The Michigan Daily-Saturday, July 12, 1980-Page 5
Carter, Dems
leading U.S.
adrift, say
Republicans
From AP and UPI
DETROIT - Republican platform
writers delivered a wilting criticism of
President Carter and the Democrats
who control Congress, saying
"America is adrift" under their leader-
ship. It was part of the preamble of the
GOP's 1980 campaign document, ap-
proved unanimously in committee
yesterday.
At the same time, Republican
strategists looked beyond rhetoric to
the fall campaign and openly courted
the labor vote that traditionally goes
lopsidedly Democratic.
THE GOP platform committee was
preparing an entirely new plank to be
added early next week, calling for tax
breaks for Americans who buy U.S.-
built, fuel-economical cars -and for
foreign automakers who construct
assembly lines in the United States.
Thatiproposal, designed to battle the
high level of unemployment in the U.S.
automobile industry, came after top
GOP leaders met yesterday for break-
fast with United Auto Workers
president Douglas Fraser.
The committee completed work on
the 1980 platform by adopting a pream-
ble harshly critical of foreign and
defense policy under the Carter ad-
ministration and the Democratic
congressional leadership.
"NEVER BEFORE in modern
history has the United States endured
as many humiliations, insults and
defeats as it has during the past four
years - our ambassadors murdered,
our embassy burned, our warnings
ignored, our diplomacy scorned, our
diplomats kidnapped," said the in-
troductory section.
The platform preamble cited "un-
paralleld unity within our ranks" and
said the Republican party, under
Ronald Reagan, could "make America
great again."
Meanwhile, speculation at the con-
vention centered on reports Reagan has
narrowed his vice presidential list to
three finalists - former ambassador
George Bush and Sens. Paul Laxalt of
Nevada and Richard Lugar of Nevada.
"BUSH IS way up there," said a key
Reagan aide at the convention. "But
none of the eight has been ruled out," he
added, referring to earlier lists that
also included Reps. Guy Vander Jagt of
Michigan and Jack Kemp of JNew York,
former .Defense Secretary Donald
Rumsfeld, former Treasury Secretary
William Simon and Sen. Howard Baker.
Laxalt, who served as Reagan's
campaign chairman, was the first of
the vice presidential contenders to
arrive in Detroit. He told reporters at
the airport: "So far as I know, no one
has indicated to me that the list has
been narrowed.
With conservatives holding over-
whelming voting strength in the com-
mittee and at the convention, it ap-
peared the platform would be presented
with no minority planks and therefore
no floor fights on any controversial
issues.
Supporters of the Equal Rights
Amendment, who earlier lost the par-
ty's 40-year support of their cause, said
they do not have the 27 votes on the 106
member committee to get their issues
on the floor. Instead, they asked for a
meeting with Reagan next week to
discuss ERA, which Reagan has long
opposed.
The platform reflects, and in some
cases goes beyond, Reagan's conser-
vative line.
BETTY HEITMAN, NEW chairwoman of the GOP National Committee,
spoke yesterday at Cobo Hall in Detroit. Heitman, president of the National
Federation of Republican Women since 1978, has been chosen by Ronald
Reagan to succeed outspoken ERA advocate Mary Crisp. Crisp resigned her
post on Wednesday.
s
N ewchair says GOP
supportive of womeni
(Continued from Page 3)
statement of her personal feelings on
tee of the National Federation of the ERA or abortion issues because she
Republican Women wrote the plank, spoke today as if she were chairwoman,
she explained, this organizationis but continued to say "these are
composed of a great a "cross-section" emotional issues and the proper place
of differing views and a compromise was to express them is on the state level
necessary to please everyone. rather than a constitutional amen-
Heitman said she could not make a dment."
Bargainers optiniistic
about Detroit strike
DETROIT (UPI)-Bargainers for the NEGOTIATORS REMAINED hud-
city and 9,000 striking employees met died around the main bargaining table
yesterday amid hope they were in the into the afternoon, however, discussing
"home stretch" toward settlement of various supplemental issues, sources
an 11-day strike threatening to mar said.
next week's Republican National Con- Although expectations remained~iigh
vention. a settlement was fairly close, haggling
Marathon talks between the two sides over minor issues could cause the talks
intensified early in the day with an ex- to drag on-perhaps into the evening,
change of contract proposals, and city mediators said.
s bargainers said at the time tentative "I think we're in the home stretch,"
agreement in the dispute could be just said Robert Pisarski of the Michigan
"hours" away. mplo'yment Relations Commission.