Evening star., 1944-09-27
COP Leaders Expect
Michigan Victory by
$4,000 or More
Continued From First PageD

Continued From First Page)
along with Mr.. Roosevelt. too. But
there is a schism in the AFL ranks
so far as support of the President is
concerned. Also, while the CIO
Committee is getting the workers to
register, 1t Is certain that they cannot
count on a 100 per cent vote for Mr..
Roosevelt even among the members
Of the CIO unions. Many of these
members have come from other
parts of the State to work in war
plants, have joined the unions be-
cause they have had to, and are
paying their dollars to the Political
Action Committee and its affiliates
also because they have to. They
resent this in many cases.
Michigan farmers have no love for
the New Deal Administration, and
the same is true of thousands of
small business people. Moreover,
Michigan Is traditicl.ally Republi-
can and the thousands of voters who
supported Mr.. Roosevelt in 1882 and
1886 found little difficulty in going
back to the COP. Michigan today
has a Republican Governor, two
Republican Senators and IL out OF
II members of the House.
Two groups Of voters to whom the
New Dealers look for aid are the
Poles and the Negroes. They are
large groups. In Detroit alone 1t
Is estimated there are 165,000
Negroes-and perhaps 100000 OF
them will be voters. In the past the
Poles have been strong supporters
of Mr.. Roosevelt and SO have the
Negroes. There are signs this year
that their support of the President
will not be so solid.
Smith Vote Seen Negligible.
Neither the Republican nor the
New Deal leaders believe that the
America First party's presidential
candidate, Gerald L. K. Smith, will
cut much of a figure in the coming
election. They insist his vote will
be negligible in a total vote that
may run to 100000.
Mr.. Smith, a rabble rousing
former lieutenant of the late
Huey Long, Louisiana "Kingflsh," -"
has no love for either Mr..
Roosevelt or Gov. Dewey. In
1912 he ran for the Senate and
received 10000 votes as an inde-
pendent. If he gets as many votes
this year, it is conceivable he might
influence the result-if he drew
more votes from Gov. Dewey than
from Mr.. Roosevelt.
The soldier vote may play a real
part in the Michigan election. Ap-
proXimately 100000 men and women
are in the armed forces from this
State. About 100000 of them are
expected to vote, judging from the
applications for ballots which have
been received The New Dealers
are claiming a high percentage of
these votes on the theory that most
of the younger people are for Mr..
Roosevelt
But whether they will vote any
differently than if they had been
at home is a question. Most of
them were at home when the State
went for Mr.. Willkie. Also. if there
is loss of 100000 of these potential
voters, the loss may be Mr..
Roosevelts.
State Ticket Regarded In
The Republican State ticket is re-
garded as in Gov. Harry F.
Kelly is up for reelection, running
against a comparatively unknown
Democratic opponent. A Repub-
hcan legislature not long ago passed
law providing for separate presi-
Dental ballot, apparently with the
Idea of preventing any more coat
tail riding by Democratic candidates
for State and congressional office.
1t is easy now for voters to cast
ballots for the Republican guber-
material candidate, for example, and
at the same time vote for Mr.. !
Roosevelt. Some of the Democrats
say that perhaps the Republicans
outsmarted themselves; that this
separate ballot may make the going
tougher for Gov. Dewey
In only one district. the thirteenth,
does it appear there may be a change
in the House delegation from Mich !
lgan. Former Representative Clar-
ence Mcleod, Republican, is can
didate again in this district. The
Democrats carried it two years ago
by only 500 votes The u districts
held by the Republicans today ap-
pear pretty safe, and so do the
ether four for the Democrats.
Dewey Visit Quiet Affair.
Gov DeWeys visit to the State and
his old home at Owosso was too
quiet an affair to stir much enthu-
slasm. according to observers here
Republican leaders are planning to
have him return to Michigan later
to deliver major political speech
Doubt is expressed in some quar-