Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1946-06-07

of the draft as
means of pre- Frank q. Kent.
venting future strikes against the
Governments step which Mr.
Roosevelt had urged on three sepa.
rate occasions.
Though it never hurt Mr.. Roose-
welt, the claim is that Mr.. Truman
has thus lost both the labor and the
liberal vote. On the surface, and In
so far as the professionals under
both heads can control, this would
seem to be true-st least partially
But, really Ito assay the political
cost to Mr.. Truman, several things
must be considered.
Labor Liberals Identical.
One is that the labor vote" and
the "libef>I Il vote" to a large extent
are identical. Every CLIO leader, big
and little, calls himself a liberal
And nearly all the conspicuous
liberals" one way or another, are
linked with the CLIO and its PAC
"a WAlIl tllC
American Labor party, or one or the
other of the new liberal" commit
tees that have recently sprung up
They are somewhat ridiculously in
terlocked. Another is that the noise
which these groups make is wholly
out of proportion to their numerical
strength. They are more deliberately
and extensively equipped for pub
llcity purposes than all other agen-
cies in the country. Four-fifths OF
their energy and money is expended
for publicity.
A third thing to consider is that
while 1t seems true that the Dem
ocratic party cannot carry New
York without the support of thu
American Labor party and the Lib.
ersl party formed by members whe
resented the completeness with
which the Communists took ovel
the ALP it is by no means true
that the solid support of these two
parties insures victory in New York
For example, in 1914, together the,
cast $4,000 votes for Mr.. Roose.
welt, but Mr.. Roosevelt only car.
ried the State by $4,000. Few per.
sons will contend that despite tn,
solidity of the ALP-Liberal support
in New York and elsewhere Mr.
Roosevelt would have won in 1874!
had it not been for the war and thu
fear of many conservative Demo.
Gratis and Republicans that a change
IN the presidency might be disas.
trous.
Can't Switch Followers.
Still another point is the ex-
tent to which these labor Liberal
leaders can switch their followers. It
Is easy enough to claim solid de-
livery; but delivering is quite an
other thing. The ability to deliver
like the membership statistics In
these labor Liberal organizations, /.
always enormously exaggerated
There is no way to check the fig.
ures, so the leaders can safely put
them very highland do.
1t was easy to deliver for Mr.
Roosevelt who had captured the
Imagination of the labor rank anc
file. But to swing this rank and file
away from the Democratic party
where it has been for II years, ant
away from Mr.. Truman, with hi
prolabor record and his undertaking
pursuit Of the Roosevelt policies, viii
not be anything like 100 per cen
possible.
Finally, there is the trenchan
notwithstanding that in 1874,
the liberal leaders are still
angry with Mr. Truman-where ar,
they going? To the Republican
party, which they have spent s,
much vigor denouncing as reac
tionary and antilabor? Into a thirs
party, which, concededly, would b,
futile and foolish? There is som,
talk among the poor little man
boys that labor and the liberal
may throw their strength to MI
Stassen. But Mr.. Stassen's friend
earnestly hope that, if that hap
pens, they will wait until after tn,
Republican convention. For, if any
thing could give him the kiss O
death in body where the odds ar
against him anyhow, a CLIO in
dorsement is that thing.
Odds Against Truman.
As to Gov. Dewey, Senator TAT
and the other Republican avail
ables, the labor or liberal leade,
who has not taken fling at then
Is Insignificant indeed. The truth i
that the war being over and tn,
Democrats having been in ofic,
nearly Is years. a change is overdu,
and the odds are against Mr.. Tru
man. But they would be mucl
heavier against any other Demo
crat, and If Mr.. Truman is de
feated it will not be because of tn
labor and liberal leaders. Thes
have overplayed and overtalked.
There is no place for them in tn
Republican party. as they them
selves have many times forcefull,
~IAs