Evening star., 1932-02-28

l. interest Of the nomination
campaign will be in the Demo-
i cratic field. The Republican
situation is quickly told.
Mr.. Hoover will be renominated prac-
tically without opposition. All the pre-
dictions of CORY battle in the Republican
convention have come to nothing. They
were always nothing. When headlines
a year ago talked eXcitedly about a
draft Coolidge" movement, Mr.. Cool
| idge had no part in it-eXcept to deplore
| 1t when 1t came to his attention, and
ultimately to repudiate it, definitely and
publicly. Then, when the headlines
turned to an engaging ALTERATION,
draft Dawes" Mr.. Dawes laughed that
| into silence. There was the same COM
plete absence of substance in the dis
patches about Borah being contender,
about "Borah clubs" and the like.
Borah trying for the Republican nomi-
| nation, and Borah about to lead third
| party, have become classic myths of
American politics. The legend has
turned up every four years since Borah
emerged into public life, in 1908. There
has never been the faintest shadow Of
substance in it. Borah has never tried
to get the Republican or any other
presidential nomination. He has never
| tried to get delegate. He has never
asked any one to support him nor
given anything except quizzical smile
to persons who have proposed to make
him a candidate.
Johnson Remains Silent.
Last in the series Of predicted con-
tenders against Mr.. Hoover was Senator
Hiram Johnson of California. There
was some little possibility of substance
in that. But February 9 came and went
with Johnson silent. February was
the last day on which to file for the
! primaries in North Dakota-and if
johnson were going to run at all he
should have filed in North Dakota, for
| that Is the one spot in the country
where apparently anti-HooVer senti-
ment Is strongest, where an aggressive
anti-Hoover candidate would be able to
make his best start The time is now
practically past when any one can enter
/ the race in either party with any hope
| of becoming formidable. Somewhere in
the last two weeks Of February is a
kind of deadline. Taking into account
the dates Of primaries, which begin in
March, and the fact that little local
/ leaders and workers all over the coun-
| try begin to line up for their favorites,
there IS, about Washington's birthday,
a crystallization such that thereafter it
is impracticable for any new candidates
to enter the presidential race in either
party, with any hope Of getting any
where.
There Is one contender against Mr..
| Hoover. He is Joseph I. France, an
| ex-senator from Maryland. The writer
| of this article has hitherto spoken of
Mr. Frances candidacy as eccentric"
and Mr.. France has objected to the
word. But what is the word to use
when comparatively unknown man,
| without the backing of any important
party leader. running only as the head
of a self-generated movement. tries to
take the presidential nomination away
from President in Office? There are
always such movements and they are
always futile. It would be so unusual
| as to be spectacular If France should
| accumulate as many as 100 delegates
: out of the 1,l54 who will compose the
! Republican National Convention. Prob
ably all the nom Hoover delegates, in
cluding those from Wisconsin, will not
aggregate 100 delegates.
| 90 .ltrfito theonelas-
So much for that. The Republican
situation is set. Mr.. Hoover will have
more than thousand out Of the 1854
delegates. The opposition to Mr..
! Hoover will express itself, not In the
, Republican primaries, and not in the
shape of opposition to his renomina-
ton, but in adherence to Democrats.
Many Of the votes, for example, which
France hopes to get in the Republican
primary will eventually go into the
Democratic primary and express them
selves by getting behind Gov. Alfalfa
BIZ Murray, or some one like him.
In the Democratic primaries will be
| found all the struggling between now
and June. The American voter likes
/ fight, and doesn't like to throw his
ballot away on minor candidates and
! lost causes; he likes struggle. and
he will find plenty to satisfy him in
the Democratic situation.
The Democratic Nomination.
The struggle for the Democratic
| presidential nomination will be more
| lively and more mixed than any within
the memory of living men. 1t need
not be so bitter as the one In 1924 be-
tween Smith and McAdoo. That was
| bitter for the reason. in part. that
there were two outstanding candidates:
1t was a personal duel. In the present
! struggle there are seven men who have
real chances; the size of the field
| should save the fight from bitterness
But it will be very mixed. Nothing like
1t has occurred in any campaign since
1880 at least.
There are at least eight candidates,
each OF whom has friends believing
their man has real chance for the
Democratic nomination-G RooSe
velt of New York, eX-Gov. Alfred E.
Smith of the same State, Newton D.
Baker, Speaker John N. Garner, Gov.
Albert Ritchie of Maryland, Gov. Harry
Byrd of Virginia, Banker Melvin Tray
lor of Chicago. Gov. Alfalfa Bill
Murray of Oklahoma.
Here are eight men, each OF whom
has friends and partisans who believe
their man is the best, who hope to
get the prize for their candidate, and
who will work hard for delegates. As
to at least six of the eight disinter-
ested outsiders will agree that each
of those eight Is a real possibility.
Not only that. There is another pos
Sibility who Is not conscious candi-
date, who Is not often mentioned In
lists Of Democratic possibilities. In
whose behalf no one Is working-but
who might readily be the outcome of
the many-sided, many-angled puzzle |
the Democrats are going to have. That |
Is ex-Gov. James M. Cox Of Ohio, VIII |
was the party's presidential nominee |
In 1920, and who now, at the age of |
81 and looking like 40, Is completely !
available to be the nominee again. The |
nature of the Democratic situation Is |
such as to suggest prolonged balloting, |
one candidate after another dropping |
out, followed by exceedingly intricate !
realignments Of delegates, changed |
loyalties within the convention. That |
might end In the nomination Of any |
one Of at least seven men. including |
Cox.
Roosevelt Leads Field.
For the immediate present the most
active interest centers around two of .
the Democratic possibilities, Gov.
Roosevelt and ex-Gov. Smith. Roose-
velt is without doubt the leader of the
field. He is conducting an aggressive,