Elly Peterson: "Mother" of the Moderates

4. The Reluctant Candidate

CHAPTER FOUR The Reluctant Candidate Peterson returned home to some bad news for a candidate still trying to build her name recognition: the unions at Detroit’s two major newspapers had gone out on strike the opening night of the convention, so there had been no coverage of her speech in the state’s two biggest papers. They would not resume publication until after Election Day. But now, at least, she was ‹nally free to campaign full time rather than just on weekends. Gert Powers had become campaign chairman. Nelle Taylor and her husband, Bruce, took charge of ‹nances. Pam Curtis moved to Michigan from the RNC staff. She drove from Washington with twenty-seven-yearold John McClaughry, who had been working for a struggling magazine published by Rockefeller Republicans. He showed up in blue jeans, carrying a guitar and an onion bag stuffed with his clothes. Peterson hired him as press secretary and speechwriter. Steve Royer, a law student who had met Peterson as a Teen Age Republican, signed on as bus driver, assistant press secretary, and gofer. Mary Richmond, who had moved to Hawaii to take a job at the prestigious Kamehameha Schools, now returned to Charlotte to travel with Elly and manage her household. Other old friends from Charlotte pitched in, everyone from the women’s circle at the First Congregational Church to members of the local Brownie troop, who helped with mailings and tacking up signs. “Grass roots,” Peterson observed,“don’t get any grassier than that!”1 Among the Charlotte volunteers was Joyce Braithwaite, who took on the job of campaign scheduler and, over the years, became one of Peter67 son’s closest friends and a political force of her own. From the start, Braithwaite-Brickley recalled, Peterson “struck me as a powerful person. She was larger of stature than most, walked with a very pronounced step. . . . And her voice was about an octave louder than most.” At the time, Braithwaite was the mother of two small boys and having marital problems. Peterson reached out to her, “and at the time,” she recalled , “I needed that from someone.” Peterson was, Braithwaite concluded ,“a mesmerizing person to me.”2 One supporter who stayed above the fray was Pete, whose job barred him from partisan politics. A feature story in the suburban Observer newspapers described Pete as“Michigan’s undisputed political widower of 1964.” The pro‹le continued: “I always love to see her again,” says Pete, “even if it’s only on television .” Pete claims he always misses Elly when she’s gone, but says it gets especially acute about dinner time. Friends of the Petersons report , however, that Pete is no slouch as a cook. He is still famous around Charlotte for a concoction he labeled simply “soup.” . . . Pete delights in suffering through his desertion on the golf links at Charlotte and Grand Ledge. . . . When Elly made a brief trip home last week, Pete claims she walked in, shook his hand and asked him to vote for her in the September 1 primary.“I did the average voter one better,” he says.“I not only promised to vote for her, I kissed her. At least I hope that’s one better.” This pro‹le, like other contemporary news stories, dated the Petersons’ marriage from the time of their ‹rst wedding.3 In the last weeks before the September 1 primary, Peterson made the most of the statewide volunteer organization she had built. On primary day, the weather was good and turnout was strong, in part because legislative and congressional districts had just been redrawn, pitting incumbents against one another in some races.4 And when the votes were counted, Peterson had come from behind to defeat her two male rivals. She garnered more than 210,000 votes, about 39 percent of the total, against the reputed favorite O’Neil, who captured 34 percent. Ed Meany was third with about 27 percent.5 In vote-heavy Wayne County, O’Neil’s ELLY PETERSON 68 home territory, Peterson trailed by about 11,000 votes. But she made up the difference across the rest of the state where she was well known among party regulars. She ran her primary campaign on less than $25,000. Her brothers each contributed $1,000, as did GOP activist Jack Stiles of Grand Rapids and G. Frank Langford, a family friend. Romney and J. Willard Marriott contributed $200 each, Larry...