"I don't see why I can't function like anyone
else, if I want to, as a political activist, or as an individual
who is concerned about the way things are going."
"I don't see why I can't function like anyone
else, if I want to, as a political activist, or as an individual
who is concerned about the way things are going."
That is how Peter Deuel, a Penfield boy who made good on television and in Hollywood, expressed his views on actors in politics.
Resting below a large poster of Sen. Eugene McCarthy, D-Minn., on the walls of the 37th district McCarthy headquarters, 321 Genesee St., Deuel said, "Actors are people who just happen to go into acting and are as conscientious or unconscientious as any other people."
The 27-year-old son of Mr. and Mrs. Ellsworth Deuel, 1790 Penfield Road, Penfield, arrived here Tuesday and will campaign for McCarthy right up until the primary tomorrow.
Commenting on his work here, Deuel said, "My reception has generally been good, but that's hard to measure precisely--I didn't have much advance publicity."
Photo Caption: Actor Peter Deuel and poster of his candidate.
Deuel, who has been a worker at California
colleges since mid-March, praised the "quality of courage"
he felt McCarthy showed in opposing the Vietnam war and "forgetting
politics" to oppose the Johnson administration. The star
of the "Love on a Rooftop" TV series scorned the idea
of personal publicity.
"We don't scream--meet Peter Deuel. If someone recognizes
me, all right, but we don't push it. Rather I ask people to read
literature on McCarthy," said Deuel, who has canvassed stores,
factories, shopping centers and local meetings through out the
week. He'll be at Eastway Plaza at 10:30 this morning, Northgate
Plaza at 2:30 p.m. and at the Greece Towne Mall at 7 p.m. Tomorrow
he will be 'leafletting' at Pittsford Plaza at 10 a.m.
How much impact does he have, compared
with such other McCarthy stars as Paul Newman? "There's no
doubt a star of his stature has tremendous impact, but someone
like me?" Deuel thought a moment and replied: "I really
can't tell whether I contribute more as a celebrity or just as
a worker."
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