Evening star., 1944-11-05


presidency for 16 years, smacking OF
life tenure in Office
Doubt about the condition of Presi-
dent Roosevelts health, and the pos
sibility that presidency may 60 to his
running mate, Senator Harry s. Tru-
man Of Missouri.
The great mass of the rural popula-
ton, outside of the South, is anti-New
Deal. This goes also in large measure
for business, big and little.
In many Of the States the Republican
organization Is far more efiiciently or
ganized than is that of the Democrats.
In this connection it should be remem-
bered that the Republicans control the
State governments Of 26 States, which
have large majority of the total elec-
toral vote
Two Effective Slogans.
The two most effective of the Repub-
lican campaign slogans are 1T is time
for a change" originated by Gov.
Dewey and constantly repeated in his
speeches, and Clear everything with
Sidney
Beginning with his speech of accept
ance in Chicago, when Gov. Dewey
dubbed the Roosevelt administration
a group Of tired, quarreling old men,
and on through his charges that Mr..
Roosevelt will be unable to see that full
employment is given America after the
war, the Republican candidate has rung
the changes on 1T is time for change" !"
The Clear it with Sidney" slogan,
which makes the Democrats see red,
including Democratic National Chair
man Bob" Hannegan. grows out of
the row at the Democratic National
Convention in Chicago. Sidney Hill
man. head of the CIO Political Action
Committee and of the American Labor
party in New York. was supporting Vice
President Wallace. He turned thumbs
down on War Mobilization Director
Byrnes of South Carolina and Senator
Barkley Of Kentucky, but accepted
Senator Truman as a compromise. The
report spread in newspaper circles, as
these facts developed, that the Presi-
dent had told Hannegan to clear it
with Sidney"
Denied by Hannegan.
Mr.. Hannegan has denied fatty that
any such thing was said His denials
have not caught up with the widespread
belief that the vice presidential nomi-
nation was cleared with Sidney"
The slogan has merely served to en-
phasize the close tie-up between Hill
man and his organizations charged with
being Socialistic and Communistic, and
the Roosevelt campaign.
The CIO Political Action Committee
Is on trial in this national election as a
political agency-if not party. It has
been very effective in registering the
workers in the industrial areas. How
many of them it can vote remains to
be seen.
The activity of the CIO-PAC, widely
advertised, has cut both ways. It has
been an asset to the Roosevelt Truman
ticket through registering voters and
its campaigning. On the other hand
it has aroused resentment and suspicion
in Democratic ranks and among some
Democratic leaders. And it has helped
further to ALLEVIATE the rural voters.
Effective on the Democratic side have
been the arguments that there should
be no change of leaders in the midst
of war-and for peace negotiations at
the close of the war. Effective also in
this connection have been the charges
that Gov. Dewey has not had sufIicient
experience in dealing with national and
international affairs.
Ridicule Dewey's Program.
The President and his campaign aides
have ridiculed Dewey's liberal program,
declaring that the Republicans have
never posed as friends of labor except in
election years.
But the Dewey charges Of ineficiency
in government, in getting the country
out of depression by giving jobs until
the war came along, and of political
corruption the Democrats have been re-
duced to single retort: "T'aint so."
The women in this campaign and on
election day have played and will play
an important part. In the first place,
the Census Bureau has shown that there
are more than 100000 more women in
the country than men, even when the
men in the armed forces are included
Both sides have wooed the woman vote
assiduously.
The war cuts both ways with the
women, probably to a greater extent
than with the. men. Casualty lists have
been heavy. Married men have been
drafted.
The total vote cast in the election
promises to be far greater than was
expected in the early stages of the
campaign. Estimates now run from
100000 to 100000. The total vote
In the 1910 election, the largest in his
tory Of the country. exceeded 10 900 900.
As the tempo Of the campaign has
heightened, interest in the election has
grown. The efforts OF both sides to get
the largest possible numbers on the reg
istration lists have been effective. The
soldier vote will 90 far beyond that
originally expected.
This soldier vote may total four O.
4