Evening star., 1935-12-16
THE POLITICAL
MILL
By G.. Could Lincoln.

IldGlOIlt anu PAL LlCuldI1y Ol JIlcI cup-
porters, are becoming bit jumpy. 1t
won't be long now before the candidates
must come into the open, if they are to
contest for the delegations in the prefer
ential primary States. Those who are
determined to play a waiting gal..,
hoping the lightning may strike them,
If there is a reasonable deadlock in the
convention, may endeavor to keep out of
the primaries, but they will not neces-
sarily endeavor to keep out of the public
prints. Today the Republican National
Committee is expected to select the
time and place for the national conven-
ton, and plans will be made for the big
event. Well, after that is out of the
way all the Republicans have to do is
to nominate a candidate for President
and 60 to it.
There is not the slightest doubt that
Republican hopes have been buoyed
greatly by various happenings, includ-
ing the returns to date of the Literary
Digest poll, showing a majority Of those
who have voted are against the RooSe-
vet New Deal. 1t looks as though the
ground was fertile for replanting Repub-
lican doctrines-to them. The poll now
conducted by the Digest is not a con-
test between President Roosevelt and
specific Republican nominee. In fact, 1t
does not mention the Republican party
or any candidate. The real rub will
come when the G. o. P. nomination has
been made. Then the voters will be
asked to decide between President RooSe-
velt and this candidate, whoever he may
be. 1t may be that the opposition to
the New Deal will be so strong that the
Republican nominee will win, no mat
ter who he may be- That is the atti-
tude taken by the more hard-boiled
Republicans who hate the New Deal Just
the same, the Republicans generally aFe
not willing to take any such chance right
now. They want to get the best poten-
tial candidate they can.
The Democrats will get as much fun
as they can out of the antics OF the
Republicans and their strife over presi-
dental candidates. In fact, they will
do all they can to stir up strife among
the various factions in the Republican
party struggling for control and for the
nomination of their pet candidates.
Charles Nicholson, resourceful head OF
publicity for the Democratic National
Committee, has already begun sticking
pins in the Republicans where he thinks
they will irritate the most. Mr.. Michel
son, like a number Of other Democrats,
continues to insist that the logical can
didate for the Republicans to nominate
is former President Herbert Hoover. He
insists, and the other Democrats insist,
this is so because they would like to see
it brought about. They believe that the
country still holds Mr. Hoover respon-
sble for the depression and for the dark
days of 1872 Nicholson writes now
for his publicity bureau comments upon
the rivalry between Gov. Landon OF
Kansas and Col. Frank Knox of Chi
cago, and between former President
Hoover and Senator Borah of Idaho.
Michelson's suggestion is that the Re-
publican nomination will be worth very
little after all these rows have been
fought out; that the Republicans OF the
East and the Republicans of the West
will never be able to get together. Speak
ing of the reported contest between
Hoover and Borah. he writes:
"Is the idea that Mr.. Hoover wishes
to eliminate a rival aSpirant, who has
attained rather unexpected stature as
a popular Republican candidate? Is it
possible that the fine old liberal wants
Mr.. Hoover out of the way, on the hy-
pothesis that the big money end of the
G. 0. p. will take even liberal Repub-
lican when the alternative is the re-elec-
ton of Franklin D. Roosevelt? Natural
ly Senator Borah has a concrete idea as
to which Progressive ought to be favored.
Perish the thought! Mr.. Hoover has no
personal ambitions; he only desires the
restoration of the old Republican ideals,
and Senator Borah cares only for the
purging Of his party of Wall Street DOM
ination.
This being the condition of the minor
ity party. the question naturally arises:
Where do they go from here?
"As my Republican colleagues in the
column business refuse to hazard guess,
beyond the general one that it means
dark horse has chance, and they being
in better position to propheSy, will
not undertake to be more definite.
1T might be pertinent, however, to
suggest that, as under existing circum-
stances the Republican nomination will
be as valuable as last elections cam
paign poster, what they may do is to
improve the opportunity to get rid of
their most disturbing element.
There is no possibility of healing the
breach between East and West. If Mr..
Hoover is denied this time his inSistence
will plague them indefinitely. AS to
Borah, for generation he has been a
thorn to the stand-patters. To a large
extent these two keep each other alive
as sources of political irritation. It's
too bad, from Republican standpoint,
that both cannot be nominated and so
effect the killing of two birds with one
stone"
And so the director of Democratic pub
licity attempts to stir up the Republican
animals. Perhaps they really do not need
stirring. But the comments by Mr.
Nicholson call attention to the divisions
in the Republican party, divisions that
must be forgotten If there is to be a
Republican victory next year. They can
be forgotten, despite the pesSimiSm of
Nicholson over the situation He might
look back to the days of 1928 and early
1929 and see the Democratic party more
widely torn over religion and the wet
and dry issue than is the G.. o. p. today
over other issues. Yet when the time
came; when the people became restive
over the depression, the Democrats got
together. Even Al Smith called his
dearest enemy an "old potato" He may
have been sorry later that he gave this