The Wilmington morning star., 1940-07-16
WASHINGTON
DAYBOOK

CHICAGO, July Sd e m o c con-
vention' s-eye view of the issues in the coming
campaign, collected during hours of fat-chew.
ing with the men and women who make poll
tics a business:
IT there are any major issues in this battle
Of the political gladiators which will come to
an end November S, they will have to arise
out of national or international events that
occur before then.
Examine almost all big issues you can think
of in the light of Wendell L. Wilkes state
ments of his beliefs and aims and in the light
OF the policies and aims of the New Deal and
see what's left to fight about.
ANSWERS ARE READY
Roosevelt and Willkie are in almost perfect
agreement on foreign policy. Neither likes
Hitler; both believe in adequate defense; both
approve OF the reciprocal trade policy. No
President could cut taxes in the face of mount
ing defense costs (although Willkie undoubted-
ly will favor a revision of the tax system TO
eliminate some taxes that business men con-
slider a hindrance. On farm policy, Willkie
IS reported to have told a group Of farmers to
keep what they have until they get something
better. AS for labor, Willkie will certainly ia
vor some revision Of the Wagner act. but Just
as certainly not enough to ALLEVIATE labor. Both
parties are talking national unity.
What does that leave you? Power? Willkie
has not committed himself on that, but he will.
Ii he should oppose the government power pol
Icy, the New Deal will be waiting for him. rye
talked to old campaigners, and I know. They'll
come out with the declaration that Mr., Willkie
is a TVA-made man that it was the IVA
yardstick that made it possible for him to re.
duce rates and increase consumption in Com
roopuoo1fL owl C,,L.- .. ..
hadn't been for IVA, Willkie would have been
just another utilities company head or
would have gone back to the law business.
What else? Less government regulation OF
business is a certain Willkie policy but no total
black out Of government regulation of bust
ness. The Democrats will fight this with the
claim that Mr.. Willkie is in league with WILL
street.
That doesn't shape up as such a big bag of
bones of contention, does it?
TO TAKE IT APART
But there is one point: the New Deal n
standing on its record and the republicans are
going to take this record apart piece by piece
and try to prove that it is one of ineficiency,
needless bureaucracy, waste d extrava-
gance. That's where the only big fight can
come in the light of present circumstances:
on means, not on the ends to which those
means lead; on methods, not the targets at
which those methods aim.
OF course, Willkie could change his tactics,
do an about-face on all those writings and
speeches he made in his whirlwind rise to the
post of G. O.. P. fiag-bearer. But nobody thinks
he will. The Republican platform was made
to order in its elasticity and he can carry on
the Willkie way without ever outraging the
party's declarations of policy.
Boiled down, this campaign, in the minds Of
most convention observers, is going to be a
battle of Observation-Disclosures against Roose-
welt. Roosevelt is the New Deal and the New
Deal is Roosevelt and in the minds of the
people, say the wiseacres, they cannot be diff
ferentiated.
If this is so, Roosevelt is, going to have a
distinct disadvantage-but don't get me wrong,
it has nothing to do with his personality. It
is simply that because of the program he and
congress have set in motion-the national de-
tense program-it will be impossible for him
to take the field. There is too much work to
be done in Washington, too much chance of
criticism if he turns his back on the capital to
wage a political campaign.
But more of that phase of it later. If YOU
can believe the folks in the throes of conven-
tionitis, it's a duel of methods and personali-
ties and the millions of voters will do their
thumbs-up or thumbs-down on that basis in
November. 1
Dad, reading the latest news from Elrone is