The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1939-06-01
The Great COrcOran Drive

In the last two weeks a vigorous
and, on the surface, effective effort to
galvanize a third-term-for-Ro Roosevelt
idea has been made. The first publicity
came from selected journalistic
mouthpieces of the elmer circle" 1t
was, as such things are, taken up by
others. Altogether, considerable sue
cess has been achieved in multiplying
the general acceptance that, in accord
with the oldest American political
tradition, Mr.. Roosevelt would retire
at the close of his second term.
So
Naturally the facts about this
@drive" are of interest, but they have
yet to be clearly stated. The basic one
is that back of it is that ingenious
young man, Mr.. Thomas Corcoran.
And when you say that Mr.. Corcoran
is back of it you mean that Mr.. Ben
Cohen is back of it, Mr.. Leon Hender-
son, Mr.. Bob Jackson, Mr.. David
,Cushman Coyle, Mr.. David Niles and
the other bright young men whom
Mr.. Roosevelt brought out of obscurity
and whose one chance of avoiding re-
turn to that state is to continue Mr..
Roosevelt in the White House.
***
You also mean that back of it are
Mr.. LASER, of the Workers Alliance;
Mr.. Lewis, of the CLIO, and the
great press agent army of the Gov
eminent departments. 1t isn't, OF
course, necessary to mention that Mr..
Earl Browder, head of the Communist
party, publicly pumped for a third
term some time ago, nor that the
Federal jobholders are unit In such
a movement. 1t is with them a matter
of obvious self-interest. Take all these
forces and rather impressive per-
formance can be put on if staged by a
skillful director. That is exactly what
has been done, and Mr.. Corcoran is
the bright boy who has done it.
$50
The point which ought to be under
stood. however, is that it has not
changed the actual situation in any
way. The Democratic leaders who
were against Mr.. Roosevelt are just
as much against him now as before
They will continue against him. There
has been no change in public sentl
ment on the subject. The Gallup anc
other polls still show definite ma
5ority against third term. The best
political judgment has been that
third nomination could no more sue
coed than a third-party movemen
can succeed. That is still the judg
ment of the experienced politicians
Nor have these changed their view
that Mir. Roosevelt will not run again
in 1910.
What then, it is asked, is the ide'
of the great Corcoran drive, which
now has reached the point where tn
inspired journalists are filling tn
ticket cut with Attorney Genera
Frank Murphy, painting him as
''Super Dewey" a holy man, wh'
reeks with righteousness and is un
touched by sin? The idea is simpi
enough. In the first place, Corcoral
and Company do not believe thes
things. They are convinced that tn
people are still not only with tn
President but with the New Deal
They think that the anti-third tern
tradition is absurd and the practice
politicians are wrong when they wal"
that the American people do not wan
any man to hold the Presidency NOR
than eight years.
In the second place, these amateu
political strategists believe they ca
nut enough pressure on Mr.. Roosevelt
to let Mr.. Farley, now in the Wes
very definitely know that he wants
denomination. This, they think, Wi
compel Mr.. Farley to deliver to MI
Roosevelt all the delegates he ma
been so carefully putting in the ba
for himself. And that would be
splendid joke on Mr.. Farley, Whor
they do not like, at the same tim
putting Mr. Roosevelt in positlo
where he could enforce a demand o
the Democratic conservatives to do n
will in the convention. Perhaps the
are right, but not many detached OF
servers think so.
Their reasons are clear. Chl'
among them is the fact that there is
possibility of Mr. Roosevelt beir
"drafted" for the nomination or SUI
ported by a united party. His mo
partial friends do not claim that /
probably could be nominated by ope
ly conniving in the movement al
driving it through a reluctant co
!