Evening star., 1940-04-05

SdiIiC IilC tdi CIV
Charles G. Ross. of the allies"
Hoover had to be stopped in order
to throw the convention open and
give the others-Lowden, Curtis,
Watson, Guy Goff-a chance. Like
Dewey, Hoover was a comparative
amateur in politics; the rest were
old MISUNDERSTANDING. Again
like Dewey. Hoover was disliked and
feared by the general run of political
leaders. But Hoover had got too far
out in front to be brought down, ard
his nomination became assured
when the big Pennsylvania delega-
tion, controlled by Boss Ware of Phil
adelphia and the Mellon interests,
swung in behind him.
This is not to predict that history
will repeat itself and return the
front-running amateur the winner.
In Vandenberg, Taft and the dark
horses lurking behind them, Dewey
has sterner opposition than the
loosely Joined stop Hoover" allies,
none of whom had any great popular
appeal. were able to furnish. Dewey
confronts also the fact that the Taft
people have quietly rounded up q
substantial number of Southern DEL
egateS-enough, it is claimed to
bring the total initial strength of
the Ohio candidate up to 300 or
better.
Has Psychological Advantage.
The fact remains that Dewey,
quite apart from the delegate
strength he has picked up, enjoys
today psychological advantage OF
the same sort that produced for
Hoover, in the end. bandwagon
rush and the nomination Whether
or not Dewey can exploit his ad-
vantage successfully is the big ques-
ton today in Republican politics.
What is certain is that Dewey's
wisconsin victory, by showing him
possessed of greater vote-getting
ability than they had counted on,
his thrown new fear into his oppo-
nents and will cause their respective
campaigns to fall naturally into the
pattern of stop-Dewey movement.
There will be no formal. cahal.
None is necessary. The political
logic of the situation gives the
other candidates a community of
interest. demands what the diplo-
mats call parallelism of action.
| The result is quite as unpredictable
as that among the Democrats. Any
one of a number of things can hap
pen. 1t is conceivable that Dewey,
like Hoover IL years ago, will 60 into
the convention with such great ap-
parent popular strength that the
leaders now drumming up sentiment
against him will knuckle under
without much of a struggle. Or it
may be-and this appears much
likeher-that while he will certainly
60 into the convention strong
contender. he will still lack the
prestige required for the quick turn
to him for which his managers are
hoping
Public Reaction May Decide.
The convention in this case will
become an open" convention-cne
in which the decision will hinge. as
it did in 1920, on maneuverings be-
hind the scenes. If this happens. a
great deal will depend on what the
convention leaders conceive to be
/ the state of the public mind at the
time of the nomination. If they feel
that the tide is running strongly
Republicanward, so strongly as to
make any Republican candidate
look like winner, they will not be
likely to choose Dewey If, on the
other hand, they feel that the deci-
sion will be close-that to turn down
a "glamorous" candidate would be
seriously to jeopardize G. o. P.
chances-then Mr. Dewey, always
assuming that he continues to prove
himself a good vote-getter. will be
the best bet for the nomination.
1t comes down to this: The men
in control of the Republican party,
by and large, would prefer to win
with some one other than Dewey,
but they will take Dewey If they
think they have to take him Il,
order to win.
: Mr.. Dewey, then, is in the p.c-
ture, very much in it. The Wiscon-
sin result proved that he can't be
laughed of with wisecracks about
diapers and safety pins. 1t showed
the other candidates that they have
got to take him seriously. But Mr..
| Dewey by no means fills the picture.
Mr.. Taft is there, plodding along,
hopeful that he will be the one to
/ whom the elements opposed to Mr..
Dewey will turn. His solid delegate
strength, gathered, so to speak, by
the dark Of the moon. is something
to encourage his hopes. You can't
learn from his managers just what
States are in Mr.. Taft's delegate
column-they are running no risks
of tampering. Senator Vandenberg s
head, after Wisconsin, is bloody but
unbowed, and he is hoping that
Nebraska next Tuesday will stanch
his wounds.
Not to be forgotten, either, is the
dark horse stable If House Minority
Leader Joe Martin and ALI Landon
have their way, the nominee will
be picked in an offstage conclave Of
the best minds, in which case the
choice may very well fall on some
one not avowedly in the race.
It might possibly fall on Mr.
Martin himself.