Evening star., 1948-03-27
Running Mate Choice
Puzzles Presidents
Political Advisers
Senator Pepper Logical
Democratic Nominee for
Vice Presidential Post
Bp Frank r. Kent

stand If they or anyone else had an
alternative. Talk about drafting
Gen. Eisenhower as head of the
Democratic ticket, of course, is too
stupid to waste time refuting. There
Is not so much as suggestion of
anybody else.
This sort Of attack from this kind
OF politician should do Mr.. Truman
more good than harm. 1t differs
from the real revolt in the South
In that there is neither conviction
nor principle behind it but only a
peculiarly sordid and selfish species
of big-city politics. 1t will not
change the basic fact that, though
defeat Is threatened, Mr.. Truman
will make better Democratic show
ing than any other available man
II he should be scared not by
raucous publicity and cheap threats
in the language of the precinct boys
1t would, indeed. be Kitty, Bar the
Door" Not much heed Is given to
this idea by the administration
"strategists," but from some a la
ment is heard that the concededly
dim chances Of Democratic success
make 1t more difficult to fill the
second place on the ticket. Perhaps
they are right about this; but 1t does
not matter whether they are or not.
Selection Not Important.
For the whole discussion Of the
vice presidential nominee Is based
on two totally unsound assumptions.
The first Is that 1t Is essential to
balance" the ticket geographically.
That Is to say, the vice presidential
candidate must not come from the
same section of the country as the
head of the ticket. The second Is
that the essential quality for the
vice presidential candidate Is ability
to carry his own State for the ticket.
Neither theory is worth anything
at ALL For one thing there is no
record to show that any vice presi-
Dental candidate ever carried for
the head of the ticket his own or
any other State that would not have
been carried with any other run
ming mate or none. In other words
there Is no proof that in any elec-
tion the vice presidential candidate
either helped or hurt. There is only
one real way in which he can help
and that is through his ability,
either personally or by his friends,
to make a large financial contribu-
ton to the party campaign fund.
That used to be considered an
asset. 1t still is one. The plain fact
is that it makes little difference
who has the second place. OF
course, it would be disadvanta-
geous to name a grossly unfit man.
After all, seven Vice Presidents
have succeeded to the presidency
through the death of the President
and at least surface qualifications
to meet that contingency are re-
quired. Also. 1t would seem absurd
to nominate for second place a
man whose record and views were
not in accord with those Of the
head of the ticket on the main is
sues of the campaign. That would
tend to make the ticket, ridiculous.
For example, it would be silly to
nominate with Mr.. Truman, whom
the organized labor bosses support
because he vetoed the Taft-Hartley
bill, man who either voted for
that bill or believes Mr.. Truman
made mistake In vetoing 1t. Five
members of the Truman Cabinet
hold that belief and clear ma
jority of Democratic members of
Congress not only voted for the
bill but voted to override the Tru-
man veto. Without them, of course,
1t could never have become a law
Labor Exerts Pressure.
The labor bosses, who are Mr..
Trumans main group reliance, have
all these men on their black list as
enemies OF labor" Their avowed
purpose is to drive them out of
public life. The selection of one of
them as the Truman running mate
seems clear absurdity. Yet, the
names OF certain men on these
lists apparently continue to be
seriously considered" by some adj
ministration strategists. It ought to
be clear that Mr.. Truman cannot
have 1t both ways. Certainly he
cannot get the labor-boss support
because of his veto of the bill and
then, by making one of them his
running mate, gain the support of
those who thought that veto
great mistake. At once the bosses
would begin to below that they
had been betrayed" and they
would have reason to.
When the late Mr.. Roosevelt sup
ported Mr.. Truman for second place
in 1914 he insisted Mr.. Truman first
be cleared with Sidney" Obviously.
no one who voted for or approved
the Hartley bill could be
cleared" this time without COM
plete qualification. Mr.. Truman
could not get any first-grade man
to do that. OF course. the only run
ming mate who makes sense this
time is one who either voted against
or was known definitely to disap-
prove the Taft Hartley bill. Under
The circumstances, the logical run
ming mate is some Democratic Sem
ator, or Governor, or cabinet men,
ber who has the same views on
domestic issues. Among the Gov
ernors is his friend, Gov. Wal
yren Of Washington. In the cabi-
net there are Secretaries Schwellen-
bach, Clark and Krug. In the Sen
ate there is Senator Claude Pepper
of Florida, who is eager for the
honor, and Senator OMahoney of
Wyoming, who is being currently
ooomed.
1t is useless to talk of Gen.
Marshall, Mr.. Forrestal or Chief
Justice Vinson. Not one of them is
AVAILABLE. Neither is Justice Doug
as, though obviously he loves pub ,
icity on the subject. Considering ,
hem all, Senator Pepper seems the
ogical selection. He not only voted ,
against the Taft-Hartley bill and to
sustain the veto but screamed his
ienunciation from its inception.
he also Is the only Southern Sena- ]
or who lines up with Mr.. Truman
IN his civil rights" program which /
las put the South in revolt. Be-
'ides, he is the No. / hero of the
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