Evening star., 1924-05-29
La Follette's Objective.

Speculation regarding the course OF
Senator La Toilette as possible con-
tender for the presidency on an in
dependent ticket. stimulated by his
somewhat cryptic utterance. is not
complete without consideration of the
effect of his denunciation of the rad
icalS. whose proposed meeting at St.
Paul on the 18th of June he repu-
dates. He deliberately turns his back
upon the communists and others of
that ilk. He will have nothing to do
with them or their meeting. To
whom. then. will he appeal if he
should enter the lists?
Ii is hard to see how those who
have called the st. Paul conven-
ton and those who may attend it
and those represented by such at
tendance can logically follow the Wis
consin candidate. if his name is
formally offered to the country. say
at the Cleveland meeting of July 4.
La Toilette says he is not for them.
They can hardly be for him. If they
are bent upon putting up a candidate
for the campaign they will have TO
look elsewhere.
Does this prospective separation of
the radicals from the La Toilette fol-
lowing materially weaken him as a
candidate? That is the question Of
moment. OF course. nobody looks to
see him carry enough states. if any,
to win the election. He has no or
ganiZation. He must create his own
new party. n sort of bull moose of
1924" affair. 1t is frankly recognized
that the majo perhaps the sole. pur-
pose of the La Toilette candidacy
would he to prevent decision in the
electoral college and to throw the
choice of President into the House of
Representatives., which would be
deadlocked in a vote by states.
The total electoral vote is 531. of
which 266 will be necessary TO elect
1t has been computed that if Mr.
Coolidge. who will be the Republican
nominee. can carry New England
New York. New Jersey. Pennsylvania.
Maryland. Ohio, Indiana, Illinois,
Michigan. Iowa, Kansas and Cali
fornia. he will have just 266 votes
precisely enough to win. This reck-
oning does not, it will be noted, in
clude any Of the northwestern states.
where La Toilette is supposed to be
particularly strong. 1t does not in
clude Minnesota. Wisconsin, either of
the Dakotas. Oregon, Washington.
Montana. Idaho. Wyoming. Utah, Ne
braska or Colorado. The only states
west of the Mississippi in the reck-
oning are Kansas. Iowa and Cali
fornia.
Apart from other considerat tions,
therefore. the question with regard to
La Toilette is whether he would have
enough strength in such states as
Maryland. Indiana. Iowa, Kansas and
California to win one of them or to
reduce the Republican vote to the
point of permitting the Democratic
any of them into the Democratic
column and Mr.. Coolidge carries no
state beyond those indicated he elects
a Democrat President. He now de-
clares both parties to he unworthy of
confidence.
If the radicals whom Mr., La Fol
lette denounces as dangerous fail to
follow him as a d-party leader,
the discontented elements in the west
will thus be brought to face the ques-
tion of whether to support him with
out any possibility of his election-in
other words. to waste their votes-in
order to bring about the election of
a Democratic President, or to cause
deadlock in the electoral college and
in the House of Representatives, with
results that cannot possibly be fore
seen.