The McDowell times. [volume] (Keystone, W. Va.) 1904-1941, 1940-10-04
Warrington Digest
Wasted Campaign Funds Result
From Limitations of Hatch Act
National Committees Lose Control Over Expenditures;
Wilkes Voice Holds Key to Success in
His Presidential Campaign.

against expelling him found himself
the target on that issue next time
he came up for reelection.
Well, the fact is that most Of the
money spent for Newbury was spent
on newspaper advertising
But the joker Of the whole situa-
major parties are benefiting from
huge expenditures OUTSIDE the
scope Of the national committees.
and beyond the reach of the Hatch
act. Probably, on the whole, more
money is being wasted this year
on foolish campaign spending than
ever before because there is no
one power which can control ALL
the spending on either side.
Willkie's Bad Throat
Threatens Campaign
Leaving out the possibility that
President Roosevelt may make
some move in connection with the
war; which would turn everything
in the presidential campaign topsy-
turvy, the most important thing to
watch Is Wendell Wilkes voice.
The big question is whether that bad
throat Of his can stand the ordeal
he had planned.
II Willkie can make the sort of
campaign those who knew him had
visualized, he might be able to work
wonders. The man has magnetism.
He has the faculty of winning any
small group to whom he talks, and
this goes for crowds up to 500 and
800, to a degree possessed by few
political figures.
No one had thought, much less
Willxie himself, that he would not
be able to stand the physical strain
of the campaign. Willkie has been
4 making twe--UF- three speeches q
week for q long time, especially IN
the period Immediately preceding
the Philadelphia convention.
But making one speech q day,
even, to crowd of 500 to 1000, is
one thing. Making TEN speeches a
day from the rear end of q rail-
road train, with q monster meeting
every few days, probably on a ma
tional hookup for radio. Is quite an
other. There are mighty few men
who can do that. There are lots Of
men who think they could do 1t, but
would not be able to talk above a
whisper a week or two after they
started.
The big possibility in this cam
paign, always leaving out war move
eventualities, is whether Willl1ie
can do it.
II he cannot, he will lose the big
gest vote-getting magnet in his bag
OF tricks. II is the personal touch
Of the smaller meetings that Is Will
kie's magic. It Is not the big for
NAL speeches that are broadcast
over the land.
Stump Speeches
Hard on Voice
Both are vital, but 1t is UNTHINK-
ABLE that he should not make the
big speeches. So IL one or the other
line of attack must be given up be-
cause OF throat trouble, II will be
the little rear end of the train
speeches that must be sacrificed
There Is nothing new about this
development, except that for some
reason none Of his friends thought
WILKES throat could not stand any
amount Of use. For example, in the
1924 campaign John w. Davis was
the nominee of the Democrats for
the presidency, and he attempted a
nationwide stumping tour. Davis
had been In congress. He had been
solicitor general of the United
States. He had been and still is
regarded as one of the really great
orators Of the country.
But how his throat did crackl He
was obliged 70 get q throat special
ist to travel with him, but even with
expert medical aid he was unable
to do anything like the Job he had
mapped out for himself, a lob he
had been confident of his ability 70
perform.
Some people think that the am
pliers solved the problem of this
strain on the throat. Most emphat-
ically they have not Any one who
listened to the broadcast of the two
national conventions, where the am
pliers we're magnificent, knows
that some voices we're clear and
loud, some muffied and hard 70 I'M
derstand. A man speaking into a
microphone for amplifiers In a big
hall, where the audience must hear.
Is almost forced to strain his voice.
although q man speaking into q
microphone in a radio studio can
read along In a perfectly natural
voice, without straining.
Speaking in the open air, as rear
end train speechers must, Is even
harder on the voice than speaking
in q convention hall.