The Wrangell sentinel., 1940-07-19
THIlR0UGH TH1s POLITICAL
 PERISC0PE
O

3
 Not since Calvin Coolidge uttered those famous words T do not choose to run" has anything more neatly turned and politically potent been dropped into the political scene than the statement Franklin D. Roosevelt dumped in the lap of the Democrats at Chicago Tuesday night that the President has no desireI or purpose to be a candidate forI renomination" and "aH delegates of this convention are free to vote for any candidate"
 A bit stunned at first, in the be- lief the President was turning them down flatly, the delegates quickly sensed the true meaning of the. words and pandemonium broke loose as the draft Roosevelt move ment reached it's height with cheer ing sections of We want Roose- welt"
 The President hadn't said he did not choose to run. He simply said he had no desire and he wasn't ask ing the delegates to vote for him, Of course, if the delegates insisted, that would be another matter If nomin ated. and it appears certain as this is written, FDR will be the first President in history to have so com pletly dominated a political conyen- tion and captured the imagination of the American public as to be in position to turn down a nomination for the presidency if he wished to. General anticipation is that he will not turn it down.
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 Senator Barkley, chairman of the convention, who issued the Presi- dents message to the delegates, en- larged on it in these words: "I and other close friends of the President have long known he has no wish to be a candidate again. We know too that in no way whatsoever has he exerted any influence in selection of delegates or upon the opinions of delegates to this convention.
 Pre-convention tabulation by the Associated Press revealed that there | were 77315 votes pledged to the President at the convention. The necessary majority to win nomin-
 ation is 551. Thus the President was sitting in the drivers seat
 whether he wished to or not. Prob able fact is that the Chief Execu i tive did not exert any influence in oF loIn
 ka can be considered criterion of f what conventions did in the States 1 this is certainly true The action of the Alaska democratic convention in Juneau last winter was entirely spontaneous. The delegates came there of one mind, to support Roose- welt. Apparently, the same situation
 prevailed in the majority of States
 where delegations were pledged to his nomination. Call it "it", as the movies used to do, personality
 or whatever one chooses, certainly ! no man has ever captured the im- agination of the American people as
 has Franklin Delano Roosevelt. The
 great tumult that broke out in the | convention hall in Chicago at the
 mere mention of his name is indie
 ative of the attitude of the Amer
 ican people even after eight years
 on the toughest job this country 1 has to offer.
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 While nationally this is Demo- cratic week, Alaska Republicans are
 meeting over in Sitka today in convention to draw up a platform
 for their candidates to stand on be-
 tween now and general election day,
 September 10, as they seek votes for
 election to various territorial offi-
 ces. We don't mean to imply they
 won't stand by it after the election,
 but the important thing is to have
 a platform during the campaign.
 Albert White, back from helping l