Evening star., 1939-11-18
Dewey Has 10 Make
Two Decisions That
May Decide Future
ShoII He Be Liberal or
Conservative? and ShoII
The Big Push Be in '40?'
By the Associated Press,

The Big Push Be in '40?'
BY the Associa ted Press.
Thomas E. Dewey has two deci-
sions on the fire. At least one of
them ought to be ready to serve
along the line of his De-
cember march into the Middle West.
Each of the decisions has a bear
ing on the other. Put together,
they will come pretty close to de-
termining whether he will follow
most other noted prosecuting attor-
neys into political oblivion or scale
the political heights.
He has to decide, first. how much
of the New Deal he is willing to
60 along with. BY this, he will ac-
quire either liberal or conserva-
tive label. But the trouble with
these labels is that no two persons
can agree on what they mean.
And some time before next July
he has to begin figuring how much
powder he will put behind his shot
at the presidency in 1910. 1t may
easily work out that 1914 will ap-
pear to be better year for him.
Left or Right?
Some of his New York friends
already have been asking him jocu-
larly when he was going to decide
whether he was liberal or a con-
servative. One, reminding him of
survey which said go per cent Of the
people thought he was liberal and 40
per cent thought his conservative,
said with twinkle in his eye:
You can't declare yourself now.
Tom. If you go one way, you will
lose the go per cent, and if you go
the other, you'll lose the 40. The
division is too close"
1t is not entirely Mr.. Dewey's
fault, however. that he has not ex-
pounded his views before this. Plans
for an invasion of the Middle West
had been made months ago, but they
were tabled by the outbreak of war
in Euorpe and the semblance OF a
over repeating the arms embargo.
But even if there had been no
talk of a political truce, Mr.. Dewey
would have held back until the en-
barge debate was finished. He had
feeling there was no point in talk
ing in a boiler factory. The front
pages and the air waves were filled
with words about embargo. 1t would
have been waste of energy to try
to crash in.
What He'll Find.
What Mr.. Dewey is likely to find
in the Middle West is that the men
who pay the way for the party have
been fairly we'll sold on other candi-
dates. His own strength seems to
lie among minority of young Re-
publicans in most of the States be-
tween the Alleghenies and the
Rockies.
There the tendency is to lay stress
on the need for a Republican cam
didate with background of expert
ence in national affairs. This point
of view was sharpened by the out
break of war and the demand that
the United States stay out Of it.
If Mr.. Dewey finds that this is
the dominant sentiment, he might
return to New York reconciled to the
abandonment of any thought of at
tanning the presidency in 1910.
There would be, of course, no public
statement to this effect. Nor is it
likely there would be any outward
indication Of change in aim.
Two Choices.
But, if the hope of attaining the
1910 nomination were withdrawn
from him, he would be left the
choice between two possible roads
to the 1914 nomination. One would
be to aim for the vice presidential
nomination on the 1910 ticket, the
other to try again for the governor
ship of New York, which he failed
by so narrow a margin to win in
1898.
No Vice President since Martin
Van Buren has risen to the presi-
dency by election without first hav-
ing been moved into the White
House by death during his vice presi-
dential term. Few Vice Presidents
have been heard of save for those
who were lifted out of obscurity by
death. John Nance Garner is the
exception. The vice presidency has
not, during the last 100 years, been
the natural road to the presidency.
A governorship-and particularly
the New York governorship-is the
modern stepping stone to the presi-
Dental nomination. And, coinci-
dertally, Mr.. Dewey's term as dis
trict attorney expires at the same
time as does that of the New York
Governor. A good showing at the
1910 convention would help along
the publicity build-up for a COVER
norShin rare in 1Q42