The Seattle post-intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, Wash. Terr. [Wash.]) 1888-1914, 1892-01-23
SEATTLE, sArURDAY. JAN. as.
THE pREsIpEsrraL CAMPAIGN.

The Republican national convention
meets at Minneapolis June 4; the Demo
cratic national convention at Chicago
June 81. The national election will take
place on Tuesday, November 8, when the
people of the United States will choose
presidential electors, a majority of whom
meet on Monday, December 7, to cast their
ballots for president and vice president.
We are only five months distant from
the opening of this great campaign by
the formal nomination of candidates. IL
would be safe today to predict that the
Republican nomination will be given to
Mr.. Blaine, If he will accept it,
and that If Mr.. Blaine Is not willing to &C
cept. President Harrison is sure to be re-
nominated. The outcome of the Demo-
cratic national convention cannot be pre-
dicted with certainty. but German and
Hill are actively working for the nomina-
ton. Mr.. Cleveland may be regarded as
out of the race since his Southern support
began to fall of, following the detection of
Mills, of Texas, who has hitherto been
Clevelapd's strongest partisan.
If either Hill or German is nominated
1t will be the most remarkable triumph of
purely scientific politics since Martin Van
Buren, secured the Democratic nomina-
ton in 1886 As rule men have rarely been
nominated for president as the result of
purely political Vaccinations to that end.
Clay could never get the nomination when
his party was sure to win, as in 1870; Sew
ard could not get il in 1860, even with the
astute Thurlow Weed as the engineer of
his machine; Secretary Chase, who
never ceased to intrigue for the nomina-
ton. was always disappointed man. The
veteran politician, Henry Clay, was cast
aside for William III. Harrison, who was
in no sense politician; the politicians
Cass, buchanan and Van Buren, were
beaten for nomination by Polk,
very obscure and indifferent politician.
In 1913 Webster and Clay were beaten for
the nomination by a rough soldier who
knew little about politics and cared less.
In 1852 lass, Buchanan and Douglass were
droppss for Franklin Pierce, "a pollywog
from New Hampshire mud puddle" as
his enemies styled him. In 1868 Pendle-
ton, the candidate of the Democratic poll
ticians, lost the nomination, while Hora-
tito Seymour. who was not only willing
but an xious to nominate Salmon P. Chase,
received it. In 1876 the politicians were
set aside for inconspicuous General +. B.
Hayes. Governor Tilden, the Democratic
nominee, was q very astute politician, but
he no more owed his nomination to his
political skill as a manipulation of
conventions than Blaine's nomination
today would be due to political machina-
tons. Tilden in 1876 was nominated by
general consent, just as Blaine would be
by the Republicans tomorrow. The Re-
publican politicians were beaten in 1880.
when they were obliged to drop Blaine,
Grant and Sherman and take Garfield,
and the Democratic convention of that
year passed over Bayard, Thurman and
Hendricks and nominated Hancock, who
knew little more about politics in 1880
than Zachary Taylor did in 1913. In 1884
the veteran political candidates were
beaten and the Democratic nomination
went TO a mushroom political growth of
the Empire state.
Senators Thurman and Conkling agreed
in the opinion that in presidential con-
tests great political generalship cannot he
relied upon To capture either nomination
or an election, and cited the cases of Cass,
Douglass, Scott and Clay as showing that
where a nomination has come as the con-
summation of pure and technical political
activity it has only preceded failure in the
election.
Thurlow Weed noted the fact that can
didates for the nomination are usually
chosen from the smaller towns or even
the country villages. while no man has
occupied the White House, having been
elected to the Office Of president, who was
an inhabitsnt of one of the greater cities.
Weed did not believe that if Van Buren,
had been resident of New York CITY he
could ever have secured the nomination.
Tilden was the only man SINCE Clinton's
day, of either party, residing in New
York city who has received the nomi-
nation.
No man ever stepped from the Senate
chamber to the White House, and Gar
field was the only man that ever went
from the House of Representatives TO the
White House.