Today's Club elections stir memories of contested 1964 vote
This story originally ran as a blog post at http://pressblog.org/node/130. The National Press Club election will be held today, Friday, Dec. 9. Members can vote from 8 a.m. until 7 p.m. in the Zenger Room.
The Washington Post headline read: "National Press Club Has a Real Contest
For Presidency First Time in 33 Years", by Edward T. Folliard, who wrote:
"Ordinarily elections at this, the largest and best-known club of its kind in
the world, arouse no great excitement - at least where the top offices are
concerned. But this time there is a sizeable battle for the presidency, the
first real contest for the No. 1 office in 33 years. Consequently, a large
turnout of voters is predicted."
The date was December 11, 1964, and the candidates for president were Clark
R. Mollenhoff of the Cowles Publications, and William M. (Bill) Blair of The
New York Times. Mollenhoff was the Club's vice president. Blair was the
secretary.
The big issue of the campaign was what the article called the "escalator
system." This was the process by which a Club member who became elected vice
president one year would be "automatically" elected president the next year
"without opposition."
In 1963, the year prior, "less than 15 percent of those qualified to cast ballots" turned out to vote in the uncontested elections. In that 1963 election, Mollenhoff was elected vice president to serve in 1964. And as the December election approached, it was assumed he would announce his candidacy for president, which he did.
But at the last minute, the Post reported that a "revolt" by several members "persuaded [Blair] to run aginst (sic) Mollenhoff. The New York Times announced his candidacy on Dec. 1." The Bill Blair for President Committee mailed a flyer to all active members urging support for Blair:
"Let's get rid of the Russian ballot in the NPC. For the first time in decades you can CHOOSE a president, not just ACCEPT one. He (Bill Blair) is running out of turn, bucking the escalator system ..."
In response, Mollenhoff issued this statement on December 10:
"I believe in free, clean election contests at the National Press Club, and have helped stimulate some competition for these offices ... The record will show that my opponent was appointed as secretary and has never been in an election contest. I have run for election as an independent reporter, I had no organization support when I entered Press Club politics in 1956 ... I am running for president of the National Press Club on the basis of my record."
Other contested elections that year included treasurer and positions on the board of governors.
SO ... why are we NPCers thinking about such things today?
The "escalator system" has been alive and well for years. But this year, there's a
contested race for president with - not two, but - three candidates for president:
- Keith Hill, currently the vice president
- Theresa Werner, currently the chair of the Board of Governors
- Tim Young, currently chair of the Young Members Committee
On Nov. 28 the three candidates met in debate at the Club.
The battle is intense, the number of absentee ballots that were ordered by last Friday's deadline alone surpassed the number of votes cast in a typical election year. Voting has been open all this week, by voting in person via absentee ballot.
And today (Friday, Dec. 9) is Election Day, and the the results are scheduled to be announced tonight at Taco Night.
Members who haven't voted yet should show up at the Club on Friday and vote in the Zenger Room.
A list of candidates, candidate statements and links to both the presidential and communicator debases may be found at http://press.org/membership/elections. You'll have to log in to access them.