sentences:  Though at heart a mainstream member of the Democratic party, with associated positions on most issues, Seith's campaign emphasized his hard line positions in foreign policy.Percy managed to salvage his office by means of a televised "mea culpa" in the final week of the campaign, but Seith's campaign may have been dealt a blow some days earlier, when popular "Chicago Sun-Times" columnist Mike Royko informed readers that Seith had served as a character witness in the trial of a mob figure some years earlier.Seith unsuccessfully sought the Democratic nomination for Illinois' other U.S. Senate seat in 1980, but was defeated by Illinois Secretary of State Alan J. Dixon, who went on to win the general election.