An Assault on the Senate From Maine to Wyoming Presidential Hopefuls And National Unknowns Face the Nixon-Agnew Onslaught

( Following is the conclusion of a two-part feature summing up the races for the Senate this November. The first part, including states not mentioned here. ran on Thursday. )

MAINE: The only question here is the margin of victory for Sen. Edmund Muskie. He is opposed, for the sake of form rather than out of hopes for victory, by an old style hack politician named Neil S. Bishop who has run unsuccessfully for a number of state-wide offices since he entered polities in the 1940S. Muskie won with 67 per cent of the vote in 1964 and will have to equal or top this to remain the front runner for the Democratic Presidential nomination in 1972.

MASSACHUSETTS: Hard times have fallen on the name Kennedy in the family's home state. With Chappaquiddick, Bobby Jr. getting busted for drugs, and Agnew getting 50 per cent approval in the state, Sen. Edward M. Kennedy will be hard pressed to equal his landslide victory of 1964.

The make or break figure being quoted for Kennedy is 60 per cent. If he can win with this margin or better he will still have a shot at the Presidential sweepstakes in 1972. President Nixon is hoping that the Republican candidate, Si Spaulding, will run well enough (40 per cent or better) to eliminate the Massachusetts Democrat from the national limelight. But Spaulding has a problem: he cannot figure out whether to go to the left to pick up disenchanted liberals or to the right for supporters of arch right winger Col. John McCarthy who lost the primary to Spaulding. Starting out as a strong Administration critic, Spaulding has retreated from his position since the Agnew attacks on Senator Goodell. The switch has not yet attracted the McCarthy voters, however, and may have wiped out any chance of Spaulding picking up the liberal support he must have to make a decent showing.

In contrast to the sorry Spaulding campaign, the Kennedy machine is well oiled and humming. His highly professional staff has de-emphasized the youth image and abandoned the massive students canvassing technique. The front door window of Kennedy's Boston office has about 50 pictures, only two showing the Senator with young people. Over 35 have Kennedy talking with hard hats, the elderly and middle Americans. The slickest is a picture of Kennedy meeting a VEW group under the sign "We support our boys in Vietnam."

How well the Kennedy magic will work remains to be seen. But with magic made up of money, seasoned staff, slick advertising, and a weak opponent, Teddy may be back in the ball game by '72.

MICHIGAN: Lenore Romney found that her name is as much mud as magic in the August 4 primary for the Republican Senatorial nomination. The wife of the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development squeaked by her opponent, State Sen. Robert Huber, with a scant 51 per cent of the vote. She must now face soft spoken liberal Senator Philip Hart in the general election. Hart has a good solid reputation as a defender of the consumer and as an opponent of trusts. He was an early opponent of the war and his wife was arrested in a 1969 peace demonstration, an incident which is a liability for the Senator.

Mrs. Romney has said that she would have voted against the Carswell nomination and that she supports wage and price guidelines (which Nixon opposes). She is also a loud critic of what she calls "pornography" and is against what she terms "militant women's groups." She is attractive and hard working, but not exactly a political genius. Hart should beat her soundly.

MINNESOTA: Twenty five years ago, Hubert H. Humphrey was elected Mayor of Minneapolis. He was a bright new liberal light, leader of the Democratic-Farm-Labor Party, and a anti-segregation spokesman at the 1948 Democratic convention. Since then Humphrey has been in Washington and Chicago, and neither sojourn did his career any good.

Humphrey is now trying to take back the Senate seat he held for over ten years. His opponent is Republican Rep. Clark McGregor, who has used Humphrey's long career to denounce him as a representative of the "old polities." McGregor, who supports "President Nixon's efforts to get an early and honorable peace in Vietnam," has denounced Humphrey for his 1969 statement that the war is a "great adventure." He has called the former Vice President "a sick man."

Humphrey has hit back by labeling McGregor's style "cheap, slick polities." McGregor will be hurt by his pro-Nixon record in the House and Humphrey by his own record as Vice President and 1968 Presidntial candidate. Humphrey is a clear favorite, and only a late McGregor surge could send him back to the drug store in Waverly.

MISSOURI: Stuart Symington, the three-term Senator from the "Show Me State," has changed in six years. In the 1964 campaign he was a leading advocate of a strong military and a vigorous effort to win in Vietnam. Since then, however, he has become a leading critic of the war and of big defense budgets (opposing the ABM, for example).

This switch has made it difficult for the Republican candidate, Missouri Attorney General John Danforth, to get his hooks into Symington. Danforth is a liberal and is regarded as the best Republican vote getter in the state. About the strongest criticism he has of Symington, however, is that he failed to oppose the war early enough. Danforth is running an expensive (he is heir to the Ralston Purina cereal fortune) and active campaign, but without issues it has been a uphill fight. It will be a major upset if he unseats Symington.

MISSISSIPPI: Incumbent Senator John Stennis, Chairman of the Armed Services Committee, was unopposed in the primary and is unopposed in the general election. That's Mississippi polities.

MONTANA: Incumbent Senator Mike Mansfield, Majority Leader of the Senate, faces only token opposition from Missoula, Montana, sporting goods salesman Bud Wallace.

NEVADA: Democratic Senator Howard W. Cannon is a chief target of the Nixon-Agnew guns. Cannon has opened himself to the radicalliberal charge by voting against Haynsworth, Carswell, and the ABM as well as for the Cooper-Church Amendment. These votes took courage, for Nevada is a conservative state, and Cannon's opponent, Republican Rep. William Raggio, has made the most of them. Raggio is a strong law-and-order, victory-in-Vietnam man, and his election to the Senate would be a big boost to the Administration. Agnew has made several trips to the state to aid Raggio's campaign.

The race is rated a tossup, but Cannon has several plusses which could bring him victory. The two most important are his seniority (12 years in the Senate) and Nevada's traditional distrust of outsiders which may cause Agnew's efforts to backfire on the Republicans.

NEW JERSEY: Senator Harrison A. (Pete) Williams is a strong favorite over Republican Nelson G. Gross. Gross has invited Spiro Agnew to the state to aid his campaign, a move which is interpreted as a sign of desperation.

NEW YORK: Pity poor Charlie Goodell. He could have stayed in the House and had a nice, long, obscure career as a Representative. Instead he agreed to fill out the remainder of the term left by Robert F. Kennedy, and immediately got himself in hot water with the Administration, the Republican party, and the New York voters. Goodell had a middle of the road record as a Representative. As a Senator he thought it would be a good idea to be more liberal and veered to the left. He voted against the two Nixon nominations to the Supreme Court; he voted for the Church-Cooper and Hatfield-McGovern bills, and filed his own anti-war measure. Agnew has called him the Christine Jorgensen of the Republican party.

Goodell's problems are not only political. He also faces a severe shortage of money while his Democratic opponent, Rep. Richard Ottinger, is a wealthy businessman who spent over $2 million in winning the Democratic primary. Ottinger is as liberal as Goodell, but as a Democrat, and a wealthy one, he can afford to be.

Agnew's attack on Goodell is helping the third candidate, Conservative James L. Buckley, brother of Yale graduate William Buckley. Buckley is the clear favorite of the Administration. Agnew has all but endorsed him and many Republican leaders around the state are whispering his name lovingly. He is a strong supporter of Agnew, Our Boys in Vietnam, God, and the American Way.

The most recent New York poll shows the three candidates running neck and neck and neck. The New York Times has endorsed Goodell, but the Agnew attacks can be expected to grow sharper as the election nears. Right now it's a tossup, but with the liberals split all to hell, Buckley could be the next Senator.

NEW MEXICO: A classic liberal vs. conservative race pits Senator Joseph Montoya against Republican challenger Anderson Carter. Carter is crisscrossing the state, calling Montoya a radical liberal, and blaming him for the economic recession which has hit New Mexico particularly hard. Carter advocates tough measures against "campus revolutionaries." He supported Goldwater for President in 1964 and Reagan over Nixon in 1968.

Montoya is popular with the Mexican-American segment of the state's population and is a hard campaigner. Despite New Mexico's conservative tinge, it is a heavily Democartic state, and Montoya should have little trouble winning.

NORTH DAKOTA: Liberal Democratic Senator Quentin Burdick is in deep trouble in a state where Agnew is a magic word. Burdick's opponent is Rep. Tom Kleppe who says he is running "because President Nixon asked me to." The war, social legislation, and the economy are major issues, with Kleppe against all three. He has secured the aid of Harry Teleaven, the Madison Ave. executive who directed the advertising campaign of Richard Nixon in 1968. Kleppe is favored.

OHIO: Who is Howard Metzenbaum? Until this spring, many Ohioans had never heard of him. He served briefly and obscurely in the Ohio legislature many years ago but has not held an elective office since 1950. In the years ensuing, he has made a fortune running the Airport Parking Corporation of America.

But he has never been far from polities. In 1964, for example, he served as campaign manager to Democratic Senator Stephen Young, whose seat he now seeks.

The Republican, Robert A. Taft Jr., trying once more to take his father's seat, has been a lackluster Congressman with a dulling personality. He has followed the Nixon Administration's conservatism but Ohio voters have criticized him more for his high absenteeism in the House. Like Metzenbaum, he is wealthy. Unlike Metzenbaum, however, his name has always been a household word. With crowds, he tends to be standoffish, in sharp contrast to Metzenbaum's easy ways as a campaigner.

Overall, Metzenbaum may benefit from the scandals that have been coming periodically from the Republican controlled State House. He also stands to gain from the slipping economy, especially in northern Ohio where the auto strike has idled thousands. Metzenbaum may lose, however, if the 21st District Caucus, a predominantly black Democratic group formed by Congressman Louis Stokes and his brother Carl, Cleveland's mayor, who have been making electoral alliances with local Republicans, forces toward a split in Ohio's surprisingly united Democratic ranks.

PENNSYLVANIA: Senator Hugh Scott, the Senate Minority Leader, is not the most consistent of politicians. For example, Scott voted against the Supreme Court nomination of G. Harrold Carswell, and then turned around and "admitted" he had made "a damn fool mistake." Nevertheless, the Democratic challenger for Scott's seat, State Senator William G. Sesler, is running a poor race. He suffers from lack of recognition and lack of money. Scott seems a shoo-in.

RHODE ISLAND: Democratic Senator John O. Pastore is the favorite over Rev. John J. McLaughlin. Both are liberals who support the McGovern Hatfield amendment. Pastore will benefit from the August 21 announcement by the Bishop of Providence that McLaughlin did not have the consent of the church in his bid for office. Rhode Island is a heavily Catholic, traditionally Democratic state, and Pastore should have no trouble.

TENNESSEE: Albert Gore, a maverick liberal from a southern state has fallen behind his Republican opponent, Rep. W. E. Brock. Gore has been a prime target of the Southern strategy and is open to Brock charges of "aiding the enemy" for his support of anti-war legislation.

The main reason that Gore is in trouble is the emerging Republican majority in Tennessee. Built around the traditionally Republican Eastern Tennessee and the new suburbs of cities like Memphis and Nashville, the Republican base has been stirred by Brock's richly financed TV campaign.

Gore is also getting old, and his man-on-the-white-horse television spots aren't doing much to help. The loss of Gore will be a big one for liberals in the Senate, but barring a big upset, his defeat seems certain.

TEXAS: No matter which way this one goes, Texas will end up with another conservative Senator to complement John Tower. The upset primary victory of Lloyd Benston over liberal Democrat Sen. Ralph Yarborough was a big victory for the conservative wing of the Texas Democratic Party. Yarborough had a strongly liberal record on the war, civil rights and most other issues.

Benston must win back the supportof the Yarborough backers by November 4 if he is to have a shot at defeating his Republican opponent, Rep. George Bush. Bush, and unabashed backer of President Nixon, is at the moment the favorite.

UTAH: Lacklustre Senator Frank E. Moss is in the same kind of trouble as his neighbor Howard Cannon of Nevada. Moss faces a strong challenge of a conservative, Administration backed Republican, Laurence J. Burton. Burton has made full use of the Agnew techniques and of Agnew himself, and in Utah this is powerful medicine.

Like Cannon, however, Moss may benefit from the Agnew visits to the state. Utah voters are deeply resentful of "outsiders" and the Agnew visits could backfire. Moss will also benefit from his record as an opponent of cigarette advertising. Utah is a Mormon state and the Mormon church forbids cigarettes. A third factor in Moss's favor is the third party candidacy of Clyde Freeman. If Freeman can win five per cent of the vote or more, it should cut Burton's vote enough to hand the election to Moss. If Freeman run poorly, the race is a tossup.

VIRGINIA: Following the breakup of the traditional Byrd machine, a three-way Senate race developed between the incumbent, Sen. Harry F. Byrd Jr.; George Rawlings, a liberal Democrat; and Ray Garland, a conservative Republican. The result will determine both who holds the reigns of power in the state and in the once-omnipotent Democratic party.

Byrd was appointed to the Senate in 1965 on the death of his father-the famous conservative who had become a major power in the inner "club" which controls many Senate decisions. But "Little Henry," as Virginians call him, has not developed into the political powerhouse his father was. In a special primary in 1966, the voters ratified his title to the seat by a scant 8100-vote margin out of 430,000.

Byrd had subsequently found himself increasingly isolated by the emerging leadership in the Democratic party, as liberal forces led by freshman Sen. William B. Spong moved to occupy the power vacuum left by his father's death. After a Byrdbacked candidate for Governor ran an ignominious third in the 1969 primary, Byrd announced that he was leaving the party to run as an independent.

Byrd was undoubtedly hoping for Republican endorsement of his Senatorial candidacy this year, but the Virginia GOP, feeling its Wheaties after electing its first Governor since Reconstruction, declined to offer its support, and nominated Ray Garland, a Roanoke lawyer.

The Democrats, decimated by a brutal three-way gubernatorial primary, have nominated George F. Rawlings, a northern Virginia lawyer with a history of fighting the seemingly hopeless liberal fight in a staunchly conservative state. But the primary vote-which was less than half of the 1969 tally-demonstrated that conservative Democrats had abandoned the party to support Byrd or become Republicans.

Byrd's major campaign issue so far has been opposition to recent Fereral Court decisions requiring busing to desegregate schools in Richmond and Norfolk. Trading on his father's reputation as the hero of the "massive resistance" to the 1954 Supreme Court decision, Byrd has stumped the state calling on parent to boycott schools and warning of dire consequences for the school system if "forced mixing" continues.

Garland has run a relatively restrained campaign, using the Administration's high popularity in the state and telling voters that only a vote for Garland will help Nixon in his drive to have the Republicans organize the new Senate.

Rawlings, trying to forge a new coalition of blacks, liberals, and old line Democrats, has continually punched away at the theme of party loyalty-calling Byrd a "turncoat" who cynically abandoned the party when the tide seemed to turn against him.

Most pollsters now give Byrd a slim lead over Rawlings, with Garland a poor third.

VERMONT: Vermont hasn't had a Democratic Senator since the Civil War. Former Governor Phillip H. Hoff has a good chance of ending the Republican streak, His opponent, incumbent Republican Winston Prouty, is a lacklustre, lukewarm Nixon backer. Hoff is a vibrant, energetic figure who was a popular governor and a leader of the movement for a peace plank in the Democratic platform at the national convention in 1968.

The war and Prouty's prolonged absences from the state are the two main issues. An underlying issue is Hoff's alleged drinking problem, a handicap which he claims he has overcome.

The race is rated as a tossup now but could turn on Hoff's energy, use of student volunteers, and widespread television and radio advertising campaigns.

WISCONSIN: William Proxmire enjoys the best of both worlds. Conservatives like him because he is against government spending. Liberals like him because the spending he is against is for defense. And almost no one likes his opponent, former basketball coach John Erickson, enough to vote Republican.

WEST VIRGINIA: Incumbent Senator Robert C. Byrd faces only token opposition from Republican Mayor of Charleston, Elmer H. Dodson. Dodson is only running because he says he feels the voters should have at least a semblence of a choice.

WASHINGTON: Another token challenge will provide no trouble for the incumbent, Democratic Senator Henry M. Jackson.

WYOMING: Democratic Senator Gale McGee, a target of Nixon and Agnew, has proved to be an clusive target. He supports the President's Indochina policy and has remained friendly to the big oil interests which dominate the state. McGee's opponent, Rep. John S. Wold, enjoys the wholehearted support of the Administration, but McGee seems safe for a third term.