True Believer

Electing a Son of Stockman

Democratic Candidate Johnie A. Rodebush stressed religious faith and told voters he feels a lump in his throat every time he hears the national anthem. It was not enough. Nonetheless, Rodebush looked like a liberal in Michigan's mostly rural Fourth Congressional District, which had three times elected David Stockman, now the President's program-slashing budget director. In fact, Stockman's own choice, John L. Globensky, his former campaign manager and a similarly obdurate conservative, was rejected by voters in the March 24 primary. The man who beat him, and who last week swamped Rodebush by 3 to 1 in a special election to fill Stockman's seat: Mark Siljander, 29, a Fundamentalist Christian perhaps even more conservative than Stockman.

"I'm part of the silent majority that was heard Nov. 4 [when President Reagan was elected]," says Siljander. "My support comes from morally concerned citizens who are sick of the situation in this country." Siljander pledges to battle the Equal Rights Amendment, pornography, abortion, school busing and "big spending." He will champion the neutron bomb, the MX missile and prayer in public schools.

A former prefabricated-house salesman and state legislator, Siljander made his mark by mixing politics and religion. He drew money and manpower from right-to-lifers and support from the Moral Majority—though emphasizing he was not that group's candidate—and spoke on school prayer and "the Christian's role in American government." Rodebush complained that his rivals, including two conservative candidates, had their campaign literature handed out in church bulletins.

Stockman and Reagan eventually endorsed Siljander, who claimed his election was a mandate for their policies and "part of a growing [conservative] trend that's going to continue." In Siljander's case the trend is not exactly new. His 74% of the vote was just about the same as Stockman received last fall, though somewhat better than most Republicans get in a district that has elected only one Democrat in this century, in 1932.