- Republicans Top Junk Mail Index

The 5515’s mailbox may not be the most
reliable barometer 01 political activity
around, but it can at least provide an ac—
curate count of what we call the “junk mail
per candidate" and ”junk mail per party”
indexes.

These indexes may not actually be a silly
as they sound; we began receiving material
from the office of Eugene McCarthy last
semester about a month before the national
press began to agree that he would run [or
the Democratic nomination.

And only last month, the senior Senator
oi a large New England state began sending
us his ‘Repurt to Massachusetts'.

That Senator (hint: his name rhymes with
that of the thirtyrlitth President at the Unis
ted States) wrote: “in 1972, we will lace a
critical choice in determining the type of
leadership necessary to guide us through
the 1970’s. l”

Apparently he thought we would like some
elaboration on what that leadership should
do, so he sent us his seven page speech to
the Washington Press Club last week,

Most of the political junk mail is from ex-
pressly political organizations The “Youth
Coalition for Muskie", for example recently
sent us a letter (personally addressed to
Steve Grow and Mark Sableman, editors)
and an eight page tabloid campaign paper
with pictures of Senator Muskie and artis
Cles ol the ”Why I like Muskie" type.

Other organizations rely less on the per-
sonal approach, but more on a pragmatic
iuogment or what news we might use. Mc-
Carihy and McGovern both sent us several
pages at short quotations train the candie
date. or news items about him,

And some political organization -- we don’t
know which .7 sent us an interestingartlcle
about “the ‘reel’ Pete McCloskey". Mc-
Closkey did not send it, anyway.

25

Probably the most interesting at all the
propaganda that we receive is the Republir
can National Committee’s Monday maga-
zine, which we receive every week. A typ-
ical headline from the latest issue: “Pres-
ident Strong on Performance: Has No Use
For Pullery".

Monday really is a creative newsletter. A
regular feature is “Senator Kennedy Meet
Senator Kennedy” which puts together re-
cent and past quotations from the Senator
which show an obvious or partial contra-
(ﬁction

The editors or Monday must he receivmg
the same "Report to Massachusetts" that
we get, because Senator Kennedy usually
seems to rate almost as much mention in its
pages as Messrs. Nixon and Agnew. Only
lately have Such headlines as “Senator
Muskie’s Funeral oration, or Was that A
Presidential Announcement?" and “HHH
Backs Viet Cong” become common.

Really, we sympathize with the people
who must produce this propaganda (or a
living. The person who wrote a release {or
the Young Democrat Clubs of America, for
example, went on tor three hundred words
emphasizing the 2,7 to lDemocrnt to Re—
publican registration among young voters as
especially high and signilicant.

But anyone could tell by a glance at the
table on his second page that the party ratios
were almost exactly the Same {or new Voters
as tor the population at large.

The SEzE's first 1972 second semester polls
tical Junk mail index is as follows:
Republican Party. . . Gepages
Democratic Party Zpages
Muskie... 12 pages
McGovern, 8 pages
McCarth 4 pages
Kennedy. 9 pages
anti-McClosky... ,, .. lpage
The pages come in all sorts olodd shapes,
but then so do the candidates.

 

