Evening star., 1936-10-19
WASHINGTON OBSERVATIONS
BY FREDERIC WILLIAM VILE.

Is it going to be a case Of "as Maine
goes, so goes California? Gov. Landon
evidently thinks so, for, with California,
Here Come" as his newest theme song,
he's making the same kind of dramatic
raid that he triumphantly essayed Down
East in September. The Kansan's ex-
pedition to the coast becomes one OF the
colorful high spots of the campaign. 1t
fortifies admirers belief in his fighting
qualities. The Sortie is all the more
spectacular because California has rated
as invincible Roosevelt territory. The
President carried Hoovers home grounds
in 1882 by nearly 100000, and New
Dealers talk of holding them by anything
from 100000 upward. Leading national
straw votes are wide apart on the coast
as in most other regions. The Literary
Digest still gives Landon comfortable
lead in California, while the Institute OF
Public Opinion awards Roosevelt SO per
cent of the major party vote. and puts
the State in the Safely Democratic
Today" column. With recollection OF
how California decided the 1916 elec-
ton, both parties are heli-oent TO cap
ture it this time, although New Dealers
snort at the theory that the race is SO
close that any one States electoral vote
will tell the tale.
xH
DR.. Townsend and his cohorts, because
their old-age pension plan was incubated
in California, are supposedly stronger
there than anywhere else. Tnat TACT
is one of the biggest flies in the New Deal
ointment, as MeSSrS. Farley & co. pro-
ceed with their advance chicken-countlng
on the coast. AS Union party Candidate
Lemke is barred from CALIFORNIA; ballot,
DR.. Townsend will support Landon and
urges his local adherentS to follow suit.
If they do so in serried ranks, they may
play havoc with Democratic calculations.
Undoubtedly such prospect had much
to do with the G. Q. p. nominees
eleventh-hour invasion. Lemke'S name
will also be missing on ballots in Florida,
Oklahoma, Nevada, Kansas, New Jersey,
North Carolina, West Virginia and Mary
land. and Townsend advises the o. A.
r. P. faithful to vote for Landon in
those States, too.
More or less inspired hints sometimes
seep out of Republican headquarters that
Herbert Hoovers support is more OF
liability than an asset for Landon. 1t
was even suggested thaC tne IorHer
Presidents recent call at Topeka was
embarrassing to the Governor. Whether
or not these sings and arrows have any
foundation in fact, there's no doubt that
Mr.. Hoovers Philadelphia speech, assail-
ing the Juggling" bookkeeping methods
of the Roosevelt administration and
accusing it of hypocrisy" and intel
lectual dishonesty" is one of the dead
liest thunderbolts yet launched against
the New Deal from any quarter. While
Hoover did not produce any fresh
charges, he couched his attack in terms
and tones not hitherto employed and,
Of course, spoke with authority and
background that nobody else commands.
It's easy for combatants on either side,
in a political duel like the one now
raging, and especially where figures are
concerned, to twist arguments to their
own purposes Hoover fired high explo-
siyes of such unquestionable Republican
vote-making value that certain q. Q. P:
wiseacres may now revise their alleged
Judgment that 1t would be better II ne
attended strictly to his knitting at Palo
Alto.