News stories from Tuesday November 7, 1972
Summaries of the stories the major media outlets considered to be of particular importance on this date:
- American voters turned out in record numbers today to choose the next president of the United States. Predictions of apathy among voters turned out to be incorrect. Republican party chairman Robert Dole cited Republican areas of New Jersey and Connecticut where voting was heavy. McGovern aides noted a heavy vote in Democrat areas of black, blue-collar and student precincts. President Nixon currently leads Senator McGovern 65% to 34% with 1% of the vote in. CBS predicts Kentucky will go to Nixon. [CBS]
- President and Mrs. Nixon were the first voters at Concordia Elementary School in San Clemente, California, before returning to Washington, DC. Neighbors turned out to see the First Family vote. The California ballot included 22 referenda on topics such as marijuana and pornography. The President dropped his ballot. [CBS]
- Senator George McGovern voted at a church in Mitchell, South Dakota; he voted the straight Democratic ticket as photographers surrounded his open voting booth. McGovern later spoke at Dakota Wesleyan University, reminiscing about the campaign and recalling the expressions of hope he received along the way. [CBS]
- Spiro Agnew spent the day in his Washington, DC office. Vice President and Mrs. Agnew voted at an elementary school in Towson, Maryland. Agnew said that a win would be satisfying -- any kind of win -- and stated that Senator McGovern's criticism of the Nixon administration's foreign policy hurt him. [CBS]
- Democratic vice-presidential nominee Sargent Shriver voted late in the afternoon at Rockville, Maryland, bringing his four sons to watch. [CBS]
- Bellwether areas are those which always vote for the winner. Ayrshire, Iowa, voted for William McKinley in 1896 and has voted for every presidential winner in the 76 years since. Nixon is favored there. Mayor Jody Smith, the nation's youngest mayor at age 20, supports President Nixon. Farmers in the area have written off Watergate as being just politics, but they are concerned with Nixon's peace efforts.
Laramie County, Wyoming has also voted for every presidential winner since 1896. A University of Wyoming poll gives Nixon a 2 to 1 edge there.
Cattle and trees are the major economic assets in Crook County, Oregon. The county has voted for every presidential winner since Grover Cleveland in 1884. Many voters here would have voted for George Wallace and will now go for Nixon, but they show little interest in the presidential race.
[CBS] - President Nixon's "Southern strategy" of four years ago was hampered by the candidacy of Alabama Governor George Wallace. Wallace voters this year may go to American Party candidate John Schmitz or to President Nixon. Wallace voters in Kentucky voted for Nixon; the same pattern holds in Tennessee. McGovern is running 2 or 3% behind Hubert Humphrey's mark in 1968. Nixon is winning Kentucky over McGovern by 65% to 35% with 38% of the vote counted.
But in the Kentucky Senate race, Republican Louie Nunn trails Democrat Walter Huddleston, denoting split tickets. In Tennessee, with 11% of the vote in, Nixon leads McGovern by a margin of 3 to 1 and incumbent Republican Senator Howard Baker currently leads Rep. Ray Blanton by 10,000 votes.
[CBS] - A few returns from the Midwest are in. In Indiana, President Nixon is getting most of the old George Wallace voters. With 7% reporting, Nixon leads George McGovern 2 to 1. Republican Governor candidate Otis Bowen may beat Democrat Matthew Welsh thanks to Nixon's coattails. [CBS]
- A CBS News election day survey of 7,500 voters nationwide indicates an anticipated landslide for President Nixon. [CBS]
- Procedural voting foul-ups are being reported, such as trouble with voting machines. Courts have ordered extended time for voting in Butler County (Ohio), Hudson County (New Jersey) and elsewhere. [CBS]
- CBS News estimates that President Nixon wins Indiana, 67% to 33%. [CBS]
- Another F-111 plane was lost over North Vietnam, the third in the last 40 days. Two crewmen are missing. [CBS]
- Both sides in the Vietnam war are mounting a furious effort to improve their military positions before a cease-fire. Americans have flown in hundreds of tons of arms for South Vietnam. The South Vietnamese air force received American C-130 transport planes, but South Vietnam has no crews to fly or repair them. More helicopters, fighter planes and parts have arrived. North Vietnam is sending large quantities of supplies down the Ho Chi Minh trail through Laos into South Vietnam. [CBS]
- The U.S. aircraft carrier Kitty Hawk has left the Vietnam war zone after 46 crewmen were hurt in a racial fight. The carrier Constellation returned to San Diego from maneuvers, and the skipper met with 130 crewmen who refused duty. [CBS]
- Meyer Lansky, the financial wizard of the underworld, has returned to the U.S. after Israel expelled him. The 71-year-old Lansky was taken into custody in Miami after being denied asylum in six countries; he was later released on bond. [CBS]
- One percent of the vote has been counted nationwide. President Nixon has an early and long lead -- 66% to Senator McGovern's 33%. American Party candidate John Schmitz has 1%. CBS News has predicted a Nixon victory in Kentucky and Indiana. [CBS]