Saturday, July 31, 1976
THE MICHIGAN DAILY
Page Three I
Austin: Cashing in on a name
By PHILLIP BOKOVOY
Last in a series of four
Michigan Secretary of State Richard
Austin has spun a well known name into
a decided edge in the Democratic race
for the U.S. Senate nomination.
Yet his widespread recognition through-
out the two peninsulas has also brought
a flurry of charges from his three oppo-
nents that he is trying to slide through
the primary campaign without discussing
the issues.
THE 64-YEAR-OLD Austin, however,
has brushed aside such allegations, main-
taining that he indeed had been dis-
cussing issues and that his opponents
were only attacking him because of his
commanding lead in the polls. He claims
he has scoured the out-state area, cam-
paigning extensively and discussing is-
sues with the voters, but frets that few
have read about it because he seldom
makes the newspages in the Detroit area.
But Austin has on more than one occa-
sion refused to sign waivers to allow
other candidates to debate on television
without him. The most prominent show
he snubbed was Lou Gordon's, explain-
ing he would not appear because Gordon
was set to endorse someone else and
would only attack him. Gordon endorsed
Donald Riegle.
Austin, the first black Certified Public
Accountant in the state, has emphasized
his financial expertise during the cam-
paign. He reminds voters that the Senate
has yet to see a CPA in its ranks, and
adds he could render valuable services
in this regard.
"WE OUGHT to have at least one CPA
on the finance committee to help the
lawyers keep the facts straight," he said.
Austin, if elected, would also be the
first black Democrat in the Senate.
Seven years ago, he ran in a hotly con-
tested mayoral race in Detroit against
Roman Gribbs, and lost. The campaign
was marred by racial overtones, the
aftermath of the massive race riots just
two summers before.
AFTER THAT narrow loss, Austin set
his sights on the secretary of state post.
Many scoffed at his chances because of
what they saw as out-state voter reluc-
tance to cast a ballot for a black man.
Austin, however, swept to victory by
about a 20 per cent margin, and won a
resounding re-election in 1974.
His record as secretary of state has
been progressive. He has streamlined
the license plate distribution process and
has brought branch offices in closer con-
tact with the communities by making
them vehicles for voter registration and
the handling of consumer auto com-
plaints.
These same branch offices, however,
have become the most prominent issue
of this campaign.
WHEN AUSTIN first entered office,
the fee branch manager system was the
primary vehicle of patronage in the state.
The secretary of state appointed the
See AUSTIN, Page 7
Esch: A liberal dose of confidence
By JIM TOBIN
Last in a series of four
"I think we've gotten a very broad
base of support. I think we've won it
on our own." -Marvin Esch
He has not won the Republican nomi-
nation for the U. S. Senate yet, of
course, but Congressman Marvin Esch's
confidence reflects the lead he has taken
in almost all polls, And though he claims
to have "won it on our own," it is ap-
parent that much of Esch's position
owes to the quiet but determined back-
ing of wealthy Michigan Republican
regulars.
Rumors have circulated that Gover-
nor William Milliken and state party
chairman William McLaughlin private-
ly support Esch, but McLaughlin said
yesterday he is "totally and completely
neutral.
"I'M READY TO work for whoever
wins, he said. I think you have four
good candidates and I probably haven't
even made ip my mind who I'm going
to vote for. To the best of my knowledge
the governor feels the same way."
Milliken was unavailable for com-
ment.
Whether the party leaders support
Esch or not, it is clear that the ten-year
representative is a moderate-to-liberal
Republican in the Milliken-Robert Grif-
fin mold. While he and his supporters
dislike being tagged with the tradition-
al label of "liberal," ("I'm not, sure the
political continuum exists," he says),
Esch has initiated or sponsored domes-
tic and international affairs legislation
that places him on the left side of the
party - manpower training laws, the
War Powers Act to limit military pow-
ers of the presidency, the Unemploy-
ment Compensation Act of 1974, and
early disengagement in Vietnam.
IN ANY CASE, there is no doubt that
Esch is more liberal than his opponents
- University Regent Deane Baker of
Ann Arbor, former state Supreme Court
Chief Justice Thomas Brennan of Lan-
sing, and former Congressman Robert
Huber of Troy.
His stand is one that appeals to many
of the state's influential Republicans
and while Esch initiated his campaign
with the remark, "We have learned that
big politics, like big government, big
business, and big labor, doesn't work
very well," much of his support comes
from well-to-do party members who
have made healthy contributions.
Esch has received $1,000 contributions
from a vice-president of the Chrysler
Corporation and the vice-chairman of
the S. S. Kresge Company; $500 con-
tributions from the chairman of the De-
troit Bank and Trust, the chairman of
the prominent Detroit advertising firm
D'Arcy, MacManus, and Marius, and the
chairman of the American Motors Cor-
poration; $200 contributions from the
chairman of Sears, Roebuck and from
the president of the Detroit Bank and r
Trust; and $100 contributions from the
Cattlemen's Action Legislation Fund,
the Agriculture and Dairy Educational
Political Trust, the president of the
Campbell, Ewald advertising firm, an-
See ESCH, Page 10 Esch
Judges snag Collins'
hopes of murder appeal
The killer of a woman st'dent at Eastern Michigan University
has failed in his legal battle to overturn his 1970 first-degree
murder conviction.
John Norman Collins, now 27, is serving a life sentence at the
Southern Michigan Prison in Jackeon for the slaying of Karen
Beineman, the last of seven women whose bodies were discovered
in the Ypsilanti-Ann Arbor area during a flurry of eerie murders
from 1967 to 1969.
A FOUR-JUDGE panel for the U.S. Court of Appeals in Cin-
cinnati rejected Collins' claim that pretrial publicity had dashed
his hopes of a fair trial.
Collins claimed that the publicity tainted the selection of an
impartial jury in Washtenaw County.
He was convicted by a jury derived from the county, although
his defense attorney filed several unsuccessful motions to move
the trial out of Washtenaw.
:OTT ECCKER
Collins had suffered similar rejections by the Michigan Court
Matt Phillips of Appeals, U. S. District Court, the District Court of Appeals,
in their Wol- and the U. S. Supreme Court, which refused to reopen the case
upon Collins' submittance of a petition for review in 1974.
Wolverine hopefuls?
The hallowed grounds of Michigan Stadium provide the perfect inspiration for1
(center) and his football-playing friends who look like they may be about to follow
verine predecessors' footsteps.