Evening star., 1936-04-09
THE POLITICAL
MILL

BY C.. Could Lincoln.

GlOIl Ul a 10 tIle EcpuDuCdH NdLlUllhl
Convention, demonstrated that thou
sands of La Toilette progressives in the
State are willing at present to give their
ballots for President Roosevelt With no
contest in the Democratic presidential
preference primary, and Roosevelts the
only name entered, the size of the vote
rolled up for the President was impress
! sive. 1t Is estimated that when all the
ballots are counted the President will
| have received about 350,000 votes in the
preference primary. Senator Borah Of
| Idaho was the only Republican entered
| in the Republican preference primary
and his vote will be about one-half Of
| that cast for Roosevelt
n
This does not necessarily mean, how
ever, that President Roosevelt is twice as
strong with the voters as the next Re-
publican nominee for President, whether
it be Borah, Landon or some one else.
Borah had a strong group among the
Republicans fighting him in the race for
delegates to the national convention,
and this group did not vote for Borah
| in the preference primary. Had all
those voting in the Republican primary
| for the election Of delegates been counted
the picture would have been very diff
| ferent.
The willingness Of the La Toilette pro-
| gressives to stand for the reelection of
| President Roosevelt, however, was clearly
| demonstrated. If the La FolletteS, SEN
| ator Bob" and Gov. Phil" come out
| in the open for the reelection of the
| President-and it is fully expected they
will do So-during the coming campaign
| it looks as though the Republicans will
| have terrible task confronting them so
| far as Wisconsin is concerned. With the
| progressives and the Democrats playing
together in that State. the Republicans
are in bad way.
| r.
The La Toilette brothers, who for years
| in the past were Republicans though
progressive, this year do not have to
worry about deserting the Republican
| party for the sake of President Roose-
| velt They took themselves out of the
| G.. 0. P. in 1884, when they started
| party all their own. They had sup
| ported Roosevelt in 1882. The regular
Republicans in the State, since many of
of the progreSsives had gone over to the
| Democratic party, had a chance to
| squeeze the La Follettes out of control,
in the Republican primary in 1884. The
La Follettes did not wait for the squeeze
| play, however. They started new party
and the progressives flocked to it in such
numbers that they were able not only
| to re-elect Senator La Toilette, but also
to elect Gov. Phil"
~ =
While Senator Borah was gaining
prestige in Wisconsin by his victory in
the primaries, Gov. ALI M. Lsndon Of
Kansas, who has shared more delegates
than any other aspirant for the Repub-
lican nomination up to date, was obtain
ing a distinct advantage in Minnesota,
where district delegates were elected in
| conventions, with many Of them favor
able to the nomination Of the Kansas
| Governor. Landon supporters are re-
ported to have been successful in choos-
| ing a majority Of the delegates, though
some will favor Col. Frank Knox, Chi
cago publisher, and few may go to
Senator Borah. The bandwagon Of the
Kansas Governor has been marching on.
He has had no severe setback yet. The
opposition of Senator Borah and of for
mer President Herbert Hoover Of Cali
fornia hangs over his head, to be sure.
Borah's threat to bolt If candidate Is
nominated whom he considers the selec-
ton of monopolistic interests was aimed
at Landon, who he charges has gone
over body and soul to the conservatives
of the East. The Landon supporters are
at palms. however, to show that the Kan
sas Governor is the choice of the West,
not of the East, and some OF the Eastern
leaders-who favor Landon-have ex-
pressed the opinion that the West should
select the candidate this year. 1t rather
dovetails.
Former Senator Walter Edge of New
Jersey, who is among the Landon sup
porters, sounds boastful note when he
warns Senator Borah what to expect
when he faces Landon in the Jersey pri-
mary May 10. In the opinion OF Edge,
Landon will sweep Borah into the At
lantic Ocean in that primary. Very
probably he is correct in his estimate.
Borah strength decidedly does not lie
among the Republicans of Eastern States
although he has many of the more pro-
gressive Fasteners with him. Landon,
on the other hand, has for weeks now
been gaining strength among the Repub-
licans of the East. His friends have por-
trayed him as a kind of Calvin Coolidge
of the West, frugal and silent. If there
is one thing the Republicans of the East
would like to be able to do right this
minute it would be to place the late
Calvin Coolidge in the White House.
That not being possible. this talk Of
Calvin Coolidge replica from Kansas
makes o great hit with them.
** x*
With the steady increase in Landon
sentiment, it is natural to find that
the crop of aspirants for the Republican
vice presidential nomination to run with
Landon is growing. 1t would be natural
to expect that If Landon were given the
presidential nomination the Western
Republicans would be gracious enough to
permit the nomination of an Eastern
Republican for second place on the
ticket. However, when the Republicans
nominated q Californian for President
in 1928 and in 1882 they picked a Kansan
for their vice presidential candidate. SO
If they pick Western candidate this
year they may 60 right ahead and name
a vice presidential candidate from that
section also. Indeed. there is some talk
of making Gov. Merriam of California
I,andon's running mate. Merriam has
come out for the Landon slate of dele
gate candidates in California. He and
William Randolph Hearst are Landon's
chief hackers in that State.
kN *
There is a report that the Governor of
Michigan, Frank D. Fitzgerald, has the
vice presidential bee in his bonnet and