Evening star., 1944-06-30
Dewey Seen Bringing
New Spirit to COP
Roosevelt Has Met His Equal
In Campaign Art, Says Writer
By David Lascyen

p I. & r Z
By David Laprencs
CHICAGO, june Republican dele.
gates to the national convention saw q
new force and met . new spirit Of party
militancy In Gov. Dewey OF New York.
Young, vigorous, penetrating ana yet
poised and calculating, the Republican
nominee won the delegates at once. He.
will make . strong campaisn--and mo-
body viii push him around. President
Roosevelt has at last met his equal In
radio personality and In the campaign
art of episrammatic phrase-makins.
The Governors speech had IN its very
delivery the kind Of punch and dy-
manic energy that political folks like to
zee In candidate. The delegates didn't
expect detailed pronouncement on the
issues-they merely wanted to hear the
nominee and get an initial inspiration
from him. ,E
shows Trend II Campaign.
The old system Of postponing the &C.
ceptance speech for few weeks 20 the
candidate could digest the platform
and the issues had many advantages,
but II acceptance speeches are to bs
taken ss just an expression to the con.
vention 1t will not do any harm to the
custom
For Gov. Dewey had no chance to
write out comprehensive discussion Of
the issues. That will come later. Yet,
he did cover lot Of important ground
In his brief address. He evidently has
been thinking about the issues during
his period Of draft" silence.
The Governors speech shows some.
thing OF the trend the campaign may
be expected to take. The attack will
be on one-man government and In its
place will be offered cabinet Of the
ablest men in the country. This will be
welcome because one Of the difaculties
about voting for President Roosevelt
for fourth term Is that one must vote
for continuance Of some Of the cabinet
members who have long worn out their
welcome with the American people.
Another pointed attack will be made
or the change-in- the middle -of the
war argument. Mr.. Dewey handled this
cleverly. II there has been no civilian
interference" with the military, this he
says will be continued In q nav ad-
ministration. II, On the other sas:,
there has been civilian interferenceS'
Gov. Dewey will put stop to It inv
the event he is elected.
Warning to Democrats.
Obviously, the Republican nominee
will tackle gingerly any suggestion that
the Commander In Chief Ii running
on the Democratic ticket Mr.. Dewey
insists that "the military conduct Of the
war" shall be outside this campaign"
That's q warning to the Democrats not
to fall into the trap OF claiming Mr..
Roosevelt is indispensable to the con-
tnued success Of military operations.
It Is plain even this early, however,
that the change idea Is to be the
principal issue Of the national political
contest no matter what each nominee
says. There may be something Of an
issue, too, in the responsibility for the
unpreparedness Of America in this war.
The New York Governors speech on
the whole was good, though he should
be judged on his addresses OF the futurs
which he win have more time to prepare.
The speech Of acceptance had in It
one sour note which could well have
been omitted. It was Mr.. Dewey's
unkind reference to Woodrow Wilson,
The attempt to place the blame for
what happened In 1919 on Mr., Wilson
when 1t is fact that the Republicans
in the Senate were the obstructionists
IS q matter for careful reading, and not
partisan demagoguery, today. -
The Republican delegates went home
happy. They liked Gov. Deweys
speech and his manner. They liked
also Gov Bricker, his speech and his
personality. His acceptance Of the
second place on the ticket welded to.
gether all factions and sent the dele.
gates away In harmonious mood quite
rare in the long history Of national con-
ventions.
tRepreduction Rishts Ressrvsd.)