The Mankato free press. [volume] (Mankato, Blue Earth County, Minn.) 1879-1924, 1908-07-24
They Hope to Sweep Bryan Into.
White House on Wave of
Discomfort.
Politicians Are Doing Some Tall
Figuring; States Claimed
For Colonel.

Washington, July 22-"Hard tines
and radicalism are what the democra-
tic managers are most depending upon
to sweep Bryan into the White House.
This is made clear by the politicians
who have reached Washington from
Denver. These politicians believe that
an appeal to the voters, especially in
the middle west, along these lines will
result in gaining much support for the
democratic ticket. They corroborate
the statements that the democrats
will concentrate their best efforts to
the central section of the country, let
ting New York and the east do the
best they can without much help from
the national leaders.
As reflected by the men who at
tended the convention and fafterward
saw Mr.. Bryan at Lincoln, the demo-
cratic spellbinders will pound home in
the middle west the fact that prices
of food and clothing have gone up,
while claiming that wages have not ad-
vanced commensurately. OF course, the
tariff will be held as an important
cause of the high price of living, and
the republicans will be denounced for
not having revised it.
Democrats Have Little Hope.
Frankly, the democrats here who are
in a position to know the real political
situation have little hope of carrying
the election, but their opinion as to
how this is to be done, if at all, is
interesting. To begin with, Bryan, in
order to win, must gain eighty seven
electoral votes more than he obtained
in 1900 and l02 more than were cast
for Parker in 1904. The comparisons
generally made are with four years
ago, when Roosevelt received 1916 votes
and Parker 40. Parker got his votes
from Alabama, Kansas, Florida, Geor-
gia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland,
Mississippi, North Carolina, South Car
Dina, Texas, Tennessee and Virginia.
Bryan in 1900 carried these states and
in addition, Colorado, Idaho, Nevada
and Missouri.
1t is claimed by his friends that he
has good chance of winning Mis-
souri,, with eighteen votes, and the
new state of Oklahoma, with seven
votes. If he does this he will have
l65 electoral votes; but then he will
be seventy-seven short of the number
to elect, 242. 1t is these seventy-seven
votes that he is going after in the
west and the middle west.
Must Have Illinois and Indiana.
By the most liberal calculations, the |
Nebraskan must carry Illinois and In
diana at least, as well as several of |
the smaller western states, in order |
to have "look in" That would give |
him twenty-seven and fifteen electoral
votes, respectively.
Politicians figure that it would also
be necessary to win Wisconsin and
even Kansas, the former with thirteen
votes and the latter with ten. 1t is
known that Bryan believes the situa-
ton in these states is such as to make
voters responsive to his appeals. If
ne could carry Colorado, Oregon and
South Dakota, in addition to the big
states named above, he could concede
Ohio to Mr.. Taft and still win the
presidency.
The minority politicians also con-
END that Mr.. Bryan will do we'll in
Missouri. In 1000 the total vote of
,he state was 6S3,656, and in 1904
j43,S6l, falling off of 39,795. 1t is
claimed that the decrease was brought
about by the fact that Bryan was not
he candidate of the party, he argu-
nent being that, now he has been NOM
mated once more, the democratic vot-
RS will flock to the polls.