Evening star., 1937-01-20
Tidal Wave of Ballots
Contained Cross Cur
rents Which May Augur
New Party Alliances,
Though Regular Politi-
cal Alignments Didn't
Mean Much at Novem-
Der Elections.
By Gould Lincoln.

- rankin d. ROOSEVELT, the thirty
first President Of the United States,
emerged from the year 1886 the trium-
phant and dominant political figure OF
the Nation. His victory in the presi-
dental election was more sweeping and
more impressive even. than his victory in 1882.
He had new, all-tme highs in the number Of
electoral votes and the number Of popular votes.
His electoral vote was 523-leaving only eight
to his opponent, the Republican nominee, Gov
ALI M. Landon of Kansas His popular vote
stood at 27,75l,6l2 while that Of his chief op-
ponent was 1851 ,9l3. and there were 1,378,630
votes cast for minor candidates. This means
a total Of 45,8l2.l55 votes cast in the presi-
dental election Not in recent years had there
been such a large percentage Of the voting popu-
lation taking part. and never before such .
large number Of voters at the polls.
These are the stark. numerical results OF the
election. The implications Of the election. the
briskly- -waged contest, are something else. The
Roosevelt Democrats succeeded in pinning upon
their ticket the badge Of the common man, and
upon that Of the Republican party the badge
Of the privileged class" This was accomplished
through the legislative measures advanced by
the New Deal, through the vast expenditures
made from the Federal Treasury for relief and
for benefits to the farmers, and through the
appeals made by the chief spokesmen for the
Democratic party.
The result was q new political algnment-on
q scale perhaps not seen In this country since
erals" Of every stamp nocked to the Roosevelt
standard. The candidates Of minor parties
suffered greatly thereby. The Socialist party
vote for President was cut to 1877 .342-cast for
Norman Thomas-a great drop from the So
cialist vote in earlier years. Lemke, the Union
party candidate. backed by Father Coughlin
and by DR.. Townsend Of old-age pension fame,
polled only 891 ,858, although Coughlin had
claimed his candidate would receive upward Of
100000 votes. Browder, the Communist party
andi hoA otoc IN mn,
than Foster had in 1882. Colvin, the Prohbi-
ton partys nominee. received 81 500 votes as
compared to 81 ,869 for Upshaw four years ago.
The Republican party staged q desperate
effort to come back" from its defeat Of 1892.
when President Roosevelt carried all but six
States Of the Union 1t presented as its chief
issues Of the campaign the American way"
as contrasted to the New Deal, the huge spend
ing OF the Roosevelt administration, with .
great swollen public debt and constantly grow
ing deficits and the danger Of heavier and heav-
ier taxation or imitation of the currency or BOTH
1t appealed to the people to resist assaults upon
the Constitution and upon the Supreme Court
OF the United States. In q final effort it sought
to turn the industrial workers from Roosevelt
by campaign against the social security act
in its present form. Wage earners were flooded
with notices that beginning January l, they
would be taxed l per cent Of their wages to
pay for the old-age pensions, tax that would
increase with the passing years. The campaign
proved a boomerang.
President Roosevelt was not without opposi-
tion in his own party. Two former presidential
candidates, Alfred E. Smith of New York and
John W. Davis Of West Virginia and New York,
were aligned against him. were also, former
Senator James A. Reed of Missouri former Gov.
Joseph B. Ely of Massachusetts,, former
Assistant Secretary of State Bainbridge Colby
and former Assistant Secretary Of War Henry
Breckenridge. Some of the more conservative
Democrats, who resented and feared the New
Deal, followed these gentlemen into the Landon
camp The President had the active opposition
also of the Coughlinites and the Townsendtes
who divided their support between Lemke and
Landon.
On the other hand, various new organizations
were placed in the field to support Roosevelt
One Of the most potent was the Non partisan
Labor League. headed by Maj. George Berry,
John L. Lewis chairman of the Committee for
Industrial Organization, and Sidney Hillman
The appeal made to labor, organized and un-
organized, was Of the strongest. In New York.
new political party. the American Labor
party, was put in the field to back the President
as the choice Of the Democratic party. and
Sidney Hillman and David Dubinsky were on
the list In the light of the election results,
the demands of labor and its leaders upon the
incoming administration will be considerable.
to say the least
The President also received the support of
the leaders and the rank and file of two pro-
ereSsVe parties in Midwest States the Farmer
LABOR party Of Minnesota and the Progressive
party OF Wisconsin, In Minnesota the Roose-
Velt Democrats made direct and open deal
kRE3