Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1935-03-03
RADICAL 1886 CANDIDATES
MENACE NEW DEAL VOTE
Observer Believes Strong Convictions
to Run High-Democrats Mapping
Strategy Against Third Party.

will come soon enough to bring po-
litical safety to him. Some Of the
other Democratic leaders have begun
to doubt whether business improve
ment will come soon enough. They
are beginning to make tentative
moves toward strategy which does
not assume the best.
Democratic leaders know the men,
ace to them of possible third parties
next year. For overcoming it, they
are giving serious consideration to an
extraordinary notion. They think they
can cause many Republicans and con-
Servatives, now bitterly hostile to Pres
ident Roosevelts policies. nevertheless
to vote for Mr. Roosevelt next year
as the best defense against radical
movements generally. I have heard
Democrat of very high standing and
power seriously propose that there
should be next year repetition of
that EZRA of good feeling" which once
tided over another American political
crisis. BY an EZRA of good feeling
they mean all the conservatives and
all the middle -of-the-road persons
uniting behind Mr.. Roosevelt fer de-
Tense against the radicals. And have
heard one of the shrewdeSt and most
experienced observers in America,
himself man of no party, tell one of
the most conservative leaders of
American thought that he. the con-
sentative. would next year support Mr..
Roosevelt as the better ole" for de-
Tense against something much more
farrifviy10 tn
Roosevelt is.
Doubt Rises.
That doubt, utterly. Mr. Roose-
welt would have to be extremely and
consistently conservative for the next
year and half to allay the strong
distrust that conservatives now feel
toward him. I doubt if it is possible
for Mr.. Roosevelt to do 1t. 1t is as
certain as the coming of election day
itself that the Republicans will have
a candidate of their own and that he
will be a conservative who can COM
mand all and more than those A.
100000 votes that the Republicans
cast in last November's congressional
elections.
Yet upon careful examination there
is just this much possibility of a stu
alton in which some very scared con-
servatives might vote for Mr.. Roose-
welt near year. From their own point
of view they would be foolish to do
So yet they might.
Let us construct the hypothetical
set-up that might cause some panicky
conservatives to support Mr.. Roose-
welt next year: Suppose there are
three candidates. regular Repub-
lican, Mr.. Roosevelt on the Democratic
ticket, Of course, and a radical with
a third party. Suppose the radical
should be very formidable. At first,
the Republicans and conservatives
would welcome this. thinking, cor
rectly. that it would point toward Re-
publican success But presently would
arise a novel state of mind, caused by
a curious condition-we experienced
it in 1924 when La Toilette was run
ming as third candidate.
Fear House Decision.
Everybody next year would know
that a radical could not win a ma
jority of the electoral vote, nor any
thing near it. But there would arise
an apprehension that any radicals
strength might be enough to cause the
presidential election, as the phrase is,
to be thrown into the House" Under
the Constitution, unless one candi-
date gets a majority Of the electoral
vote, the choice must be made by
Congress. America seems to have a
kind of morbid fear of an election be-
ing thrown into the House" They
fear the mere commotion of it, even
though they know there is no posi-
bility of Congress choosing the radical
candidate In 1924 many voters.
moved by that fear, thought the way
to avoid it was for the conservative
voters not to split between two con-
candidates, but to concen-
trate on one of them. In 1924 this
way of thinking ended in the conclu-
sion it was best to vote for the Presi-
dent in Office, who at that time was
Coolidge.
But doubt if that will happen
next year. Next year will be time
of strong convictions and deep feel
ings, which will blow away such su-
perfcial fears as the dread of the
election being thrown into the |
House"