Evening star., 1944-10-02

mander in Chief, to be drafted"
for another four years. The other
is the unscheduled way in which the
Communist leaders and Mr.. Hillman,
of the Communist-satur CIO
and American Labor party, seized
the oratorical spotlight in New York
and Washington at the end OF the
week. In the Judgment OF most OBJ
serves neither of these things Inn
proved the Roosevelt situation
rather the reverse.
The high level upon which 1t was
proposed to keep the President has
been lowered. The great dignity OF
his position has disappeared. Since
his recent political speech he is re-
vealed as an active candidate, going
after votes in the regulation political
way and with both time and will
ingness to use methods in seeking
them hardly compatible with the
lofty and aloof attitude assumed at
the time of his nomination.
An instance was the cheap little
publicity stunt, arranged by Chair
man Hannegan. of the flying from
New York to take White House tea
with the Commander in Chief, of
Frank Sinatra, "hero of the bobby
sock brigade" and his friends,
Toots Shor, owner OF New York
steak house, and Rags Ragland, a
former burlesque comedian now in
the movies.
Charges Against Jackie.
Nor has the atmosphere been bet
tered by the Intellectual attempt of
Mr.. Hannegan to arouse racial and
religious prejudice by charges against
Republican Chairman Jackie, or by
the silly and vituperative letter of
Mr.. Ickes to Gov. Dewey. Perhaps,
in Mr. Roosevelt's speech next Thurs
day his literary aides may be able to
lift his campaign from its present
level and recapture the Commander
in Chief" glamour. But, at the mo-
ment 1t has reached a stage that led
the New York Times to say edito-
rally that "this is national cleo
ton carried on in a time of national
peril and sacrifice. 1t is not, as Mr..
Hannegan seemed to suppose In this
case, a barroom brawl."
Now, as to the Communist orators
of the last week-what the latter
made clear is that every Communist,
down to the last comrade, Is heart
and soul for the reelection of Mr..
Roosevelt and that, should he be
successful, the rejoicing would be
greater among the Communists
than in any other group in the coun-
try. This, of course, Is not news. 1t
Is known to most politicians and
most newspapermen.
But. distinctly, 1t does not help
the fourth-term cause to have the
Communist advocacy become as
conspicuous, for example, as it did
last Thursday, when in Washington,
James w. Ford, Negro, and three
times the Communist nominee for
Vice President, at a Roosevelt mass
meeting of Communists declared:
"Basically, the policies of President
Roosevelt are those we have fought
for. Our duty is to see that he is
again elected"
Browder Denounces Dewey
At the same time and in the same
vein, Earl Browder, former presi-
dental candidate, to enthusiastic
thousands of Communists at Madi-
son Square Garden, violently de-
nounced Gov. Dewey and urged the
Roosevelt reelection.
From the fourth-term standpoint.
it was unfortunate that Mr.. Hillman.
whose CommuniStic affiliations and
background are undeniable, should
have spoken on the same night as
Mr.. Browder in New York and Mr..
Ford in Washington, and along the
same lines of Dewey denunciation
and Roosevelt eulogy. The result
was that Mr.. Hillman and the Com
munists were spread all over the
New York papers of Friday and had
extremely wide publicity through
out the country, thus contributing
to the growing belief that they are
the real directors of the fourth
term campaign and have relegated
the Democratic National Commit
tee to secondary role.
This is an impression which the
Roosevelt managers are anxious not
to let sink in. Much as they value
the votes which the Hilman commit
tee and the Communists can deliver,
most OF them realize that the no.
tion that these elements would oc-