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SUSAN LUDMER-GLIEBE

Special to The Jewish News

A

nn Arbor — State Rep.
Lana Pollack knows
she faces an uphill
battle in her bid to unseat
longtime Congressman Carl
Pursell.
The Republican Pursell has
the incumbent advantage and
heavy financial support in the
race for the 2nd U.S. congres-
sional district. He has raised
twice as much money as
Pollack.
To satisfy supporters of
Israel, she must overcome
Pursell's pro-Israel record.
If Pollack is successful this
November in unseating
Pursell, she will become the
second Jewish woman in
Congress.
Pollack, 46, pulls no pun-
ches in her view of herself or
her opponent. "I have both
common sense and courage. I
would suggest that Pursell
has neither."
The Democratic candidate
pointed to Pursell's flipflops
on a number of significant
issues — particularly
Pursell's voting record this
year on aid to the Nicaraguan
contras and the Civil Rights
Restoration Act which Con-
gress, in a bi-partisan effort,
passed this spring in spite of
a Reagan veto.
The latter piece of legisla-
tion was designed to restore
in toto compliance with
federal anti-discrimination
statutes for schools, govern-
ment units and corporations
that receive federal aid. There
was heavy last-minute lobby-
ing by conservatives and fun-
darnentalist religious groups,
led by the Moral Majority, to
support Reagan's veto.
Pollack felt very strongly
about the congressional over-
ride and Pursell's eventual
vote against the measure.
"The first issue for a Jew in
the United States has to be
for civil rights," said Pollack.
"Bush, Pursell and Reagan
were saying, 'Discrimination
is 0.K! "
According to Gary Cates, a
Pursell spokesman, Pursell
had originally supported the
act, but changed his vote
when Rep. Paul Henry sug-
gested additional legislation
which, it was felt, would give
protection to religious educa-
tional institutions that might
be affected by the act.
"Pursell viewed the veto as
an opportunity to come back
with a similar law but one
which would have protected

•

92

FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 2, 1988

Democratic contender Lana Pollack likes the nitty-gritty of political
battles.

educational institutions of a
religious type," explained
Cates.
Pollack expresses outrage
toward Pursell's about-face.
"It's an insult to my values.
I know the burden and the
damage that discrimination
does," she said. "Jews ought
to know that."
Pollack feels that Pursell's
record reaffirms the status
quo. "You can't lead if you're
going in circles. We're in trou-
ble because people just go
along. Pursell's a follower. He
hasn't spoken out!'

If Pollack finds Pursell's
leadership qualities wanting,
others don't. Pollack knows
she has an uphill battle to
fight these next few months.
Not only does Pursell have
the inherent advantage of the
incumbent, he also hasn't had
to go through a primary as
- Pollack did. More significant-
ly, Pursell has a campaign
fund that, according to an
early summer Federal Elec-
tion Commission report, held
the second largest war chest
among Michigan's 18 con-
gressmen. One month ago
Pursell's funding led Pollack's
by a 2-1 margin, although
that margin has shrunk
lately.
But Pollack feels her cam-
paign is going very well. Ac-
cording to Dale Evans,

Pollack's press secretary, as of
August, Pollack has raised
over $400,000. Of that
amount, just over $100,000
has come from political action
committees including the
United Auto Workers of
'Michigan, the American
Federation of State: County
and Municipal Employees
and the National Organiza-
tion for Women.
According to Mary Reilly,
Pollack's coordinator for
political action committee
fund-raising, several Jewish
PACS, local and national,
have contributed monies to
the Pollack campaign.
Although Pursell has enjoyed
financial support from Jewish
groups in the past, this elec-
tion year might be somewhat
different with funds from
Jewish groups distributed
between the two candidates.

Why? A number of
observers agree that Pollack
is probably the strongest op-
ponent to face Pursell in a
long time.
"I would say she has a
tremendous possibility of win-
ning," said Ann Arbor
Democrat George Wahr
Sallade, who has been in the
political hot seat himself. He
ran against Pursell in 1982,
"Lana brings to the cam-
paign her excellent record as
a state sentaor and her fund-