Evening star., 1940-07-01

Ss ~ A~"Ss' illS OWIl III d L
velous ability to sell himself might
well have gone for nothing. They
certainly would have gone for
nothing if the stop Willkie" leaders
had possessed tithe of the power
of the old-time Republican bosses.
To see how great were the pos
sibilities of the fight on Willkie-and
to gain an insight into the choice
of Senator McNary of Oregon as his
running mate-it is only necessary
to look at the convention votes from
the Northwest. But for a chain of
fortunate offSetting circumstances,
the intense opposition to Willkie In
this section could have been ex-
plotted to his probable undoing.
For example, there was the State
of Washington, with 16 votes. Nearly
all these votes went to Dewey on
the first four ballots, with Willkie
getting none, and even after the
bandwagon started rolling on the
fifth, which saw New York throw
ing chunk of rs votes to Willkie,
Washington defantly tossed its
entire lot to Taft.
Delegates Hold Out.
The 10 delegates from Oregon,
except one, held out against Willkie
till the final ballot, when seven
joined the parade. Wisconsins in
structed "a stood firm for Dewey up
to the final ballot. Minnesota on
the sixth ballot, though Gov. Stas-
sen was working heroically for
Willkie as his floor leader, gave him
only 10 of its % votes. Montana
started out solidly for Dewey and at
the end was giving Willkie only half
of its eight votes.
Nebraskas S IA votes stayed with
Dewey for only one ballot. but it was
not till the final ballot that Willkie
got more than five of them. Wyom-
ing as late as the fifth ballot was
casting only half of its six votes for
Willkie. Four of North Dakota's
eight votes were still going on the
last ballot for Taft, against four for
Willkie. Seven of South Dakotas
eight held out for Taft till the final
breakup.
The Northwest, clearly lacked the
general enthusiasm for Willkie and
came to his banner with reluctance.
Unquestionably, WILKES selection
of Senator McNary to be No. 2 man
on the ticket was dictated in consid-
cradle part by the disaffection in
the McNary region. The overall
motive, of course, was to heighten
the appeal of the ticket to farmers
throughout the country.
Traditional Regard for Geography.
The minority leader of the Sem
ate was eulogized to the convention
as tried and true friend of agri-
culture and an expert on its prob
lens. Dewey Short of Missouri, in
characteristic blast of oratory,
averred that the name of Willkie
would sweep. industry and labor in
the East and the name of McNary
would sweep the farmers of the
West, so that the election of the
two would be virtually unanimous.
Thus the vice presidential NOM
inee was picked with traditional re-
gard for geography and the pos
sible chinks in the main candidates
armor. The choice is somehow REM
iniscent of the Democrats selection
of Charles w. Bryan to run with
John w. Davis in 1924. McNary has
a great deal more substance than
Bryan. and Willkie possesses useful
attributes as candidate that Davis
lacked, but similarity of motive
behind the selection of the two vice
presidential candidates is apparent.
By the accepted standards of po-
htical availability, McNary is nat
ura" for the job.