Wisconsin's Democratic Governor Gaylord Nelson, 46, was out to slay a solon. And he had it all planned out. The intended victim was Alexander Wiley, 78, after 24 years the senior Republican in the U.S. Senate. The plan was simple: campaign energetically around the state, irk the old gentleman, let him lose his temper, and then shrug it all off as though it were pitiful proof of senility. The Nelson strategy worked.
Nelson toured Wisconsin slowly and deliberately, attacking Wiley for opposing Administration measures such as medicare and the drug bill. After the marathon session of Congress, Wiley finally got home to campaign, took Nelson's bait, and behaved as irascibly as his worst enemy could possibly have hoped. First, he called Nelson a "nitwit." Then, asked by a reporter about his stand on medicare, Wiley roared: "You keep your damn nose out of my business and I'll keep mine out of yours." At a press conference, Wiley answered a reporter's innocuous question by hollering: "Shut up!" Last week, after Nelson upset Wiley, the victor said of his adversary: "He performed on schedule."
Swept in by the Nelson victory was Democratic Attorney General John W. Reynolds, 41, a liberal running for Governor against Milwaukee Businessman Philip G. ("Buzz") Kuehn, 42, a conservative who just could not bring himself to disavow the backing of the John Birch Society.