Coulee City dispatch. [volume] (Coulee City, Wash.) 19??-19??, 1936-10-22
SEEN
HEARD
around the
NATIONAL
CAPITAL
By Carter Field y
By Carter Field .

Washington. ~ Governor ALI NJ.
Landon's strength in the farm
states, now demonstrated, serves to
keep him in the presidential race,
but leaves him still dependent upon
success in the parlay of big states
east of the Mississippi.
That parlay has had but one
change as a result of Landon's inn
proved chances west of the Missis-
sippi. Before the farm speeches at
Des Moines and Minneapolis which,
repercussions have in d i C t e d.,
cinched for the Republican nominee
Nebraska, Iowa and South Dakota,
and put Minnesota and Colorado in
the leaning Republican" column,
the group of states east of the
Mississippi that Landon must carry
to have a chance stood as follows:
New York, New Jersey, Pennsyl-
vania, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois and
Michigan. And even this WIS pred
icated on the premise that he must
also carry all the New England
states.
With his present strength ir. the
farm belt, Indiana may be eliminat-
ed from this must list.
AS is general in such cases, In
diana begins to show more Repub-
lican strength at the same moment
that it loses it's status of being alb
solutely vital to the Republican can
didate. Present indications are that
Indiana will go Republican. In fact,
the same farm speeches which
cinched Iowa and Nebraska and
South Dakota for Landon helped him
enormously in Indiana and in south
ern Illinois.
But the fact remains that Landon
cannot lose single one of the
modified must list. There are just
not enough electoral votes within
the realm of probabilities to make
up fer any one of them.
The most interesting phase of this
campaign to any DISTINGUISHED OBJ
server must be the way this list of
states, all of which Landon has to
carry, shifts about. For time aft
err Governor Herbert H. Lehman
was induced to run for reelection
in New York, it seemed as though
the Empire state was the weakest
link in the Republican chain. Then
for one reason and another Repub-
lican prospects in New York began
to improve until now they are much
brighter than in Pennsylvania, Ohig,
Illinois or Michigan.
Drift in Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania was the second state
to play havoc with the nerves of
the Landon hackers. But there has
been a drift back there, and now
Pennsylvania, the Republicans
think, is responding to treatment.
Next one of the important polls
showed Michigan swinging to
Franklin D. Roosevelt, and all the
tremors that New York and Penn
sylvania had caused in the Repub-
lican high command were repeated.
For all realize that they cannot
win without Michigan's 10 electoral
votes.
There is no evidence of any swing
3, back in Michigan, but for variou9
reasons the Republicans are now
worried more about Ohio than any
of the others.
Primarily this is due to disap-
pointment. From the moment of
the Cleveland convention they had
assumed that Ohio was ii the bag.
It had gone for Roosevelt in 1882 by
only about $4,000. Many of it's i'm
portant leaders were known to be
lukewarm to Roosevelt. Both it's
senators had voted against the
Roosevelt tax bill. Senator Vic
Donahey had walked out of the Phil
adelphia convention despite the
earnest pleading of James A. Far
ley that he make seconding speech
for Roosevelt. Finally Landon had
spent his boyhood in eastern Ohio.
But the polls being taken by the
Columbus Dispatch and the Scripps
Howard papers are showing that
while the Republican nominee for
governor is running way ahead of
the Democratic incumbent, the
same voters are favoring Roose-
welt over Landon by a substantial
lead. So the filters of John D. M.
Hamilton's lieutenants are now re-
sulting from Ohio.
In couple of weeks it will prob
ably be New York again, or Penn
sylvania., A parlay is rather hard
on the nerves.
Two-Edged Sword
Although the Democrats have
failed to capitalize the insurance is
sue sprung by Col. Frank Knox,
there is an element among the Re-
publicans which is frightened to
death about it. What they are afraid
Of is that so many life insurance
statesmen will run into stiff sales
resistance on the part of their pros
poets, and blame Colonel Knox in
particular and the whole Republican
ticket in general for their difficult
ties.
Actually the big men in the in
surance business are in absolute
sympathy with Colonel Knox s
views,' on two counts. But the big
insurance men have very few votes,
whereas the number of life insur-