Evening star., 1944-10-23

1IllS Is 10 De lOllOWGu ny ScIleS
of speeches, in Cleveland, Chicago,
Boston and elsewhere, which he
never had intended to make but
which he has been convinced now
are essential if indispensable States
are to be held for him.
At the same time the tune of his
political and press spokesmen has
changed. Instead of the amused
tolerance with which they were dis
posed to treat Gov. Dewey at the
start, stream of snarling abuse is
now directed at him.
Every charge he makes, every time
he hits a tender spot, and particu-
larly every time he quotes the New
Deal against itself, screams of pain
and rage are evoked. He is de-
nounced as a falsifier, accused of
deliberate misrepresentation" and
dishonesty" depicted as small
man ready to descend to any depth
in order to be elected.
None of this is true; all of it Is a
tribute to the effectiveness of the
Dewey attack and testimony of per-
turbatton on the other side. If the
attack did not hurt and the polls
showing Dewey trend did not
worry, the fourth-termers would be
supercilious instead of savage, calm
instead of excited.
Alarm Seen Plain.
But. they are neither supercilious
nor calm. On the contrary, they are
plainly alarmed, as evidenced by
the fact that they now concede the
election will be close and, despite
advertised betting odds, admit the
Roosevelt victory is not assured.
There is a complete absence of the
"in the bag" talk
There is admission that this Is
the toughest fight Mr.. Roosevelt has
ever had, which is a great contrast
to the attitude in the early part of
the campaign. Then the fourth
term managers were contemptuous
of Governor Dewey. They are no
longer contemptuous; they are mad
and scared. Reliance is now placed
upon Mr.. Roosevelt's ability to stop
the undoubted trend against him
through personal appearance and
personal appeals.
Perhaps he can do it. He is an
exceedingly effective campaigner.
His voice, his personality and the
character of his speeches all have
been assets in former campaigns.
He may check the Dewey trend and,
before election day, swing the people
once more in his direction.
That is what he and his managers
count upon, and no effort will be
spared to follow up his speeches
with an assault that will put Mr..
Dewey in the defensive position
instead of the President. But, two
things should be remembered-first,
that MIR. Roosevelt never made a
fight when the tide was not running
In his direction; second, he never
had as agile, hard-hitting and fast
thinking an opponent.
At any rate, the change in Mr.,
Roosevelt'S position is striking and
significant. Last July, broadcasting
from the West Coast where he had
gone on a "trip of inspection" he
told his nominating convention and
the people that as Commander in
Chief he, of course, would not run
in the usual partisan sense"
Not Planned That Way.
At that time he didn't think he
would need to- At that time he felt
he could again go through the cam
paign ignoring his opponent, pre-
tending to be unconcerned about
the outcome, living upon a plane
high above all partisan and personal
considerations. But he isn't on that
plane now. He came down to make
his first political speech to the
teamsters' union last month, which
was a mistake, because Gov. Dewey
has not let him get back up on it.
Now, he is out campaigning in the
usual partisan way, out after votes,
trying all he knows how to hold on
to his job; doing, in fact, exactly
the thing he told the people he
would not do. This is not the way
Mr.. Roosevelt planned it, and it is
not the way the White House
strategists planned it.
He was to go through the CAM
palgn wrapped in the cloak of the
Commander in Chief, indifferent
to his own political fortunes, con-
cerned solely about the war. Con-
duct of the campaign was to be
left wholly to the National Commit
tee, the White House strategists
and the Hillman agencies.
All the President was expected to
do was hold the pose But he hasn't
been able to do it. His first political
speech, written by the talented