The Watertown weekly leader. [volume] (Watertown, Jefferson County, Wis.) 1912-1917, 1912-10-25
ROOSEVELT NOT 4
GOOD V0TE-CETTER
HIS POPULARITY NOT SHOWN BY
THE VOTES HE HAS RECEIVED.
RECORD WILL SURPRISE MANY
In New York When He Ran for Gov
ernor He Did Not Get Full Party
superintendent Vote
When Analysed Is Not to
His Advantage.

Colonel Roosevelt is regarded every
where as marvellous vote-getter.
1--WE are for Teddy because he VIII
elect our county ticket" chorused the
/ Roosevelt shouters prior to the re-
nomination of President Taft. And
even now, when, having failed to get
| the Republican nomination for a
third term, he Is heading a boiling
Third Party organization, there are
many Republicans who. seem to think
that he has a strong hold upon the
people. The fact is the record shows
| that he Is not a successful vote get
| ter. The belief which prevails in
some parts of the country that Roose-
welt has a magic hold upon the people
| is not supported by the facts. Mr..
| Roosevelt's own activity In self-ad-
vertising is largely responsible for the
| belief.
Take, for instance his home state
| of New York. Here are the figures
of the Republican vote cast In the
three elections of 1896, 1898 and 1900,
the two years before and the two
years after Roosevelt was a candidate
for governor:
1896, Black ....,......... 7Sl5l6
1898, Roosevelt .......... 66l,707
1900, Odell .............. S04,S59
When Roosevelt ran as candidate
| for governor he had behind him his
prestige of service in the war with
| Spain He made q spectacular cam
paign with a number of uniformed
soldiers riding with him upon the
rear platform Of his special train.
Even with this advantage he polled
| 125, 900 less votes than Black and
nearly $4,000 less votes than Odell.
This shows that In his own state he
Is not the vote-getter which he claims
to be.
PoIIed Less Votes Than Taft.
Colonel Roosevelt received an enor-
nous plurality when he ran for presi-
dent In 1904, but that was because
100000 Democrats declined to vote
for Judge Alton b. Parker. The real
test of Roosevelt's plurality is the
number of Republican votes cast for
him. He polled 1923, 1856 votes, but
even this number was $4,000 less than
were cast for Taft in 1908 with
Bryan In the field and practical
Democratic harmony restored. Do
these figures show Roosevelt TO be a
great vote getter?
The figures as to Illinois are also
interesting and instructive. In 1904
the total Republican vote for Eoose-
welt was 632,645, but this was 1884
less than were cast for Charles s.
Deneen for governor. Roosevelt was
supposedly the idol of the Republican
party while Governor Deneen's nomi-
nation was secured at the end of
three weeks convention In which bit
ter factioDal fighting developed. Yet
Deneen, as stated, received 1884
more votes for Roosevelt
An attempt Is made to demonstrate
Colonel Roosevelt's popularity by cit
ing the fact that his plurality In ILL
nois in 1904 was 305 900, while Taft's
was only 10000 in 1908. The fact is
that in 1904 Roosevelt received 632 ,645
votes. In 1908 Taft received 629, 1929
votes, 80 that out Of about 100000
votes the only difference between
Roosevelt's popularity and Taft's
popularity as shown by the total Re-
publican vote was 2,713.
Illinois Is cited merely because it is
typical Of other states.
Some Primary Figures.
AS Republican candidate for presi-
dent last spring, Colonel Roosevelt
polled 81 per cent of the total vote
cast at the Illinois primaries, but only
42.37 per cent of the Taft 1908 vote
A majority of the Republicans of Il
linois have not expressed prefer
ence for Colonel Roosevelt for presi-
dent. In a recent statement Colonel
Roosevelt said: The primary in ILL
nois last spring definitely decided
that / was the choice of the Illinois
Republican voters for president
Colonel Roosevelt should be informed
than 4237 per cent of the Repub-
lican vote in Illinois does not decide
what 57.63 per cent shall do with
bolter who denounced their party be-
cause 1t would not nominate him
Similar conditions prevail In other
states.
The foregoing record proves that
Colonel Roosevelt, without regard to
his other essential deficiencies, is not
a powerful vote-getter. The win
with-Teddy" buncombe Is quite popu-
lar with Colonel Roosevelt and his
supporters with the hope of dragging
into line timid voters and pot-hunting
politicians. The facts show that as
a vote.getter Roosevelt never had
been as strong as his party He was
not as strong as Black or OdeIl in
New York, where he is best known;
although running against cripple in
Judge Parker, he ran more than q
million votes behind his party
strength; he was not as strong as Taft
In the country at large; and he was
not Is strong as Taft and Deneen in
Illinois.
The current belief, stimulated By
Roosevelt's own expressions, that
Roosevelt IL q powerful vote-getter. In
hv no