The Rock Island Argus and daily union. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1920-1923, 1920-09-18

Methods in Campaigns.

Washington, D. C.. SEPT. Ia
The management Of . national
campaign ira matter Of business
a. we'll - politics. Some Of the
most successful managers Ia the
rational. a, well a. In local poll
fics, have 6een men who won their
yspurs In commercial Affairs long
before they took IN interest in
things political. Mark Hanna ID .
notable example. Prior to 1886 he
vas looked upon ~ . successful
business man rather than - q pol
it1cian. yet when he entered the
Geld of politics Hanna was able to
defeat such veterans ~ Joe Man
ley Of Maine, Plat OF New York,
Quay Of Pennsylvania and Clark
son Of Iowa. What has been said
Of Hanna Is also true in the case
Of william F. Harrity, who was
chairman of the Democratic pa
tional committee in 1892. Ht was
known Is Z business man rather
than Is . politician. Many thought
that Mr.. Roosevelt made . mistake
In 1904 when he named George b.
Cortelyou as head Of the national
committee, for the latter had no
experience in the game Of politics,
his work having been confined en-
tirely to business and the govern
ment service. But Cortely6u was
. success.
That the head Of the national
committee is . ticklish position
goes without saying. The chair
man is ofttimes blamed for results
quite beyond his control. A case
in point Is that Of Senator Carter
OF Montana, who headed the Re-
publican national committee in
1892, = year in which the tide had
turned so strongly to the Demo-
Gratis that the best Of politicians
could never have diverted II.
The problem of success in the
management Of national campaigns
is divided into three parts-how to
hold the vote of the rank and file
Of tho party and arouse their en-
thusiasm for the ticket; how to
convert voters from the other side
as veil as the great mass Of indie
pendents, and how t6take advan-
tage Of the mistakes the other side
Is liable to make.
| A Costly Error.
The most costly mistake that
any party manager was able to
take advantage of was In the cam.
paign of 1884, when James G
Blaine, in reply to the greeting Of
the ministers, did not Immediately
repudiate the speech of DR.. Burch-
ard, characterizing the Democratic
party as one of Rum, Romanism
and Rebellion, It is true that the
plumed knight did SO later on, but
not before the Democratic mana
gers had flooded the country with
copies Of the Burchard speech, by
which time it was too late. To take
advantage of the utterance Of Gen
eral Hancock characterizing thu
tariff as a local issue helped tt
bring about his defeat.
There are three ways of attain
ing the results. The first I,
through mass meetings. Most lead
ers claim that their value is lin
tied to the arousing of enthusiasm
Of the rank and file,: that masi
meetings do not as a rule make
votes. As evidence. it is pointed
out that Mr.. Bryan in his cam
tpaigns had large anu enthusiastic
audiences, many people coming t,
hear his oratory, although deter
mined not to vote for him. Thu
second is through the distribution
Of campaign literature, This mean
the speeches Of party leaders, leaf
lets on the issues and badges ant
buttons with the party emblem
and portraits and the names Of tn
candidates. The third is the inser
ton Of articles and editorials II
the daily and weekly newspaper
} throughout the country. This 4
one Of the most important ant
J highly effective methods. Much at
; tention Is paid to 1t by party man
ayers. 1t came into vogue whel
the tariff was an issue back il
l18SS. The controversy over fire.
iraw materials was then on. Bot
sides began to send the press arti
Giles on this subject and then Of
other issues.
Getting the Dope.
The national committee is aide,
tin it's work by q campaign or ex
ecutive committee. The informa
ton on which the campaign is con
Quoted comes from two sources
First, from the managers them
selves and those close to them pc
litically. AS they are from ever
section Of the country their knowl
edge collectively covers the 'entir
field. 1t may be stated as a gen
! eral proposition that each manage
lis preQumed to be in charge Of tn
campaign in his territory. TIL
? second source of information is tn
chairmen OF the various state com
mittees. They are supposed to b
, continually keeping the nations
: managers posted. Their informa