Evening star., 1948-08-28
Candidacy Of Wallace
Generally Agreed,
Now 10 Be Bust
Without Aid of Formers
Or Labor, His Strength Is
Confined to Cruckpots
By Frank r. Kent

VI .opoIs tbs StTen9tn is
Confined to Croekpots
By Frank r. Kent
One Of the gratifying signs Of the
times is that, two months before
the election, 1t is generally agreed
that the Wallace candidacy Is
"bust." There now appears slight
chance that Mr.. Wallace in Novem-
Der will poll enough votes In any
State to affect the result in that
State or to prove anything except
that after all this is not nation of
fools.
Since his so-called convention in
Philadelphia the whole Wallace
movement has shriveled in impor-
tance. Mr.. Wallace himself has
shrunk as a political figure. The in
effable Rexford G. Tugwell has
indicated a latent intention to de-
sert. The idea that before the elec-
ton Mr.. Wallace, personally, may
withdraw because of the complete
ness of the Communist control of
his third party" has been revived.
The suggestion is heard here and
there that he is becoming increas-
ingly confused mentally.
The latest poll, taken for For
kfaoo1iv,a f1a nvparianpnI
Elmo Roper, shows Mr. Wallace
the choice of only three per cent of
the voters. This, on a basis of a
total vote of 55000,000, would be
only 1,e5o,000-an utterly insignfi-
cant showing.
Tribute To U. S. Sanity.
Actually, If he polls only three
per cent of the vote 1t will be cause
for general rejoicing. II, In this
country of more than 145,OO0,oO0
heterogeneous and largely unrea-
soning people, the Communists and
the crackpots. combined. cannot
muster more than that percentage
at the polls, the tribute to the
national soundhess and sanity will
be clear and convincing
If the situation we're otherwise it
would be dreadful indeed. For a
Wallace vote large enough to be the
balance Of power on election day
in any important State would mean
that forces directed by the only po-
tential enemy we have in the world
were strong enough to influence the
choice Of a President Of the United
States It would mean that Com
munists here had made real prog
ress in their sinister campaign to
undermine our system of govern
ment and bring about q condition
of economic and political chaos.
We are. Of course. to be con-
graduated on the prospect that no
such evidence of Communist prog
ress is likely to be given or that any
such thing as the Wallace move
ment will last beyond the 1948 elec-
ton. Looking back, 1t seems re-
markable that there ever should
have been real apprehension about
It. In recent years no third party
has appeared on the American
scene except with the support OF
the organized farm and labor
groups, resentful because of eco
nomic conditions and antagonistic
to what they regarded as the ex-
cessive conservatism OF the two
major parties.
That was true in the Theodore
Roosevelt movement in 1912 and
the La Toilette movement in 1924.
But clearly no such support was
behind Mr.. Wallace. With approx
mately the highest income in farm
history there Is not the slightest
demand for Mr.. Wallace among the
American farmers. AS for organ
ized labor, his candidacy has been
repudiated, first by the big CIO
unions, such as United Steel Work.
ers and United Automobile Work.
ers, and then by the two great
garment workers unions-the Anal
gamated Clothing Workers, whose
convention branded the Wallace
candidacy as disastrous to the vital
interests of organized labor" and
the International Ladies Garment
Workers, who indicted his candi-
dacy as Communist inspired"
No New Deal Support.
Now 1t has been repudiated offic-
ally by the CIO as whole and by
the American Federation of Labor,
whose executive council unani-
mously opposes the false liberal
ism of Mr.. Wallace and his third
party" In addition he is violently
opposed by the exceedingly vocal,
though politically impotent, group
Of former intimates, ex-jobholders
and sons Of the late Franklin Roose-
welt who pompously call themselves
Americans for Democratic Ac-
ton" Their futility was shown by
the stupid effort to draft" General
Eisenhower and thus ditch" Mr..
Truman in the Democratic Conven-
ton. But their opposition to Mr..
Wallace shows there Is no senti-
ment for him even among his form
er associates and friends Of the
New Deal.
Thus, without the support of
labor, farmers or professional 'lib-
erals" Mr.. Wallace's strength ap-
pears wholly confined to the Com
munists and the crackpots. If he
demonstrates in November there
are not enough Of these to matter,
he unwittingly will have performed
a real public service. He and his
Communist hackers will have done
all the things they least wanted.
For one, they will have strengthened
the bipartisan nature Of our foreign
policy, demonstrating better than
could be done in any other way
the national solidarity back of the
Marshall Plan. For another, they
will have proven that three
thumbed efforts radically to change
our economic system appeal to
only a very negligible number of
our people.
In a way Mr.. Wallace will have
served his country. but he also will
have made a pitiable exhibition
of himself.