Reagan Looms Large

SIX YEARS AGO, when Illinois Senator Charles Percy last ran for reelection, he and his Democratic opponent, Alex Seith, met at a television station to tape a public affairs program. Seith brought along his wife, who he felt had been insulted by the Percy campaign, and a heated and dramatic confrontation followed. In fact, Percy became so hot and flustered that, as he left the studio via a narrow hallway crowded by reporters, he collapsed--the victim of an unwelcome fainting spell. So much for the Illinois Advantage, as Percy calls himself in his current campaign against Democratic Congressman Paul Simon.

Percy's physical collapse was unusual for a man who usually appears in charge. He took over the Bell and Howell company while still in his 20s and went on to become a self-made millionaire, a three term senator and Chairman of the Senate's powerful Foreign Relations Committee. With his gray-blonde hair, athletic physique and patrician demeanor, Percy looks not only far younger than his 65 years but also like every screen politician played by Hal Holbrook or Gregory Peck. In the past, Republican Party regulars have mentioned Percy as a possible Presidential or vice-presidential candidate.

Certainly it is not hard to picture Percy as vice-president, since the longtime senator invites comparisons to current second-in-command George Bush. Like Bush, Percy's opinions on a number of issues have, to use the vice president's expression, evolved. Before Reagan's victory, Percy remained an adamant opponent to the Kemp-Roth tax policies. Since 1981, he's been a happy supply-sider. He's spoken favorably on the nuclear freeze, only to work against it in the Senate. His positions on arms control measures and Soviet-American summits similarly defy consistency. As a Simon advertisement notes. "If you feel strongly about arms control summits, then Charles Percy has a position for you. He's been for them and against them."

In fact, even in the last few weeks, Percy has been busy redefining himself. When Chicago Mayor Harold Washington endorsed Simon, Percy argued that the Black mayor had adopted a "rascist appeal." The senator threatened to turn a deaf ear to future pleas from the Mayor and Chicago for federal assistance. A few days later, Percy revealed that he actually "loves" Mayor Washington, "loves" Chicago, and that he will do everything he can to help the city.

In recent weeks, he's also been asked to explain statements made about Jews. Some of the senator's best friends are Jewish, the senator said, and they're among "the most intelligent people I know." But they're "too emotional" over the question of an undivided Jersusalem. His patronizing attitude ignores serious moral and foreign policy questions being asked by Jewish and non-Jewish voters alike. At a suburban Illinois synagogue last week. Percy suggested that Jews have to live in "the real world when it comes to school prayer"--as if all those who oppose voluntary school prayer live in some twilight zone of intolerance. Actually, Percy once lived in just such an unrealistic world; his position on school prayer has evolved, too just as Reagan's popularity has soared.

The conservative President and the moderate (and once liberal) senator hardly share an ideological kinship. But Percy now basks in Reagan's light and welcomes Presidential visits to Illinois. His relationship with the President, his campaign argues, represents the "Illinois Advantage": Percy's got clout in the White House and can help bring jobs to Illinois. He touts the economic "miracle" of 1981-84. Yet during these "miraculous" years, the Illinois unemployment rate has risen from 8.1 per cent to 8.7 per cent. The state has lost more than 250,000 jobs in manufacturing industries alone. How's that for clout.

And in his support for the President, Percy outbushes Bush. In a joint campaign appearance, Simon rightly noted that "there hasn't been a Foreign Relations Committee chairman so docile and subservient to an Administration" in years. "You've just been a waterboy for this Administration," Simon concluded Percy's response? No sideline cheerleader he "If there's any water to carry for Ronald Reagan, I'll be glad to do it." It doesn't take a Bear Bryant to recognize that a good waterboy does not a championship team make.

But wait, the senator's aides argue: that's only half of the Illinois Advantage. Percy's also Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. And what a boon for Illinois citizens he's been there. According to The Almanac of American Politics, during his 18 years in the senate, Percy has not sponsored or written one major piece of legislation. And Percy seldom uses his position as Chairman to advocate enlightened initiatives, or even to voice concern about troubling issues, as did his predecessor, the late Frank Church of Idaho. Where, for instance, were the Senate investigations after the Beirut bombings?

ON THE OTHER side of the court is Paul Simon who, admittedly, looks more like a college professor than a politician. Complete with floppy ears, dark rimmed glasses and signature bow tie, Simon has authored nine books, the most recent of which examines morally and politics. If Simon's record offered little to applaud, one might be tempted to leave him in his library. But during his 10 years in Congress, Simon has passed more legislation than most of his colleagues and has consistently advocated worthy causes. In the most recent session, Simon sponsored the Missing Children's Act of 1984, which has established a national hotline and helped coordinate FBI information on thousands of the nation's missing children. He authored legislation on amusement park safety; he was the chief sponsor of the Civil Rights Act of 1984; the co-author of an amendment to a toxic wastes bill that provides for the use of federal funds to clean up waste sites on federal lands, he chairs a House Subcommittee on Higher Education and has sponsored measures not only to improve public education curriculum but also to raise salaries for teachers.

Simon shares Walter Mondale's concern for civil rights, education and a more equitable tax structure--and he's held his positions throughout his political career. But in some areas, he disagrees with his party's Presidential candidate. Simon, for instance, supports a proposed balanced budget amendment. His differences with Mondale have aggravated the Percy campaign, much as North Carolina Governor Jim Hunt's independence has frustrated that candidate's opponent, Senator Jesse Helms. And, like the Helms-Hunt contest, the Percy-Simon race has been bitter. A Percy commercial unfairly offers Simon's four year tax plan as if it were a single year plan-a tactic which makes Simon's plan look extreme and extravagant. In their one televised debate, Simon called the ad "sleazy."

As in North Carolina, the Senate race in Illinois has alienated many voters. Recent polls reveal that each candidate's unfavorable rating has increased. Polls also show that the race is a virtual toss-up. Most recently, the Chicago Tribune gave Percy a statistically insignificant 42-40 per cent edge, with many voters still undecided. Much will depend on Reagan's election day performance in Illinois; a recent CBS News poll there has the President ahead by 16 points.

But Senate races are not necessarily decided by coattails, no matter how strenuously a candidate hangs on. Simon should--and probably will--win because he's running on a consistent and honorable record. For his part, Percy's just running scared. Advantage, Simon.