Evening star., 1944-10-24
Senator BuII's Decision

Having found himself unwilling
to support the presidential nominee
of his own party, the decision of
Senator Ball to advocate the re-
election of President Roosevelt has
the merit of being a positive, rather
than negative move. The youthful
Minnesota Senator has taken an
unusually active part in the effort
to persuade this country to assume
a larger role in international affairs.
He has sought to be a molder of
public opinion. That being the case,
it would have been the more inap-
propriate for him to have remained
on the sidelines, refusing to support
either candidate because he was
dissatisfied with the views on post
war foreign questions that have
been expressed by Governor Dewey.
OF course, his announcement of
his intention to vote for and support
the President involves a breach of
party loyalty-a serious matter in the
estimation of the politically minded
and this Is all the more so in
Senator Balls case because he
seconded the nomination Of Cover
nor Dewey at the Chicago conven-
tion after the party platform, with
the foreign affairs plank to which
he objected, had been adopted by
the delegates. Yet Senator Ball, in
kicking over the party traces, is
doing something that he has a
perfect right to do. What the effect
Of his decision will be on the presi-
Dental election and on his own
political career remains to be seen.
But 1t is to be supposed that he has
given full consideration to these
points. If Governor Dewey should
be elected despite Senator Balls de-
fection, that very probably would
mean the end OF the latter's political
career, and he presumably is pre-
pared to assume that risk.
1t Is interesting that Senator Ball,
in a formal statement announcing
his decision, should have stated that
domestic issues cannot be separated
from international issues. In his
fondness for the Presidents foreign
policies, he is willing to overlook
what he has previously denounced
as the administrators wholly in
adequate" handling of our domestic
affairs. Apparently it is his belief
that unwise policies and poor man
agement with respect to our domestic
problems are relatively unimportant.
The vital consideration, in his judg-
ment, is the foreign policies of the
candidates, and, preferring the
Presidents statements in this re-
spect to those of Governor Dewey,
he is prepared to accept continual
ton Of domestic policies which he
believes to be unsound.
Many supporters of the Presidents
foreign policies do not agree with
Senator Ball on this score. They
concur In his belief that domestic
and foreign issues cannot be
separated in appraising the candi-
dates, but they also believe that the
domestic issues in this election are
as important-perhaps more i'm
portant-than the foreign issues. It
is their conviction that the United
States, no matter how admirable
our intentions, will not be able to
influence the course of world affairs
after the war if>the domestic condi-
tions which prevailed before Pearl
Harbor are to be revived when
hostilities end. There is no. way of
ascertaining how many persons will
vote for Governor Dewey on this
account, but the indications are
that the number is far from being
inconsequential.