Incumbent Blackwell takes on Republican Hollin in Congressional race

In a year in which it is fashionable for a candidate to appear to be an outsider, Congressman Lucien Blackwell is an insider, and he makes no apologies for it. The former city councilman, who will be seeking his first full term in Congress -- he won a special election last fall to fill the vacancy left by House Majority Whip William Gray's retirement -- sees himself as part of a team, and one that he hopes will be the winning team across the board tomorrow. Although not as extensively publicized as tomorrow's U.S. Senate election, this campaign has been no less personal, and no less nasty. Perhaps the campaign's tone can be best explained by Republican challenger Larry Hollin's campaign slogan. Hollin bills himself as "the solution to Lucien." Hollin, a 1981 College and Wharton graduate and 1984 Law School graduate, has painted a highly unflattering picture of his opponent, portraying him as arrogant, inept and unstable. At a speech in High Rise East last month, Hollin said he believed that "in every race [Blackwell has] ever been in, there's been substantial voter fraud." He also called Blackwell "arrogant" and said Blackwell refused to debate him. Blackwell called the charge of voter fraud "nonsense" and said he was not afraid to debate Hollin. "I have debated the experts," Blackwell said. "And he's not an expert." In an interview several weeks later, Hollin said he "wouldn't want to comment with any authority" on any specific allegations of election fraud, except to say "there has been a tremendous amount of fraud in Philadelphia in general" associated with "big-city machine" politics. Blackwell has criticized Hollin for what he termed "intellectual dishonesty" and "a lack of character." He said Hollin's campaign posters which read -- "Larry Hollin, A Citizen for Congress" -- falsely represent him as an independent who is above party politics, because they do not mention he is a Republican. Blackwell said he believes the slogan is part of an attempt by Hollin to cash in on anti-incumbent, anti-party sentiments at the polls. "He's tried to create the impression that he's an independent," Blackwell said. "He's not, and he's been intellectually dishonest, and we all know it." "I'd be afraid to admit I'm a Republican too," Blackwell added. "Because we're going to landslide them something awful in this country." Blackwell said he thinks Hollin is "running from the president," and is "cowardly." "When we [the Democrats] knew that Jimmy Carter was going to lose, we didn't desert Jimmy Carter, we worked harder . . . you don't jump ship when it's sinking," he added. "You try to make sure you've got the people off before you jump." Blackwell says he has no illusions about his job: he considers himself a public servant, plain and simple. "We're not public masters," Blackwell is fond of saying. "We're public servants." One of the things Blackwell said he considers important to him as a public servant is that many of his constituents come to see him at his Market Street office. "We have people coming in here every day," he said. "It doesn't matter whether they're street people, or whether they're young or old, illiterate or literate." "We want them [all] to believe that we are committed to giving our constituents the best legislation we can think of," he said. "I've been here all of my life and there's no reason for Lucien Blackwell to become absent because he's been elected to Congress." Blackwell said the issues that will be tops on his agenda, should he be re-elected, include fair trade, domestic job creation and comprehensive health care. "We have to put people back to work, with well-paying jobs -- not with minimum-wage service jobs, but jobs that will allow us to rebuild the infrastructure of America," he said. He cited Japan as a country with a strong committment to building their infrastructure. "Japan will spend about $1 trillion in the next ten years rebuilding the infrastructure of Japan," Blackwell said. "We should do no less." "Japan cares about its people," he said. "They care about Japan first." "We ought to care about Americans first," he added. Blackwell said he wants reciprocal trade agreements with every country the United States trades with. "I want to make sure it's reciprocal," he said. "I don't want a one-sided trade agreement, so [foreign workers] go to work and we sleep in the streets." He cited Japan again, calling it "a perfect example" of a country which pursues unfair trade policies with the United States. "[Japan] can flood our market with every domestic item known to man," he said. "Yet they restrict our selling many goods in Japan, and I believe that is unfair." Hollin, who considers himself a political maverick, is running on a platform of economic conservatism and social liberalism. Of paramount importance to Hollin is the building of a regional economy. "My economic plan is structured for the Delaware Valley," Hollin said. "It doesn't view Philadelphia as separated from the suburbs." Hollin said he believes that it is economically dangerous for Philadelphia to be isolated. "Philadelphia has always been the punching bag of the state," he said. "It's always been seen as Harrisburg's problem child." And Hollin said he thinks his opponent can't see the big picture. "[Blackwell] tends to be very parochial," he said. "He doesn't go beyond his narrow interests to look at the region as a whole." "[Blackwell] tends to divide, rather than unify," he added. "That's always been his trademark." Hollin also attacked Blackwell's record as a city councilman. "He has an atrocious track record to be running on," he said. "[Blackwell] was the chairman of the finance committee in City Council, and the city's bond rating went from an 'A' rating to junk-bond rating." "Ten percent of the city's population has left the city in the past ten years," he added. Hollin said he would keep close ties to City Hall while at Capitol Hill. "I want to be Ed Rendell's best friend in Washington," he said. "[I'd be] a better friend to Ed Rendell than Lucien, who ran against him for mayor and probably will again." Although Hollin is a Republican, he said he disapproved of some of the stands on social issues taken by the national Republican party, such as on abortion and homosexuality. "I have a lot of problems with what happened [at the Republican National Convention] in Houston," he said. "The idea of gay-bashing is not something the party should engage in -- it's not the way to build a majoritarian party." Hollin said he was one of only two Republican candidates in Pennsylvania to be endorsed by the National Abortion Rights Action League. Hollin said he believes there is a lot of anti-incumbent feeling among the voters this year, and he thinks he will benefit from it. "I don't think voter anger is subsiding," he said. "I certainly hope the level of voter anger comes out at the polls." Hollin added a caveat to non-voters. "Nobody has the right to be angry or to complain if they don't vote," he said.

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