The potters herald. [volume] (East Liverpool, Ohio) 1899-1982, 1944-11-09

This election campaign has brought
us about the biggest gamble ever, in
politics.
Whether or not this column is
printed before election is of little
moment. The facts are as they are.
The big gamble has been Mr.
Dewey's long shot that the people
wouldn't remember and that they
wouldn't catch up on misquotations,
or taking sentences from their con-
| text.
The rest of the campaign has
brought forth two main themes from
the Republican candidate. First, that
his crowd could "do it better; second,
the "tired old men" phrase.
But the climax has been capped by
the business of quoting parts of SEN
tences, or paragraphs, so that the
quotation looks like the opposite of
the full text original.
The trick is an old one, but to try
it in the bright light of presidential
campaign made it tremendous
gamble.
We shall see how it works; how
careful the people are in checking up;
how we'll they remember things.
"Clear it through Sidney" was tried
as a gag line, but it didn't last long.
Somehow it lacked that vitality neces- 4
sary to sweep country.
Two of the outstanding instances
of the partial quotation stunt were in
lifting from it's context certain words
by Assistant Secretary of State Berie
and lifting likewise from Gen. Her
shey, draft director. Hershey, queerly
enough, turned out to be Republican
and, of course, not policy maker.
1t is necessary to go back almost
to the Lincoln days to find a dirtier
campaign, one in which truth and
decency were held in lower esteem.
We have been told a lot about Mr.
Dewey's Smooth running" campaign
machine-no lost motion and all that.
Maybe like magician pulling rabbits
from a hat.
Well, if Mr.. Dewey should be elect
ed and should then start doing his
partial quotation rabbit tricks on
Winston Churchill and Joe Stain,
what then, ye merry gentlemen?
What then? Well, perhaps not so
good.
Presidential campaigns ought to be
dignified Truth ought to mean some
thing. Common decency and good
ought to mean something.
A man running for the presidency
ought to be at least as fair and as
decent as he would be at his break
fast table.
A man running for the presidency
ought to know that, with radio, there Z
can be an answer almost within
But this is a hate campaign and
playing to hate is playing on the
chance that the haters will go forth
to spread the Interpretations as gospel
truth, with never thought about
waiting for the answer Hate doesn't
want truth; it wants only the decay
upon which it feeds.
Perhaps a word about the other two
issues" First, the 1--WE can do it
better" thriller diller. That isn't an
issue. That's only job hunger. We
nave only the record as to how well
we" could do it. 1t is the record Of
he Harding Coolidge era.
Harding and the little green house
IN X street-Cooidge who rode
through in silence-Hoover who was
puzzled when the storm of depression
swept over his administration and
Who ordered Gen. Macarthur to take
he troops into Washington to shoot
Up the rag-tag veterans bonus march.
Oh, yes, but this is young Lochin-
'ar, or something like that, riding
nto the fray to do battle with
demons. This fellow ism t
Coolidge or Harding or Hoover, they
ay. Maybe not; but all he has proved
S that he can put men in Jail. And
hat just isn't enough. AS governor Of
Jew York he hasn't proved anything
or dramatic enough to re-
nember or to throw into the scales.
lie himself doesn't even mention his
.overnorship. "
And the "tired old men" run a
1inning war, fly to Moscow, to
'eheran, to Cairo and generally make
lost younger men look silly for en-
urance. There you are.-CMW.