Dan Rather, before discussing the blaze at Universal Studios on election night:
Several political candidates are going up in smoke tonight and so is the Universal lot in Hollywood."
David Brinkley on election night noted that a senatorial candidate had been called one of the “biggest boozers in the Senate.” Brinkley agreed, but mentioned no names. Was he referring to a remark last month by former senator John Tower, who called Nebraska Sen. J. James Exon “one of the two or three biggest boozers in the Senate”?
Pennsylvania Rep. Doug Walgren, aware that the go-go ’80s are dead, sent out a family picture as a campaign mailing–but not before his staff airbrushed out the Izod alligators on all their shirts. Walgren lost.
The First Family really wanted to make sure Florida Gov. Bob Martinez, a Republican, stayed in office. George Bush made four campaign appearances there. Barbara Bush made one. Jeb Bush, one of the president’s sons, was campaign chairman. Martinez lost.
In the race for Downey Municipal Court judge in L.A. County, candidate Leo Villa faced a formidable hurdle: his angry illegitimate son Richard, 34, launched an anti-Leo campaign just weeks before the election. Richard, two says his pop, despite support payments, had barely acknowledged him, printed up posters that read: Leo R. Villa’s son says vote no on Villa. Leo lost.
Minnesota Sen. Rudy Boschwitz mailed campaign literature scolding rival Jewish candidate Paul Wellstone not for his position on taxes or Wellstone’s inexperience, but for not raising his children as Jews. Wellstone won.
South Dakota state Sen. Judy Olson thought she had a real coup when she started using a high-tech auto-dialing system to contact voters. Too bad the system did not, as planned, shut down at 8:30 p.m. It continued to call people’s homes all night–until one voter phoned Olson at 3 a.m. for an explanation. Olson won anyway.
In Chicago, where political corruption is often a spectator sport, some voters sported this message: “Two ballots please . . . I’m from Chicago.”
