Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1936-11-15
How to Elect a President

/ That percentage did not amount 10
anything serious in landslide year.
The Digest poll never worried us
at headquarters, but it made US marvel
and speculate as to why 1t was so
far wrong. The reason we knew 1t was
wrong was that the national commit
tees method of keeping track of what
was going on was a practically sure
barometer.
Almost daily, Chairman Farley re-
ceived report from every State chair
man. But the State chairman might
be swayed by his desires and make q
bad guess? The State chairmen did
not guess-they had a similar daily
report from every county chairman.
The county chairman might not esti-
mate correctly? Well, the county
chairman got his figures in the same
way as the returns came further up
the line, from the district and precinct
captains-and so on until the ultimate
unit was the very smallest political
division. In those ultimate units, the
worker in charge could hardly make
a mistake. 1t was his job to know.
and not to guess. what his neighbors
had in mind.
So Mr.. Farley could not be wrong
unless the local leader, with only a
few hundred votes, was so inefficient
that he failed in the first requisite OF
politician-to know where his i'm
mediate bailiwick stood.
There could be no purpoSe-particu-
larly late IN the campaign-for any
of the local leaders to report any
thing but the truth, as he saw it,
TO his chief.
Sees Grand G. o. p. Error.
When this is presented, the usual
reply is that the same course of getting
the true story was open to the Re-
publicans. Indeed, I am informed
| that their heads of the local divisions
uniformly reported to Chairman Ham,
ilton optimistically. But there Is a
difference, and that difference points
to what seems to me to be one grave
error in the G. o. P. tactics.
They had, at the opening OF the
campaign, no organization worthy
of the name The state and county
committees had diSintegrated during
the four years of Democratic as
tendency. Some of their leaders had
died or moved away: others had aban-
doned politics. Not a few, with the
| instinct of the true politician of the
/ lower ranks, had sensed the popular
trend and had swung to our side
Local organizations had to be impro-
vised They did not know Candidate
Landon-hence there was lacking per-
sonal fervor. Chairman Hamilton was
a stranger to them-hence there was
not the sense of personal loyalty that
an old chief commands.
Now, I am trying to make this
rough survey of what went on during
the campaign as non-partisan as the
lecture of a Washington War College
professor analyzing the conduct Of
the Punic Wars, who might point Out
that, had the Carthagenian feet gone
hither instead of yon. or had Hanni-
bal deployed his archers differently in
this battle or that, Rome might not
have triumphed. Likewise, I am try
ing to consider it from the standpoint
of pure politics-pure. in the sense OF
emitting moral considerations. and
! without regard to the subject matter
of the issues. There are no votes to
be propagandized at present.
Hamilton's Speech Foray.
Well. We. at headquarters, striving
naturally to deduce the probable next
move of our adversaries assumed that
Mr.. Hamilton would. first of all, de-
vote himself to building up his local
committees. Instead, he elected to &c
about making speeches. That was not
necessarily a course without merit
His candidate had to be sold to his
rank and file. 1t was necessary to
translate a passive state of support Of
the candidate by dyed-in- the-woo
Republicans, or Roosevelt -haters, into
something alive and enthusiastic
Possibly magnetic. phenomenal
evangelical orator might have accom-
plished an approach to this, but 1t was
| too much to expect Of a new-made
national chairman of minor exhortine
experience.
Actually. the process OF developing
| TpAVET