Races of the week: Abraham vs. Stabenow

Michigan's U.S. Senate Race

"There are two kinds of U.S. senators-a workhorse and a showhorse," John McCain likes to say. "I'm a showhorse. But Spence Abraham is a workhorse."

Indeed, no one would accuse the 250pound senator from Michigan with the furrowed brow and Richard Nixon-like five o'clock shadow of being "flashy" or "flamboyant," or of being a scene-stealer a la McCain. But no one-not even determined political enemies-would ever accuse the 49-year-old Abraham of being "lackadaisical" or "light "

The grandson of Lebanese immigrants, Spence Abraham threw himself into Water Wonderland politics shortly after earning his degrees from Michigan State University and Harvard Law School. After working in and managing a string of campaigns, he was elected state Republican chairman at the age of 30. Times were not good for Michigan Republicans, who didn't hold a single statewide office or control either house of the legislature when Abraham took over. But within a few years, the state GOP was in fighting financial trim, had won control of the state senate and, in 1990, replaced Democratic Gov. James Blanchard with Abraham's close friend John Engler-the only statewide race anywhere in the country that year in which a Republican challenger defeated a Democratic incumbent.

Chairman Abraham's tenacity, attention to detail, and capacity fox hard work played a pivotal role in the election of Gov. Engler, the gradual capture of both legislative Houses and the elections of other statewide officials. Following stints as a top aide to Vice President Dan Quayle and as operating head of the National Republican Congressional Committee, Abraham finally decided to become a candidate himself in 1994.

His years of cultivating campaign workers and donors in the political vineyards as well as his role as loyal opposition spokesman in Lansing during the Blanchard years paid off for him, and Abraham, in his maiden political race, was elected Michigan's first Republican U.S. senator in 16 years.

With some in politics, the roles of strategist and issues man are mutually exclusive. One gets candidates elected, the other grapples with policy. After six years in Washington, Sen. Abraham (lifetime American Conservative Union rating: 85%) has proven himself a capable hybrid He was the floor manager for the debate on the Balanced Budget Amendment, which fell short by one vote in the Senate. Strongly pro-life, Abraham spoke and consistently voted for the ban on partial-birth abortion. He was the Senate GOP point man on abolishing the Department of Commerce and stood up for a cap on product liability damages.

Most recently, at a time when Democratic office-seekers read almost a mantra from the national party playbook as they charge Republicans with doing nothing about prescription drugs for seniors, it has been the man from Michigan who has stood up and said, "No way!" Pointing out that many of the Democratic alternative plans on this issue impose $600 a year in new premiums, Abraham has co-sponsored the "Medicare Rx Drug Discount and Security Act," which includes a $35 yearly enrollment fee (and no costly premiums) and also limits out-ofpocket expenses seniors pay for prescription drugs. "Many of the seniors I have talked to in Michigan fear a government-run program will be detrimental to their current benefits," he says. "This legislation will not duplicate the private prescription plans already serving two-thirds of our seniors."

Six years after he won his first term with 52% of the vote, Abraham is locked in a fierce fight against two-term Democratic Rep. Debbie Stabenow (lifetime ACU rating: 9%). Well-known statewide from her past bids for governor and lieutenant governor, the 50-year-old Lansing lawmaker, like friend Bill Clinton, totally avoids the term liberal and occasionally even takes a centrist stand (such as supporting a three-year tax credit for new small businesses).

But make no mistake about it: With the likes of the state AFL-CIO, the American Trial Lawyers Association, Playboy heiress Christie Hefner, and Clinton himself (who recently hosted a fundraising event in Dearborn for Stabenow, who voted against his impeachment) backing her, it is safe to say that Debbie Stabenow is no centrist. A look at her overall record underscores this fact. She has opposed an anti-missile defense program, voted against legislation to keep U.S. troops out of Bosnia, backed increased funding for the leftist-riddled Legal Services Corp., and consistently opposed a ban on partial-birth abortion.

In 1954, the conservative Republican senator whom Abraham most resembles was in the fight of his career. For a dozen years, brainy, hard-working Sen. Homer Ferguson had been on the cutting edge of most of the major investigations in Congress-from the probe of corruption among wartime munitions manufacturers such as Howard Hughes to investigations of communism in government before anyone heard of Joe McCarthy. But, thanks to a national Democratic effort (and illegal donations from old enemy Hughes), Ferguson fell to Detroit Democrat Pat MacNamara, a favorite of Big Labor.