Evening star., 1948-06-19
Little Enmity Shown
In 6. 0. P. Struggle
For Nomination
Candidates on Terms
Of Personal Friendship;
Friction Over Stussen
Rp Frank K. Kent

Friction Over Stossen
By Frank r. Kent
Considering the length and fero-
city Of this struggle for the Republi-
can presidential nomination and
the number of men who one way or
another are seeking It, plus the
heavy odds that the man who lands
1t will be elected. the wonder is not
that personal enmitv should have
been engendered among them. The
wonder is that there should not be
more of 1t.
So far as most of the aspirantS
are concerned. there is exceedingly
little real bitterness. Gov. Dewey,
Senator Taft, Senator Vandenberg,
Gov. Warren and Speaker Martin
are all on terms Of personal friend
ship and there is no evidence OF so
much as a trace of bad feeling be-
tween any two of them. But, as is
well known, this is not the case oe-
tween Senator Taft and Mr.. Stassen
or between Gov. Dewey and Mr..
Stassen. Undeniably there is bitter
ness there. The question is how
much and how long will it last.
The friends of the Messrs: Taft
and Dewey insist that Mr.. Stassen
is responsible for the existing BAD
relationship. AS the Taft people
see it, in entering the Ohio pri-
maries, Mr.. Stassen went out OF his
wav to make bad feeling. He knew
he had no real chance in Ohio, but
it was a way to garner the kind OF
publicity upon which he sets sucn
store. He weighed that against his
Taft friendship, went in, took
licking, got his publicity but Ger
tainly destroyed all trace of af1ec-
ton Senator Taft had for him
If any.
Dewey-St Stassen Friction.
As for the Dewey-Stassen fric-
ton, while the Oregon primaries
probably accentuated it, it had
existed for quite while before that.
Early in the year, Mr.. Stassen went
to Albany to see Gov. Dewey and 1t
was after that visit he made his
press-conference statement that re
would not run for the vice presl-
dencv with Gov. Dewey. He has
vet to explSn why. but he repeated
the statement afIer his Oregon de-
feat. Quite naturally, the Dewey
supporters regarded this as a gratul-
tous personal slap at their man ana
resented it.
Thus, there would seem to be be-
tween Messrs. Taft and Dewey
on the one side and Mr.. Stassen on
the other a breach that cannot be
closed, But this is not necessarily
90 Political enmities are notorious
Iv impermanent and none OF these
gentlemen is likely to permit per-
sonal distaste to stand IN the way
of his ambition. 1t is true that few
persons now think Mr.. Stassen mas
much chance for the first place, out
in the second place he undoubtedly
would add strength to the tlcKet.
And he. like the others, has right
TO change his mind. In other Woros'
no one has to stay mad If his inter-
ests are involved-and no one Will:
AS things stand on the eve OF
the convention, if. as many be-
lieve. there is a deadlock between
Dewey and Taft, unless he deflnite-
Iv eliminates himself, the most
likely nominee to emerge still is
Senator Vandenberg. and his most
likely running mate would be Mr.
Stassen. in that neither Senator
Taft nor Governor Dewey would oe
available for the second place. IN
ouestionably this would be a strong
ticket and unquestionably 1t would
attract considerable Democratic sup
port. 1t may be named but the
most experienced observers and the
most practical politicians do not
think so. These are convinced there
will be no deadlock and that the
nominee will be either Dewey or
Taft
WelI-Based Assumption.
This belief largely rests upon the
fairly well-based assumption that
If and when either Mr.. Taft or Mr..
Dewey becomes convinced he can
not himself be nominated he Will
prefer his most formidable rival to
any other available aspirant. the
point where this conviction comes
either to Gov. Dewey or Senator
Taft may not be reached for num-
her of ballots. but it inevitably must
come soon or late. When it does, 1t
will not appeal to either to see the
nomination fall into the lap OF
Senator Vandenberg or any one else
who has not lifted a finger to get
1t. The argument Is that one or the
other of these leading candidates is
entitled to the nomination ana each
Is said to feel that way. In the event
ne cannot make the grade himself,
neither has any inclination toward
the so-called dark horse" If this
remains true. then the result de-
pends entirely upon which OF these
two men can poll the most votes
and hold them tightest. Gov. Dewey
has more than Senator Taft to start
with. Between them they will have
more than majority on the hrst
ballet.
There is no question that Mr..
Taft can nominate Mr.. Dewey or
that Mr.. Dewey can nominate Mr..
Taft. There does not have to be
deadlock. There does not have to
be a dark horse" or. compromise
candidate. The big unpledged and
favorite-son delegations like Penn
sylvania. Illinois. and California do
not hold the power to name some
one other than Mr.. Dewey or Mr..
Taft unless either Mr.. Dewey or Mr..
Taft co-operates. The real power
in the convention is held by these
two men If they choose to use 1t.
Neither would have much difficulty
in swinging support to the other.
And they both know 1t.
Miss Mclver Honored