Evening star., 1944-03-26
Bv Rayn 0nd p. Brandt.

ALBANY Gov. Thomas Edmund
and will not become a candidate for
President this year. But if the Re-
publican National Convention at Chi
cago nominates him he will have his
acceptance speech ready, and it will be
the product of many months of political
cogitation.
At AZ he is sitting pretty in the Gov
ernor's chair here while support for his
nomination, without any outright help
from him, continues to pile up. He now
leads almost all the so-called popular
and party polls, far ahead of his 1910
rival, Wendell L. Willkie; Gen. Douglas
Macarthur and Gov. John w. Bricker.
A few politicians and many just plain
citizens have wondered why Dewey per-
sists in his unorthodoX campaign by
silence. Perhaps the explanation can
be found in the old Russian saying, "a
scalded cat fears cold water" Dewey
was scalded at the Philadelphia con-
vention four years ago, after he had led
the first roll call with 800 votes, I'll
more than Senator Robert A. Taft of
Ohio and 255 more than Willkie. BY
the fifth ballot he had dropped to ST,
while Taft reached BIT and Willkie 429.
Willkie won on the sixth roll call, re-
ceiving 998 of the 1000 votes. Dewey
learned that the candidate with the
greatest apparent preconvention strength
is rot always the ultimate victor
At Philadelphia Dewey irritated and
at times infuriated many prominent and
obscure delegates by his arrogant cocki-
ness and self-satisfaction. The old
observation about him that 'you have
to know Dewey we'll to dislike him" was
disproved; many disliked him after 5
minutes conversation. At 80 years old
he was 'the young man in hurry" the
boy Scout" the political upstart.'
A New Dewey.
The Dewey of today is different per-
son. The common appraisal is that he
has ''matured," that he has grown up"
His enemies say that the new Dewey is a
calculated act" but if an act" it is
effective. His present cordiality to
visitors is somewhat Rooseveltian-even
if not sincere, it is fatternig.
AS part of the noncandidate pose,
Dewey declines to be interviewed. This
in itself may be a tijoff If he had
made up his mind to refuse the nomina-
ton if drafted" the logical procedure
would be to talk on the record whenever
requested on any question, regardless of
national political consequences.
1t is possible, however, for an inquir-
ing reporter to ascertain auJkoritatively
what Gov. Dewey thinks about present.
day political problems. He has made
speeches, talked with intimate friends,
held. press conferences with the Albany
correspondents. With information from
these and other sources, jigsaw puzzle
can be pieced together presenting the
following picture:
Dewey would accept the Republican
presidential nomination if offered to him.
He probably will take no open and
active part in the preconvention cam
paign, but will not stop any reputable
Republican from working for him.
Would Urge World Leadership.
If nominated he would conduct an
active campaign, by travel and by radio,
against the New Deals domestic ad-
ministration rather than against it's
objectives, and in the international field
he would promise leadership by the
United States to form a postwar organi-
zation, backed by force, to maintain the
peace. The United States, Great Brit
ain, Soviet Russia and China would be
the nucleus of this organization, as fore
shadowed by the Teheran and Cairo
conferences.
He would try to take the "isolationist"
label from the Republican party. He