The Dawson news. (Dawson, Ga.) 1889-current, 1920-10-19
NOTHING CERTAIN
ABOUT POLITICS
WHY DEMOCRATS ARE HOPE
Full IN SPITE OF CLAIMS or
THE REPUBLICANS.

WASHINGTON, D. C.-Democcrats
should take encouragement, ana re-
nubIicans warning. from remark
which the late Senator Thomas >:
Martin. of Virginia, one of the pest
noIitical organizers of his day, used
n make to friends when they began
70 count too positively upon the out
come of a campaign-"Maybe so;
bnt remember, there's nothing GER
tain in politics"
The majority of the most expert
anced politicians and political OBJ
servers in the country had perhaps
the greatest surprise of their lives
in the presidential election Of four
Years ago. when the west turned
what seemed an overwhelming re-
publican victory into win !or the
democrats. For all their professions
of confidence, sincere IN some cases
undoubtedly, the majority OF the re-
publican leaders are gong 10 De
painfully on the anxious bench NO
yember 2, knowing that what has
happened can happen again.
Straw votes and hot air do not
constitute ballots. There is always an
enormous silent vote in the United
States. and this time it is going to be
very much larger than usual because
of the nation wide advent of woman
suffrage. If there were no doubt OF
the result there would be no betting,
even at odds; and the betting goes
on as usual 1t will be remembered
that bets were heavily in favor OF
Hughes in 1916 until a short time
before the election, when the odds
suddenly disappeared and it was even
money, or thereabout.
Border States Democratic.
Developments of the campaign at
this stage are not without their heart
ening features to the democrats on
the watch-tower.
For instance, there is growing evil
dence that the border states, all the
way from Maryland to and including
ing Oklahoma, which were claimed
with the utmost assurance by the G.
o. P. when the campaign opened,
are going to be found in the demo-
cratic column next month.
The effect of the precipitation of
the old race question by the extern
sion of the ballot to women, bringing
colored women to the polls in large
numbers, is apparently to produce a
much larger registration of the white
women voters in these border states
than would otherwise have been the
case. AS the colored population of all
the border states is large, they are
affected more than the average state
in the union by anything which
threatens to disturb the racial status
among their southern neighbors.
Though little Delaware is not
strictly border state she is also af-
fected more than the average state
by the race question in politics, and
her vote may be thrown to the dem
ocratic column next month because
of this fact. Democratic observers
are inclined to figure on solid chain
of border states from the Atlantic
ocean to New Mexico, running in this
order: Delaware, Maryland West
Virginia, Kentucky, Missouri and
Oklahoma. Adding the 81 electoral
votes of these states to the 1876 votes
of the IL states making up what is
called the solid south the democrats
figure on 178, or at any rate IT'S,
practically sure votes in the electoral
college.
G. o. P. Has Big Job.
If the democrats can start, as they
believe they can, with IT'S electoral
votes from the solid south and solid
border territory, and counting as
they do on a minimum of % votes
from the far west, including such
states as Arizona, New Mexico, Mon
tana, Nevada, Utah and Colorado,
raising their total to 1913, the three