Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1930-08-14
The Political Mill
By C.. Could Lincoln.

I6cC GnaJ ne DOlLSu lllS PoLtg o Ao|loaIoA
ticket and supported AL Smith for
foregone conclusion that Norris would
be nominated. He had been the
dominant political figure in his State
for years. Furthermore, the plea was
made by some of his supporters to the
to go into the Republican
primary and help nominate Senator
Norris against his regular Republican
opponent, State Treasurer Stebbins.
How many of the Democrats in Nebraska
will be willing to support Senator Norris
in November against their own party'S
candidate, former Senator Gilbert M.
remains to be seen. What
is of even more interest, however, is the
of regular Republicans in
Nebraska who may desert Senator Norris
and vote for Hitchcock. The Repub-
lican national organization, through its
new chairman, Senator Fess of Ohio,
has announced that it proposes to go
to the bat for Norris as the Republican
nominee IN the coming campaign. That
seems to be heaping Goals of fire upon
the independent Mr.. Norris head. con-
sidering the Norris attitude toward the
national ticket two years ago.
The Democrats appear to be more
successful than the Republicans in deal
ing with party boilers. While Senator
Norris was being nominG led as a Re-
publican by his party in Nebraska,
Senator Thomas j. Helm of Alabama
was nc permitted by the Democrats
of his State to enter the party primary
in that State. He must run as an
in the November elections
the nominee of the party
in h.
Tuesday, is not considered particularly
strong candidate. He has sought the
in the past and has been
defeated. But he bears the party label
this time, and Hef1in will be without it.
''MarSe" Tom is still full of fight, but
he has the party organization and the
control of the election machinery
against him. If he can overcome these
odds in State as strongly Democratic
as Alabama he will have achieved a
political miracle. A great stump
speaker, Hefiin will, it is expected, get
into every nook and corner of the
State in the next two months and
half, to rally the voters against "Al
Smith, Raskob, Tammany and rum"
which he insists are the real issues in
the campaign.
Senator Joseph T. Robinson, Demo-
cratic nominee for Vice President in
1928 and his partys leader in the
Senate, has won denomination for the
Senate in Arkansas. Here again the
happened. He ran far ahead
OF his opponent, T. w. Campbell, an
attorney of Little Rock. All the efforts
Of Democrats who did not care for the
Smith nomination in 1928 to suppIant
Democratic members of the Senate and
House who remained loyal to the Demo-
cratic national ticket in that year have
failed. The denomination
Of Senator Robinson, who was Al
Smiths running mate two years ago,
shows conclusively that the dire threats
against Smith Democrats in Southern
and border States, made in 1928, have
proved to be mere wind. Senator Rob-
lnSon was entitled to renominati ton, he
has been a forceful party leader in the
Senate and an able legislator. Doubt
less his State delegation will go to the
next Democratic national convention
intent upon nominating Robinson for
President-not Vice President.
Out in Ohio the Democrats have gone
ahead and nominated another wet"
for Senator Former Representative
won handily over his opponents in the
senatorial primary. 1t remains to be
seen, however. how wet will get along
in the home of the Anti-Saloon League
when 1t comes to the general election.
Senator MeCulloch, who was nominated
by the Republicans, is a dry. The
battle between the vets and the drys
in this race for the Senate will be
pretty clearly drawn. Former Senator
Atlee Pomerene was the last wet Demo-
crat to go down to defeat in Ohio be-
fore a dry Republican, the late Sena-
tor Frank B. Willis.
Ohio is strongly Republican as a rule,
although the Democrats have elected
Governors and occasionally Senators in
that State. The fight for the Senate
seat this Fall will be watched with the
keenest interest in view of the drive of
the vets to make showing in the
elections this year.
The attitude Of the Republican Ma
tional Committee toward Senator
Norris, a party bolter in 1928, indicates
political sagacity. The National Com
nittee and Senator Fess, its new chair
man, are not anxious to encourage
boilers and the promise of support to
Senator Norris, now that he has been
is not intended as an en-
to boilers. But 1t is in
tended as an olive branch to that wing
Of the Republican party in the West
which has been more or less off the
reservation, except in national cleo
lions, for a number of years. Suppose
the national chairman, Mr. Tess, had
the Republican organization
would withhold support from Mr..
NnYric This Il
made a martyr of Senator Norris in
state which is full of progressive
voters who like Senator Norris. The
gesture of friendliness, Furthermore,
may be of assistance to party harmony
N other States. The Republicans, as
/ general rule, play party politics sucA
Mr.. Norris, it is true, might say that
he cares nothing for the support of the
national organization. But
ne went into the Republican primary
and he bears the party label. If he
did not wish to run as Republican, he
did not have to do so. He could have
entered the Democratic primary, or he
could have announced himself an in
dependent candidate. If he cared to
do So Mr. Norris would have a difficult
time defending his record for party
loyalty. Perhaps he may have prefer-'
red to run as an independent II he did,
he restrained his inclinations success
fully.
\ X -
When all Is said and done, it must be
recognized that there are progressivesa rs
we'll as conservatives in the Republican
party, and, unless the party continues to
spread its mantle over both prdgres-
,ives and conservatives, the G. o. P. is
doomed. There should be room for the
Norrises and the La FolletteS as for the
'esses and Reeds and the SmootS in the
Republican party. The progressive wing
has its functions and uses and after all
S a valuable asset to the G.. o. P.
X X 4 x
Running for senatorial nominations is