Evening star., 1944-07-23
The Democratic Porty

NhbS
AS the Democrats move out of
Chicago after their 1914 convention
1t becomes increasingly clear that
their party is a curious combination
OF three incongruous and antago-
nistic elements, held together by the
political skill and political potency
OF Franklin D. Roosevelt.
The newest and the least predict
able OF these is the labor faction,
represented at Chicago by Philip
Murray and Sidney Hillman of the
CIO Political Action Committee.
This group made labor's first open
bid for control of a national polit-
ical convention and despite it's fail
ure to put Henry Wallace across, the
measure of its success was consid-
cradle.
These labor leaders were assault
Ing the citadel of the party bosses,
and they made a real fight of it. If
they fell short of nominating Mr..
Wallace, they succeeded in getting
a nominee who was acceptable to
them because they were strong
enough to veto the ambitions of
James F. Byrnes, the Presidents
chief wartime aide. That certainly
was no small accomplishment for
group of amateurs" in Democratic
politics, and it suggests very strongly
that the labor politicians will play
an increasingly important role in
the party.
The second group is composed of
the hard-bitten political bosses
Flynn of New York, Hague of Jersey
City and Kelly of Chicago being
most prominent among them. These
are the practical" men, drawing
their strength from the big city
machines and supposedly making
and enforcing the important deci-
sions. They must have left Chicago
in somewhat chastened mood,
however, because, although they
won the fight for Senator Truman,'
they can hardly be insensible to the
implications of the labor challenge.
The CHANCES are that in another
four years political labor will be
better organized, and the bosses
know that organization is the secret
OF success in politics If they fear
that their dominant political posi-
tions are in jeopardy, they are not
without reason for the apprehension.
Finally, there are the Southern
Democrats, frustrated and en-
blttered group that was for years
the backlog of the party. Generally
speaking, the Southerners have been
able to get along with the bosses,
but they cannot get along with the
CIO and it's political and economic
PHILOSOPHERS. The Southerners were
able to accomplish nothing by them
selves at this convention, and it was
only by joining forces with the
bosses that they were able to stop
Wallace. They failed to get States
rights plank, white supremacy
plank or restoration of the two
thirds rule. Furthermore, the con-
vention refused to recognize the
regular" Texas delegates as being
the legal delegation from the Lone
Star State, insisting that they di-
vide their vote with a rival pro-
Roosevelt group. Because of these
things many of the Southerners left
Chicago threatening to bolt the
party.
The probabilities are, however,
that these contesting elements will
stand together, in the main, behind
President Roosevelt during this cam
paign. They have won with the
President in the past and they think
they can win with him again. Hence,
he has been able to keep this
strangely assorted organization in
tact and more or less in line, but
1t is easy to believe that the Demo-
cratic party as we know it will fall
apart at the seams when Mr. Roose-
welt finally steps down from the
political stage.