4 OPINION Page 4 Wednesday, January 11, 1984 The Michigan Daily 4 Fraser on the endorsement of influence Following his retirement as president of the United Auto Workers last year, Douglas Fraser has continued his involvement in the labor movement. In addition to his continued contributions to the UA W, Fraser has held a position on the board of the Chrysler Cor- poration, and last term he found time in his busy schedule to teach an honors seminar at the University. Associate Arts Editor James Boyd spoke with Fraser late last term about the upcoming presidential campaign and the role of the labor movement in it. Dialogue they're not always consistent with the views of his constituents. If you do that, then you have to pander to the prejudices of the constituents on oc- casion. Obviously we have to pay some attention to their views, but the job of a leader is to lead. There are risks in- volved with leadership. We've seen an example in the State of Michigan where a couple of state senators did what I believe to be a courageous thing in in- creasing the taxes out of sheer necessity. And now they're paying the political price by being subjected to a recall. They obviously didn't reflect their constituents in casting that vote. Daily: Does that imply that if the rank and file did not in fact support Mondale, the leadership would endorse him anyway? Fraser: Yes, I'm inclined that it's one of those situations where the leadership would have the duty to lead. It's not because the leadership is any smarter than the membership, But they're in a position to know just by virtue of the added information they get, who among the candidates is closer philosophically to the labor movement. A lot of our older members say, "Don't try and dic- tate to me who I should vote for." But we're not trying to dictate to anyone, this is merely a recommendation that can be accepted, ignored, or opposed. The UAW member, like every American citizen, is an intelligent, in- dependent voter. There is no attempt to dictate to him. Daily: With all of the criticism of the endorsement, is it really that much of an asset for Mondale? Fraser: One of the points that should be made is most of the other candidates have been very critical of the endor- sement, but every single candidate sought it. Every single candidate came before the AFL-CIO executive council on which I served and asked for the en- dorsement. They're all pretty good politicians, so they must have thought the endorsement had some value otherwise they wouldn't have sought it. I think the endorsement of Mondale is probably more effective in this cam- paign than it would have been in previous campaigns, because of the Mondale. We have never done it before, but I think it's a risk worth taking. Daily: What positive and negative ef- fects of Jesse Jackson's candidacy do you see? Fraser: On the negative side in terms of Mondale he's going to cut into his vote in the southern primaries - I don't think there's any question about that. Jackson's candidacy hurts Mondale's more than it does any other candidate. The negative and positive aspects depend entirely on Jackson's behavior. If he goes out there and conducts a positive campaign and takes the issues, particularily to the black people, and gets them aroused and interested in the political life of our nation, then that's a big plus. Because when Jackson is out of the race, as he knows he will be next year, those votes will most likely come to Mondale. But if Jackson burns a lot of bridges during the campaign and is critical of Mondale, for example, and gets the black voters' expectations so high that he leads them to believe that he's really got a chance, then they could become disillusioned and turned off. So it all depends upon how he handles it. If he conducts a constructive, affirmative campaign and after it's over says, "Okay lets join hands now with our first task being to rid this country of Ronald Reagan," then you're going to have very positive results from his cam- paign. Daily: Why did the AFL-CIO choose such an early point in the campaign to make its endorsement? Fraser: Many members of the labor movement were unhappy with George McGovern in 1972 - I wasn't one of them, I was quite content with his can- didacy. But then we had Carter in '76 and '80. So the labor movement said to themselves, "Look, as long as we stand on the sidelines and let the machine Democrats select the standardbearer of the party, we're just going to have to support whoever they give us." So therefore we're trying to get in there earlier and influence the choice of the party standardbearer. That's precisely why we made the decision. I think you're going to see a totally different result. Daily: Assuming the nomination of Mondale, does he stand a chance again- st Reagan? Fraser: Well, election campaigns have peaks and valleys. If you'd have raised this question with me a month ago I would have said that Mondale's chances were at least even, maybe a lit- tle better than even. But there's no question that the President has picked up political support - for the wrong reason I believe - for the invasion of Grenada. I don't know if that is long lasting or not. Many times I think we're beginning to suffer from an inferiority complex - that we think we lack strength that we used to have. So this exhibition of power in Grenada has a great appeal to the American people- While they may forget the event pretty quickly, their image of Reagan will remain positive. I don't suggest that that's a deciding factor. The economy is also going to be relatively healthy. So it's going to be a tough campaign for Mondale. I feel that the American people don't know Walter Mondale yet. I think that to know him is to like him and respect him. Daily: What would be the most critical problems facing Mondale should he be elected? Fraser: He's going to have to talk to the American people, understanding that this society faces many, many problems. It's not easy solving them; many sacrificies will have to be made. We have to start rebuilding this society - just take our infrastructure and the enormous problems there and the enormous problems relating to our' educational system. There is also the critical debt burden that we're going to be suffering from. We haven't felt that yet. When you're going to have a 200 billion deficit in the next fiscal year, you're going to have to cut the roots of that problem and it's not going to be easy. There is no economic Santa Claus. You're going to have to have either tax increases, a reduction of ex- penditures, or a combination of both. Dialogue is an occasional feature of the Opinion Page. 4 4 Daily: With the AFL-CIO endor- sement of Walter Mondale coming so early in the campaign, how do you an- swer charges that the choice reflects only the views of union leadership and not those of the rank and file? Fraser: Different unions used dif- ferent methods to get the pulse of their membership. Some of them use the services of professional pollsters and others had a mail ballot. The UAW, for example, had eighteen regional con- ferences, but our polling was confined to the leadership - by that I mean the stewards and committeemen and so forth. I feel comfortable in terms of our union that the stewards reflect their constituents in the shop. It's not a per- fect mechanism, but I think that it's about the best that can be employed. Daily: How much leeway should be given union leadership to influence, rather than reflect, the views of their constituents? Fraser: I think there are decisions that a leader has to make, not only in the union but in government and '4 Doily Photo by JEFF SCHRIER Fraser: "The American people don't know Walter Mondale yet. I think to know him is to like him and respect him." nature of the selection process. The mechanism has changed, there will be more reliance on caucuses, rather than open primaries. When you're dealing with caucuses the person with the best organization is the beneficiary. I have to think that the AFL-CIO has a pretty good political organization, so I think that the endorsement will greatly enhance Mondale's chance in the primary. The fact of the matter is that I think he'll get the nomination. Daily: What about worries of being labeled the captive labor candidate? Fraser: I don't want to un- derestimate that, but I think it's a debaters point. It has negative aspects, but any time you design a strategy, whether it be a collective bargaining strategy or a political strategy, it always involves risks. There is a risk for the labor movement in endorsing 4 1 Edited and managed by students at The University of Michigan ind ir a.i MAARTit AT Al I Vol. XCIV-No. 83 420 Maynard St. Ann Arbor, MI 48109 2 Editorials represent a majority opinion of the Daily's Editorial Board Integrity is dishonesty 1' JUST WHEN opinion polls were beginning to show the American public has greater trust in government officials, those same officials are giving us new reasons to continue questioning their integrity in office. The latest official to come under scrutiny is Charles Wick, director of the United States Information Agency. Wick first denied allegations that he had secretly taped telephone conver- sations with, key public and gover- nment officials, a practice which goes against government and basic ethical policy. Later he confessed to the prac- tice, saying he had been doing it to keep better office records. Ironically, he also was secretly taping White House chief of staff James Baker's comments about a program called ''Project Democracy"~ designed to raise money for the Information Agen- cy. Under Florida law, where Wick tape- recorded the conversation with Baker, such an action is a felony punishable by up to five years in prison and a $5,000 fine. Apparently Richard Nixon's White House eavesdropping isn't quite that far behind us, and so the public is reminded once again that the high morals which public officials preach to the public from the podium are not always those morals they live by. The American public should have doubts about the integrity and capabilities of a man who controls the nation's public relations program, in- cluding the international radio broad- cast Voice of America, who fails to tell the truth about his own actions. President Reagan said he does not consider Wick to be a "dishonorable man in any way" and says Wick will retain his post. Maybe because Wick admitted he did "a very dumb thing" and because he had a "faulty recollection" of his own behavior in taping these conver- sations, the American public should pardon him. Maybe Reagan doesn't object to his officials disobeying government policy so long as they are honorable men. Maybe what we are witnessing is the totalitarian world described by the author George Orwell - except now the official government slogan seems to be "Integrity is Dishonesty." .. I, - I _ t . 7 i . ECONot -. y C