The House: Two Veterans Find Trouble Back Home

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The Congressman's opponent in the election, Republican Bobbi Fiedler, 43, mother of two children, has made a political career out of the issue. She used it to win a seat on the city's school board in 1977. She decided to run against Corman last year, when he refused to push for an antibusing amendment to the U.S. Constitution. He also declined to back California's Proposition 1, which limits the power of state courts to order busing and was approved by 81% of the voters in his district. Insists Fiedler: "Corman is completely out of touch with the people in the district. He has voted for 31 pro-busing measures in Congress." Replies the softspoken, white-haired Corman: "I've never had anything to do with ordering school busing. That's done by the courts. But I believe that we have to comply with the law."

In addition to busing, Fiedler flays Corman as a big-spending supporter of wasteful social-welfare programs. Unlike many incumbent liberals elsewhere in the country, Corman does not flinch at the attacks. Says he: "I am no more liberal than I have been in the past 20 years, and no less." Indeed, his staunch support of organized labor has won the backing of Local 645 of the United Auto Workers, 2,600 of whose members have been laid off at the local General Motors plant. They soon will begin receiving $270 a week in Government benefits, largely because of Corman's efforts to get the money appropriated by Congress. But labor's support may not be much help in November. Says Sal Menchaca, the local's secretary-treasurer: "The problem with Corman is that people know the name, but not the person."

To remedy that deficiency, Corman plans to spend most of the seven weeks before the election hopscotching around his district. But he is an uninspired, uncomfortable campaigner. In contrast, Fiedler relishes politicking and avidly works shopping centers, factory gates—anywhere that large numbers of voters congregate. She plans to spend $400,000 on her race, which Corman will try to match. Though Fiedler trails Corman in the latest polls, she stands a good chance of gaining so long as busing remains the chief issue. Corman's backers are doing their best to change that. Says Menchaca: "We are telling our members that though busing is a big problem, there are more important issues."