Evening star., 1938-06-12
PRIMARIES NEAR
IN THREE STATES
Maine, Minnesota and North
Dakota Vote This Month
to Show Trends.
BY KIRKE L. SIMPSON,
Associated Press Stan Writer,

Associated Press Stan Writer.
There will be lull this week in the
turbulent party primary campaigning,
which still has more than half of its
course to run.
No further glimpses of 1888 trends
in voter sentiment will be obtained un-
til Maine and Minnesota express their
preferences week from tomorrow.
North Dakota primaries will share at
tention week or so later with a Re-
publican nominating convention in
Indiana.
That fills out the political calendar
for June. Up to- now only 9 of the
48 States have had primaries. Cam
didates for 26 Senate seats are still to
be nominated, and % State tickets
headed by nominees for Governor are
yet to be picked. Nominations have
been made thus far for only 1l2 of
the ABS seats in the House.
Trends Are Faint.
Actually less than a third of the
1888 ticket-making has been accom-
plished since the campaign curtain
raiser in Illinois last April. 1t is far
too early, and the results are too in
conclusive or conflicting as yet, for
more than trends in public sentiment
to be discernible. There have been
trends encouraging both New Deal
Democrats, on the one hand, and Re-
publlcanS and anti-New Deal Demo-
Gratis on the other.
Major interest has centered in
Democratic primaries thus far. That
has been true, first, because of the
clash within party ranks over New
Deal policies; and, second, because all
of the nine States in which there have
been primaries have been under Demo-
cratic control.
In only four of those nine States
Florida, Pennsylvania, Oregon and
1owa-was there a reflection of the
Democratic party split. 1t was not a
direct and open contest for and against
the New Deal in any of those four.
Administration aides count heavily on
that fact.
No Anti-RoOsevelt Race.
II any Democratic primary candi-
date has yet run under an out-and-
out anti-Roosevelt banner, they say,
the fact has failed to attract the news
attention it deserved.
They view the reluctance of candi- |
dates to risk any direct criticism of |
the President as important evidence
OF his personal popularity. They are
banking on the silent vote, the vote
that never turns out in the primaries
and cares little about its registered
party labels.
Primaries thus far, for both parties. |
have proved no exception to the rule.
Half or less of the registered party |
vote in any State came out. And in
every case, except in Oregon, it was
the active party worker element that
dominated to give primary states
backed by State party machines easy
victories. The same conditions gave
Republican State machine candidates
victory in Pennsylvania and Iowa.
G. o. P. Organizations Intact.
The primary turnout of Republican
voters has appeared to the Repub-
lcans in quite different light. They
held their own in Pennsylvania and
Iowa, getting out the vote without
benefit OF State or Federal office-hold- |
ing-and despite the fact that ma
tlonal political interest centered on
the Democratic contests. Both States
are still heavily Republican by regis
tration. Both voted more Republicans
than Democrats in the primaries.
To national Republican leaders
that is heartening evidence that a
succession of party defeats, national
and local, has not disrupted party or
ganization. 1t may be rusty, but it's
still in good working order. And 1t
is inspired from top to bottom, Re-
publican politicians believe, by the
highest hopes since 1882 of party re- |
covery this year and in 1910.
There is still another trend about |
Republican primary results that is
having an effect on national strategy.
Straight-out Republican candidates.
hoping for anti-New Deal Democratic
support but not compromising party
lines on declared principles to obtain
1t, seem to be favored by Republican
primary voters overwhelmingly.