican counties, meanwhile, was lighter than expected.