Bismarck daily tribune. [volume] (Bismarck, Dakota [N.D.]) 1881-1916, 1916-05-26

NdlIOuHl COMWlt.
tee made up of a representative from
each state.
The first problem faced by cam
paign manager is what to do with his
candidate; where the candidate shall
be sent, il anywhere: whether 1t is
to be speaking campaign or front
porch campaign; If the latter, what
kind of speeches are to be made to
the arriving delegation; II the former.
what kind of talks are to be made
from the tail of the train, or in the
halls rented for the purpose.
This is a huge task, involving secrr.
ing halls, reserving quarters in hotels.
as wei! as the more important matters
as to the wisdom of saying or not
saying certain things in the speeches
to be made.
The second problem is what kind
OF publicity to seek; whether to dis
tribute congressional speeches on the
tariff, orations about the flag, editor
ials in the form of boiler plat" for
country papers, or press agent dope
containing heart interest stories
about the candidate. Generally, a lit
tie OF each is done.
The thru big problem for the ma
tional campaign managers Is how to
spend the campaign fund. Part goes
for Office rent. part for postage, part
for railroad fare, part for hotel
charges, and part for paid writer's
and speakers. Then. if Hanna is
running the campaign and the fund
is eight or nine millions, the surplus
is spilled to local campaign commit
tees to filter to local politicians and
the country press. 1t was this spill
over that caused those charges of
bribery and corruption in the McSin-
ley-Bryan campaign OF 1896. w"
No problem faced by the manager
of national campaign is more diff.
ticult than adjusting the national
campaign to the local campaign. There
are always factions in the party, and
the question arises at once which
faction Is to be recognized and given
the assistance which such recognition
carries Often states are lost by a
wrong decision on such a point.
TO get votes is an important thing
in a presidential campaign, but
strangely enough, it is not all.impOrt-
ant. The man having the most votes
is not necessarily elected. The candi-
date must get electoral" votes. Each
state has electoral votes in proportion
to it's population; big states like New
York and Pennsylvania having more
than small states like Nevada and
Utah.
I, ia n - inc n QnN
delivers all the states electoral votes.
So it is more important to get a bare
majority in state like New York
than to get all the votes (popular)
in half dozen states like Utah. 1t
is problem in strategy.
With few exceptions presidential
campaigns are won or lost quite re-
eardless of the activities Of the cam.
paign manager. The Mckinley cam
paign was an exception. Hanna was
an able organizer and knew where
and how to spend the huge fund he
administered. And he knew how to
lend himself to newspaper publicity
and through tile great dailies to help
mold public sentiment.
The outcome of the Wilson CAM
paign was not affected in any way
by McCoE:bs, his manager. 1t was
predestined from the moment the op-
position party split.
If the candidate fits to public senti-
ment, that candidate wins. The presi-
Dental drama is played to hundred
million people, over a period of four
years. The campaign period between
June 7 and November g, merely raises
the curtain and turns on the lights.