Politics 88 : Newton Democrats Corner Each Other to Declare Choices

Lee M. Walker was surrounded.

“We just need one more, one,” pleaded Mary Lee Rusk on behalf of Massachusetts Gov. Michael S. Dukakis.

It took 17 supporters at this township caucus to win one delegate to the county Democratic convention. The Dukakis forces numbered 16.

Walker’s wife, Randa, a supporter of the Rev. Jesse Jackson, put her hand on her husband’s arm. “No, no, no,” she implored frantically. “You don’t even like Dukakis.”

Lee Walker, 37, an attorney, stood his ground, squirming only a little. “I’ve got 10 minutes to decide, 10 minutes to decide,” he repeated over and over.

One of 2,487 Caucuses

It was 7:40 p.m., and Democrats in the Newton Township precinct were gathered to declare their choice for the Democratic presidential nominee. This was one of 2,487 such caucuses around the state.

After months of shaking hands with would-be presidents, after dozens of phone calls from campaigns and daily deliveries of campaign literature, the township’s Democrats finally had seized control of the political process. Neighbors pounced on neighbors, wives cornered their husbands; the arm-twisting was intense.

Rosemary Hartschen, 49, a substitute school teacher and one of 10 township Democrats whose views The Times has chronicled in a series of stories, had been the first to arrive at the elementary school gymnasium in this blue-collar community 34 miles east of Des Moines.

Home With the Flu

Her husband, Wray, a worker at the Maytag Co. here, was home with intestinal flu. For weeks, he had been trying to persuade his wife to stand up for Missouri Rep. Richard A. Gephardt.

She had been torn between Illinois Sen. Paul Simon, Dukakis and Gephardt. Now, at 6 p.m., one hour before the caucus was to begin, she still was torn. But “since Wray is sick,” she said, she would stand up for his candidate.

Jack and Patricia Umbarger, both Simon supporters, arrived 20 minutes later. Patricia put a Simon placard on one wall and plastered a Simon sticker on her husband’s brown, V-neck sweater.

He surveyed the door, eyeing a group of high school students who had come to the caucus to get extra credit for a government class.

‘The Big Unknown’

“This is going to be the big unknown--all those high school kids,” he said in a low voice. “Nobody knows who they’re going for.”

By 6:45 p.m. the gymnasium was getting crowded, and people were remarking about the faces they had never seen before at a caucus.

Mary Lee and Forrest Rusk immediately separated when they arrived. He went to chat with friends; she moved around the room trying to put red, round “Caucus for Dukakis” stickers on anyone who would let her.

“Mary Lee,” said a man wearing a Jackson button, “You won’t be viable. Come on over with us.” She slapped him playfully with her stickers. “Just wait and see,” she said, and moved on.

Searches the Room

The Walkers arrived, Randa wearing four Jackson buttons on her blue and white dress. She began to search the room for Jackson supporters; her husband sat down by himself.

“I haven’t decided yet,” said Lee Walker, who a week ago planned to stand up for either Dukakis or Gephardt.

Mary Lee Rusk, 62, approached him: “Can I interest you in a Dukakis sticker?”

“Not at this point,” he replied.

At 7 p.m., when the caucus was to begin, a long line of Democrats were still waiting to sign in, and it quickly became apparent that the 50 chairs that had been set out would not be enough.

Checks Off Names

Jasper County Auditor and Elections Commissioner Linda Gifford, 45, a Simon supporter, went over a list of names of Simon supporters who were expected and crossed off those already seated. Jack Umbarger, 56, lobbied the back of the room for Simon.

“What the hell is he going to do with my Social Security?” an undecided Vernon Schmidt, 61, asked Umbarger. At the door, a Jackson supporter had handed Schmidt a leaflet that implied that Simon was not fully committed to preserving Social Security from budget cuts. Schmidt now shook that leaflet at Umbarger.

“That’s a bunch of hogwash,” said Umbarger, an advertising sales manager.

‘Eastern Influence’

A few feet away, a 35-year-old veterinarian, who like Schmidt was undecided, was telling Mary Lee Rusk that Dukakis represented “too much Eastern influence and that kind of scares me.”

“Yeah, but look at John Kennedy,” shot back Rusk, an advertising saleswoman.

By 7:30 p.m. well over 100 Democrats, a record attendance for the township, had signed in, and Hartschen called the caucus to order. By a voice vote, the assembly elected Hartschen, a member of the county Democratic Central Committee, as caucus chairwoman, which meant that she had to preside over the meeting.

A motion was passed to postpone policy resolutions until after the delegate selection, and Hartschen instructed the crowd to divide into groups for their candidates.

Head for Corners

Amid a scramble of feet and scuffle of chairs, the crowd divided up and headed for corners. A large group, including many United Auto Workers members employed at Maytag, huddled for Gephardt in one corner.

At the opposite end of that side of the room were the Dukakis supporters, much fewer in number. One 29-year-old man stood up for former Colorado Sen. Gary Hart. Four people stood for former Arizona Gov. Bruce Babbitt.

There was a large Simon group, seated in chairs, and a sizable Jackson group, standing near the front of the room. And then there was Lee Walker, standing in the front of the room, still undecided.

Still One Short

The Hart supporter went to Dukakis, but Mary Lee Rusk was still one person short of meeting the threshold. Without another supporter, the Dukakis group would have to disband, their support meaningless without a delegate.

“We need you,” Mary Lee Rusk implored Walker over and over again.

“No, no. You don’t want Dukakis,” pleaded Randa Walker, trying to edge her husband over to the Jackson group.

Rusk ran up to Rosemary Hartschen, who as caucus chairwoman had not yet joined a group, and Hartschen consented to join Dukakis because, as she said later, “they just needed one more.”

“You’re too nice,” called out her daughter, Debra, 18, who was in the Gephardt group.

Join Other Groups

Two of the Babbitt supporters went to Gephardt, one to Simon and one to Jackson. Schmidt and the veterinarian moved into the Simon group.

And Lee Walker, at last, slowly walked over to join his wife for Jackson, the candidate Walker had sworn four months ago he would not support because he was unelectable.

“Just shows you the power of his wife,” whispered Jack Umbarger.

The final count: Gephardt, 3 delegates; Simon, 3; Jackson 2, and Dukakis, 1.

Just before 9 p.m., after passing resolutions condemning nuclear war, supporting freedom of choice on abortion and calling for long-term care for the elderly, the citizens of Newton Township went home, their opinions all their own for another four years.