Evening star., 1936-10-08
THE POLITICAL
MILL
BY G. GOULD LINCOLN.

i
and Landon in five Of them and Roose.
welt still holding a decided edge in one
The first flve States are Ohio. Michigan
Illinois, Iowa and Minnesota. The sixth
| Is Wisconsin. Landon can win II hs
carries Illinois and Ohio. For If he doei
carry those States, there seems little
doubt he will be successful In Michigan
| Iowa and Minnesota. He does not have
| to carry Wisconsin. He must, however
have also the States Of New England
New York. New Jersey. Delaware and
Pennsylvania, and, farther west, Indiana
would give Landon 269 electoral votes, or
three more than are necessary for a ma
jority and victory.
II. on the other hand, Landon loses
Illinois and Ohio, or even one Of them
he Is likely to be beaten. His position Is
something like that of a golf player who
Is 'dormie," with three or four holes still
to play. II he loses a single hole, or
halves one OF those remaining, he Is
sunk There Is no chance of a State 8
dividing equally In this presidential race,
or so little that 1t becomes q negligible
proposition. To be dormie, with several
holes still to play Is a tough spot for any
golfer. Yet. it has happened occasionally
that a player has come through to VIC
tory In such match.
That is what the Republicans are hop
ing for Landon.
Under these circumstances, 1t is pos
sible for Landon to be elected President,
or for Roosevelt to win the election with
a large plurality of the electoral votes,
no matter how close the popular vote in
the States may be.
With approximately four weeks OF the
campaign still TO go, either of these al
tentative results may happen, depending
on the swing to or away from Roosevelt.
1t looks as though Landon has had q
break in the recently made Minnesota
deal between the Roosevelt Democrats
and the Farmer-Laborites in that State.
Here in the Western country the full i'm
plicatiOns OF that deal are being more
and more discussed. There are two angles
which seem to give the Republicans q
real issue. The first Is found in the man.
ner in which this deal was consummated.
The second lies in the fact that the Presi-
dent has apparently taken to his bosom
the Farmer-Labor party and what it
stands for. He is on record as favoring
the election of the Farmer-Labor ticket
in Minnesota, particularly the guberna-
torial and senatorial candidates. He
has traded off the Democratic candi-
dates for those Offices In order to obtain
the support Of the Farmer-Labor party
IN h inn salf in ha III fSAI
reading of the Farmer-Labor partys
platform IN 1884 shows 1t TO be more
radical than the Socialist platform, and
the Farmer-Labor platform of this year
Is just about the same as it was two
years ago. In other words, the Presi-
dent has put himself in the position of
supporting that platform and its prin-
ciples, at least in Minnesota.
President Roosevelt, in a recent speech,
attacked Landon, saying that the Re
publican presidential candidate cannot
be conservative in the East and New
Dealer in the West. He had reference
to the farm program laid down by Lam
don in Iowa. Republicans here are say
ing that the President cannot be a con-
servative in Pittsburgh, where he replied
to the criticism that he has Communist
and red support. declaring he would
have none of 1t, and a red in Minne-
sofa, where he has joined in the effort
to bring about the election Of the
Farmer-Labor ticket.
The first angle of the Minnesota deal
between Roosevelt and the Farmer
Labor party-the manner in which the
Haol u,htch t1
be an aid to the Republicans-ha to do
with the fact that 1t was conSummated in
private room. Whether smoke filled
or not is immaterial. The Democrats
had held a primary in Minnesota and
picked their candidates for Governor and
Senator. They had announced they
would stay in the fight and make no deal
with the Farmer Labor party, when they
were asked about the possibility of such
trade. When it was too late for the
Democrats to put any one else in the
race, these candidates withdrew. an
nouncing support for the Farmer-Labor
people.
The Omaha World Herald. a tradi-
tionally Democratic newspaper which
switched this year to the support of Lam
don and against Roosevelt, has taken up
the Minnesota deal as a real issue. 1t
Is particularly interesting here because
the New Dealers have undertaken to "sell
the Democratic senatorial candidate
down the river" in Nebraska very much
as they have disposed of Democratic
candidates in Minnesota. They have
thrown their support to Senator Norris.
an Independent but not Democrat, in
preference to Terry Carpenter, the
nominee of the Democratic primary. The
World Herald says: IF the Farmer
Labor program must be accepted as a
Democratic program in Minnesota, why
may it not equally be accepted else
where? And II the long arm of the ad-
ministration can reach out from Wash
ington to extinguish the Democratic
party in Minnesota and deliver its re-
mains to another party and an alien
creed, what is to prevent q continuation
Of the process in the coming four years?
Already the process is under way.
"In Minnesota the bill of sale Is to the
Farmer-Labor party.
I'm Wisconsin it is to the La Toilette
party.
I'm Nebraska it is to the Norris party.
I'm New York it is Mayor La Guardia,
former Socialist, who carries the banner.
I'm Pennsylvania John Lewis, former
Republican and radical labor leader,
heads the parade.
"All this Is only beginning.
by 1910 what will there be left of the