Nixon & Dent on Senate elections and Political strategy

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Yeah.

Hi, Harry.

Do you have a study of your own of the Senate campaign possibility this year?

Or do you sort of, if you rely on knowledge for that?

What are you talking about?

You, you, what I mean is that if you have one, if you're, if you're, if you're a shopper or whatever, I'll tell you what I want you to do.

I'm not worried about it.

In fact, I don't want it today or tomorrow, because I'm going to be, I've got some other matters.

But, I was talking to Mitch and Bill on the way back, and I don't want Dominic to know about this.

Basically, here's the problem, Harry.

Dominic, you know, there's a very, not feeling well, you know, this, you know, this, uh,

and there's a very .

I don't know if he's sensitive or not, but he's just talking about the incumbents and not the others.

And in my view, just putting on these stakes is one .

For example, we've got a chance to .

There's a question whether you can let Westphal to play.

And they're both going to be able to do that.

We've got a chance in Rhode Island.

That's true.

We've got a chance in West Virginia because we're going to do well in West Virginia.

And so there you've got our tomorrow.

He doesn't go around.

Well, I think he's going to.

Yeah.

You've got a chance to pretend.

You've got a chance there.

Correct, correct, but...

We ought to be able to do that, provided that, I'm just saying, you know, how I was looking down the road when I said, you know, this might be an event that we want to talk to.

There might be a hell of a track to talk to.

It would be great.

They would say that from the other end.

But the things that all of his colleagues are saying up here, they're really praising him, you know.

He's getting good editorials and everything.

And we've knocked out the ghost stuff, that's crap.

As you know, we can try to keep him in, but he'd be a hell of a moment.

And he'd respond in the light of day.

All right, Montana.

All you need there is a candidate.

I don't know whether that congressman is up there going to go statewide, a new congressman.

Yeah, you got a plane if you wanted to,

There's Wallace, the guy who ran before.

He's really a jerk.

All right, we don't know.

But we've got to have him.

All right.

Now, in my view, and just on Salvo, you've got to put somebody up.

Just because something might happen to the old man.

Tom?

Yeah, yeah.

No, no, no, no.

But just get a good young lawyer down there, somebody, and run.

There's one.

Now, how's Alabama?

Is he gonna run?

Yeah.

Well, you know, Sparklin basically is a good fellow, decent guy, we're both right.

But he looks terrible.

Huh?

He's 70 years old.

Don't you agree?

And the vitality of it, and also, Harry, we might do well on that.

But the way things are going, I want to hear you on that.

And that could be a dramatic change.

All right.

Another one is, that we have is a local woman.

Now, Edmondson's tough.

But if you get a sweep going, you can take that, you know, you know what that means.

Well, now, those are just a few.

Everybody assumes that we're gonna just lose the Senate.

Now, of course, we got a lot of people we lose.

We could lose, you know, good heavens, there's several people we could use to lose.

South Dakota, we could lose.

Curtis, we could lose.

I don't know if there's still Curtis Gold.

He's a great thing.

Nebraska's the person I choose.

My point is, we don't have any steam at all.

You'll get a damn good analysis, and I want to see it by maybe Friday or something.

Well, I forgot the main one.

Yeah, sure.

Because it's been set, huh?

Yeah.

He's not got a lot of steam.

Well, you know, it's a shame that the guy that ran for governor of Oregon got to be in Jersey.

He is got a lot of steam, but he's out of the picture.

You got anybody else down there?

Well, there's a possibility.

Yeah.

Well, there's another one.

You see, Harry, everybody is talking as if there's any chance now.

I mean, it's a long chance, we know that.

But you see, here's when you don't think you've got one, the time when you have a sleeper, you know?

Yeah.

Because it's a place of question, and each one of these being difficult, but an opportunity.

And if you get something going, you know, if you have enough feet going, this could be it.

Now, look over the whole shop, and there's an art class, one of my championships over there.

So take two or three days.

I'd like to see something around Frank.

Yeah, yeah.

All right, we'll try to keep from undercutting this.

Right, right, right.

Well, I thought that was a good party, old Ronald.

Isn't Ronald a wonderful guy, though?

And, you know, he's, you know, and the thing is, too, it's just, oh, here's a really poor country boy, you know, who about 12 years ago didn't have a suit, and here he comes, well, 15 years ago, and here he's at his big house, and I think it's the best thing that ever happened to him.

Oh, I know.

You know, the other thing was, that Pennsylvania crowd, you had to escape there with that Hilton, and you know, they hate each other.

But when I saw skateboarders and I'm around here, I thought I'd die.

The only state you can't get together, apparently, is Indiana.

But we'll do well in Indiana.

I heard he started to just get the hell out of there.

Some of the others look pretty good to me.

Pennsylvania, for example, this liberal fellow from Pennsylvania in the state of Tennessee said, look, I'm a liberal.

But he said, I've been up there, and he said, things are really big up in Pennsylvania.

What about the fourth party?

The fourth party, Harry, is the, as you know, we can't say a word, whether it's jurishism or

where McCarthy, that is going to be a singer.

We know that's 9% of their votes.

Yeah, well, let me tell you this.

He should not talk to me, but he mentioned it a little bit.

I must know one thing about the fellow that he talked to a lot better than me.

It's a long story.

Or wait a minute.

I'm talking to Hall.

That's a little bit better.

He'll be a little closer.

It can be done.

But the thing to do, the thing to do in this Senate is to, now in this Senate, I think we ought to vote for these people.

Don't you agree?

Why the jackass like don't get back in the Senate?

It's ridiculous.

I'd say no, I'll tell you what.

I don't think that exercise was too useful.

That's what I mean.

It gave them all a bunch of crutches, and they didn't get out working on it.

Now let's just say no, you've just got to get in there and do it yourself, and we'll try to do the best we can.

That's right.

Now at the end,

If we get up there, sure, we'll get some help.

But I don't want to get up these great big commissions like we had before and just say, well, we think so down the road.

We've got to get out of there and prove that you can fly before we help you.

But I'd play it that way.

How is Wilson doing?

Yeah, that.

Yeah.

Oh, Christ, you have somebody right there.

Kurt, don't listen.

Yeah.

If Wilson would just give, Wilson would just give the new candidate, Wilson pick the incumbent, give a new instructor, that's what he ought to do.

All right, why don't you work on that idea?

Who could you talk to?

Do you want me to do it?

God damn it, somebody's got to do it because the board, we have had Wilson in three campaigns now screwed and they're not going to help me.

He just doesn't get us good candidates.

Don't you agree?

I know.

Yeah, but in the Senate then, just forget the nominee.

You know what I mean?

He is not going to help.

He's just too tired.

Board nominate.

Well, fine, fine.

Good.

Oh, I know he is, but don't, don't let him come down and say, I don't want to talk to him about it.

I just want to, I want you to come in and give me your appraisal of him, get my points.

All right, fine.

Try to get a little, you talk to Mitchell, if you will, about the Wilson situation.

And say, now, for Christ's sake, what are we going to do?

Are we going to do that?

Because, and I think the best way is to have Wilson appointed subcommittee chairman and charge him to do a candidate, period.

Fair enough.

Okay, bye bye.

Nixon & Dent on Senate elections and Political strategy

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Nixon Library Finding Aid

Also recorded on October 6, 1971

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