The potters herald. [volume] (East Liverpool, Ohio) 1899-1982, 1948-02-05
Economic Highliqhts

Henry Wallace's decision to head
a third party ticket next November
was hardly a bombshell. The form
er vice-president has been playing
tag with the idea for a long time
and sending up the customary trial
balloons. He has been prodded by
various cleft of center" groups,
and by those who take much more
lenient view of Russian policies and
intentions than do the Republican
and Democratic leaders. What his
formal announcement has done is
to open up whole new chain of
political possibilities.
1t remains to be seen what luck
Mr.. Wallace will have in getting on
the ballot in the various states.
Every state has different laws in
this regard, and the variations are
extreme. In Iowa, for instance, two
voters can call a convention and
place a candidate in contention. In
Massachusetts, by contrast, about
$4,000 names are needed to ring the
bell. The matter is further compli-
Gated by laws concerning party af-
filiation and other technicalities.
Generally speaking, the political
air is not favorable to third parties.
The last effort, by Representative
Lempke, was an utter flop. Prior to
that, the elder Senator LaFollette
made a strong campaign but the
best he was able to do was to carry
his own state of Wisconsin where,
at the time, his Progressive Party
was firmly in the saddle. The best
attempt of all, of course, was that
made by Theodore Roosevelt with
his Bull Moose ticket. He had the
of beig an eX-president
with a tremendous and loyal per-
sonal following, but he couldn't
win. Normally-because of our cleo
tive system which gives candidate
receiving a bare majority of the
popular vote in state that states
entire vote in the Electoral College
a third party head wins nothing,
and is important only to the extent
he can take votes away from one of
the major candidates.
This latter point is what makes
Mr.. Wallace's bid significant. He
claims to have inherited the man.
tie Of Franklin Roosevelt-though
that claim is vociferously denied in
he Truman camp. Practically every
political reporter thinks that he will
,ut into Mr. Truman's vote, and
,hus be very strong asset to the
That is the obvious
deduction, but there is another side
% it. 1t is possible that what the
Democrats regard as the Wallace
menace will help in solidifying the
party and lead to an extra heavy
Democratic turnout in November.
gain, if Mr.. Wallace shoots the
works in denouncing Truman poll
lies, it might give the President
some on-the-fence, "sympathetic"
,otes.
One novel suggestion is that the
Wallace candidacy could be a defi-
litive factor in the selection of the
candidate. That theory,
ralid or fanciful as it may be, runs
ike this: Mr.. Wallace will take
lway enough votes from Mr.. Tru-
nan to make the key states of New
York and California safe for the
Therefore, it is no
onger necessary to nominate Mr..
Dewey to carry New York, and the
,alm should unquestionably go to
senator Taft, the leading midwes-
erner.
Coming down to the campaign it.
elf, Mr.. Wallace's domestic pro-
ram will be unadulterated New
Deal. This may take some of the
hunder away from Truman, who
S expected to advocate price con-