"My florist bill for funerals of dead Democrats alone runs about $800 a year," Neil Staebler, a soft-spoken man with a scraggly mustache and baggy pants, once said. But Staebler's real concern is for live Democrats—and he has found enough to make Michigan a Democratic stronghold. As Democratic state chairman, Staebler designed, built and oiled the machine that kept "Soapy" Williams in the Governor's mansion from 1949 to 1960, and that elected Lieutenant Governor John Swainson, 36, as his successor. For weeks Staebler has been hunting for a strong Democratic candidate to run...
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