Evening star., 1947-12-24
Candidacy Of Wallace
Might Prove Big Help
To Truman Next Year
President Would Be Rid
OF Radical Tinee While
COP Lost IsoIutionists
Bv David Laurence


party ticket for the presidency, ne
will materially aid President Tru-
mans chances of reelection. Curl
ously enough, the Republicans up to
now have for the most part felt that
the exact opposite is true
The Republican theory has been
that former Secretary Wallace would
divide the radical. vote and, in a
hree-cornered race, Republican
nominee would win easily.
But the presence Of Mr. wallace
in the race would completely alter
the Democratic Party strategy. In
stead of feeling an urge to cater to
the extreme left-wing vote, the Tru-
man tactics would be to allow the
Wallace party to adopt the radical
programs. This can only mean that
the Truman campaign would be
waged along nonradical lines.
The Nation is predominantly nom
radical. The Republicans would
naturally benefit from any straight
out division of the country into rad
ical and nonradical voting groups.
But II Mr. Truman goes over to the
nonradical side and this aspect is
emphasized, as it probably would be
when the Wallace attacks on his
policies began, the electorate would
tend more and more to classify the
Truman ticket as being the opposite
Of that of the Wallace adherents.
International Issues.
On international issues, Mr.. Tru-
man has wide support in both
parties. If the Wallace campaign is
directed against the Marshall plan
and against cooperation in Europe,
it will not draw any considerable
number of Democrats in the large
cities, though it might attract some
Of the isolationist rank and file in
the rural districts of the Middle
West-enough perhaps TO be fac
tor diminishing Republican strength
in any close election.
1t is to be assumed that the Re-
publican nominee will not be an
isolationist but will be in favor of
the principles of the Marshall plan.
Under these circumstances, the main
issues before the country may not
be international at all-at least in
sofar as the regular Republican and
Democratic nominees are concerned.
The isolationist and radical vote
would go to the Wallace ticket. 1t
is also among certain labor groups
and radical organizations that the
sinews of financial strength for the
third party movement will have to
be found.
The third party movements have
not been successful in winning cleo
toral votes but they do play havoc
with the outcome in various States.
Thus, in 1924 when John w. Davis,
conservative Democrat, was opposed
by President Coolidge. conservative
Republican, there were about
dozen States in the West and Far
West which did not cast majority
vote for the Republican nominee.
Mr. Davis didn't win the electoral
vote itself but Mr.. Coolidge was
minority winner-that is, winner by
a plurality-When total votes were
counted.
La Toilette Drew From COP.
In that year it was not too clear
that all the votes for the La Toilette
Wheeler third-party ticket came
from the Democratic Party in the
West. Much of the strength was
Republican.
The principal basis for the belief
that Mr.. Truman will benefit from
a third party movement is the
assumption that the President will
have to choose between a radical
and strongly antiradical position
and that the Wallace characterize
ton of Mr. Truman will be inclined
to make the Democratic nominee
seem conservative in comparison.
The real threat in the Wallace
campaign will be the opportunity
to mobilize truly isolationist senti-
ment in the Middle West and West.
The isolationist vote has been large
ly Republican. If even a small part
Of it goes to Wallace, the Republi-
cans will be the losers.
L
course, can change considerably be-
tween now and next November. A
crisis atmosphere would tend to
strengthen Mr.. Truman's position
and to urge voters to continue the
policies of the country in interna-
tional affairs. This was the sort of
strategy the late President Roose-
welt used successfully in 1910 and
1914 and it may come in handy
again in 1948 for Mr. Truman. All
Mr.. Wallace can do, in fact, is to
give the impression that Mr.. Tru-
man isn't a left-winger and isn't a
radical and isn't an isolationist.
Such a negative recommendation
can prove invaluable in the next
campaign.