Washington standard. [volume] (Olympia, Wash. Territory) 1860-1921, 1915-12-31
NO ONE REPUBLICAN
STANDS OUT STRONG
BAKERS DOZEN OF PRESDEN.
TIAL CANDIDATES IN FIELD,
BUT NO REAL LEADER.

TIAL CANDIDATES IN FIELD,
BUT NO REAL LEADER.
The logic of the sound political
axiom first enunciated by Odell, the
most sagacious of New York Repub-
lican leaders, that "you can't beat
somebody with nobody" applies ex-
actly to the conditions confronting
the two political parties already
planning for the next presidential
campaign, remarks Louis Siebold,
Washington correspondent of the
New York World, in a recent article
on the national political situation.
The Democrats have candidate
whose denomination appears abso-
lutely assured, unless he himself
should decide not to accept another
term. No other man figures in the
calculations of the party leaders;
none appears SO certain of receiving
the support of hundreds of thousands
of men politically drifting between
the Republican Scylla and Charybdis;
none ever has been better fitted to
lead his party for the second time.
These at least are the conclusions Of
the leaders Of all factions in the pres
ident's party. .-, s~t
The Republicans have nobody.
That 10. there is no man among the
bakers dozen or 90 talked Of whose
intellectual capabilities and political
equipment are sufficiently appealing
to recruit the support of enough del
egates to the next national convention
to give him anything like - good .
chance % that which 10 President
Wilson's for the acceptance.
G. O. p. Has No Man Nor Issue.
The concern of the Democratic
leaders il therefore not over the Ques.
ton Of q candidate. Al matter OF
fact. the party 10 confronted with
fewer problems involving prospective
embarrassment than any party In
power for more than 40 years.
The Republicans. on the other
hand, appear to have neither . man
nor an issue. The finding Of the for
mer will only be accomplished after
the sort Of guerilla hghting that has
torn the Republic of Mexico into tat
ters for three or four years.
Az for an issue, the foremen, sap
pers and miners, both reactionary
and progressive, admit they are
placing greater dependence upon the
Democratic congress to provide them
with war munitions than on any Of
the ancient traditions that used to
scare the average voter during a
Democratic administration.
Aside from the archaic tarih,
which has lost most Of its sting dur
ing the last decade, the two factions
OF the "out party" have q scant lar
der on which to draw in the prospect
i've emergency. And even the tarih
does not promise to be of any help.
War Issue Is Nearly Dead.
The steps already inaugurated by
President Wilson and his advisers to
divest that threadbare issue Of the
vital sparks remaining in 1t appear
almost certain to take it out of poll
tics. Congress is depended on to
.:take the starch out of it," as a po-
litical issue.
The international situation. which
the "straight-goods" Republicans and
conciliatory Progressives figured on
as a Give wire" in the next cam
paign, also has lost much OF its
charm as political potent. 1t is the
complaint of the average Republican
that the voter doesn't indicate suf-
Ifcient degree of indignation at the
"blunders made by the Wilson ad-
ministration" to insure the over
whelming tide of resentment anttci-
pated by them couple OF months
ago.
That the "out party" will have to
dig up an issue more attractive to the
voter than either the tariff or any
, resulting from the European war II
generally admitted.
The most serious puzzle to bt
solved by the Republicans Is to effec
a iuncture of forces. The chances
now favor the success Of this under
taking, although there has been NJ
open treating or even secret nego
Continued on Page Five.