The Waterbury Democrat., 1932-04-25
NEA Service Writer

w 6elu IAi1h6 that has happened to Al Smith.
 Al probably can't prevent the nomination of Governor Franklin D. Roosevelt no matter how hard he tries. But even if he should give the s'stop Roosevelt move ment the stimulus it so badly needs for success, Smiths position will hardly be any happier.
 Old Al, the erstwhile hero of the multitudes, has lost power, pres- tige and popularity in his party. He is fighting desperately for what he has left. But when the voters and politicians choose dele gates to the democratic presiden- tial convention they usually for get about Al.
 And, whether or not Al really yearns sorely for that nomination. he must get sorer every day at the way in which the party is let ting him down.
 Al to be Ousted
 Al is not only sore, but obvious ly contemptuous. He sees the nomination going to man for whom he has small liking and ap- parently little respect. The man is not as big a man as Al is. He appears to have none of AIS fire, strength or courage. And the man apparently is going to oust Al as the party's leader simply by virtue of possessing the job in which Al originally put him.
 Roosevelt may have done Al a great favor to run for governor in 1928 so as to strengthen the na- tional ticket in New York and it may have been hard to persuade him. But he did a far greater fa- vor for himself and Smith really made him governor of New York.
 Now here is Roosevelt, the probable nominee, about to run in a year when most democrats are convinced that nearly any demo- crat could win. If Smith, after his brave fight in 1928 against great odds, feels that he should again be the party choice in 1882, with a chance to win, no one can blame him.
 The 'NO-More-S Smith" Idea
 But it's another sad fact that Roosevelt could never have att tained his present preconvention strength had it not been for a widespread desire in the party not to nominate Smith again this year.
 Democrats through the south and west, and to some extent the east, determined to head off any 1882 Smith movement and easily become sold on Roosevelt as the strongest other candidate in sight. Their compelling idea was to pick a man who would win and such a man, most of them felt,~ wouldn't be Smith.
 Inasmuch as the "no-more- Smith" idea was influenced almost entirely by AIS religion, the situa- tion becomes more depressing than ever from the Smith stand point.
 Everybody wants to know now how far Smith, following his at- tack at the Jefferson day dinner. will go with his campaign against Roosevelt. He still has a real per- sonal following, although it has dwindled more than anyone ex- pected it would. And in combina- ton with the eastern anti-Roose- welt leaders he may be able to cause considerable trouble before and during the convention. A Sad Time for Al
 Many of his old supporters are accusing him of a "dog-in-the- manager" attitude, however, and the boys and girls who want har- mony at all costs are either dis tressed or angry at his tactics.
 If, assuming Roosevelt's nomi- nation, Al carries his enmity into the campaign he probably will ex- perience the saddest period of his life. From a politicians stand point-and. Al is a politician-he would become a mere obstruction ist, deserter from the party which nurtured him, man with a heart full of bitterness whose only success could lie in the defeat of his own comrades and the re-elec- ton of the Hoover whom he gave his best toward licking four years ago. The spectacle. in fact is hard