Evening star., 1948-05-29
I'm 10 0usi Truman
From Election Race
Seen Sure 10 Fail
Z Groups Out to lynch
Chief Executive Have but
Few Things in Common

By Frank r. Kent

IL y obH Ats IA C"s
Nothing quite like the effort to
force Mr.. Truman out of public
life before the Democratic National
Convention has occurred in our
political history. In effect. it is an
attempt to blackjack a President
into a public abdication of his Of
flee, involving great personal hu-
initiation. 1t is not likely to sue
ceed.
The two groups involved are
first, the Democratic Senators from
the South enraged by the Tru-
man civil rights" proposals which
the Alabama declaration describes
as "villainous program to
enforce racial equality; second,
former New Deal jobholders who
are using the very-eager-to-be-
used Roosevelt brothers elliott and
Franklin. jr) and their mother for
their own political purposes. Per-
sonally. all of these are for the
"villainous program" because 1t was
favored by the late Mr.. Roosevelt
dIlu lo pdlI VI VIC tlCCO Va OH
Roosevelt liberals
Thus we have the strange situa-
tion Of two groups anxious to lynch
Mr.. Truman, but themselves as
widely apart as groups can be.
While the "villainous program"
which has brought the South to the
boiling point is dear to the hearts
of all the Roosevelts and Roosevelt
followers, the other alleged reasons
for the New Deal Truman opposi-
ton logically should endear him to
the South. Among these reasons
are his so-called Palestine be
trayal" his failure to retain in his
Administrator some of the ad-
vanced New Dealers, such as Mr..
Lands. and the fact that he is not
at heart All advanced New Dealer
himself
Two Things in Common"
Thus, the only things which these
two anti-Truman elements have in
common are-flrst, their desire to
deprive Mr.. Truman OF the nomina-
ton: second, an absence Of any
available alternative.
Of the two groups, the Southern
Democrats are by far the stronger
and more important. The other is
trivial in comparison. without in
fiuence in the convention and very
little in the country. 1t is impotent
to affect results before or after the
nomination. The Southern revolt"
is different. If the Alabama plan
of choosing electors pledged not to
vote for Mr.. Truman in the Elec-
toral College is followed by other
Southern States, on the surface 1t
means that Mr.. Truman could not
be elected and the Democrats would
be disastrously defeated. Armed
with this formidable weapon, 1t IS
the plan of Southern leaders to ap-
sroach Mr. Truman through his
friends" in effect saying: Look
Harry, here is plain evidence that
YOU can't win. There is only one
thing for you to do. For the sake
of the party and the country you
must announce your retirement and
declare for General Eisenhower. If
you do that, the convention. will
unanimously draft him. He will
have to run and the party will be
saved"
That is the idea. There are only
five things wrong with it-frst, Mr..
Truman, with more than 900 dele
gates committed to him, certainly
will not quit when that pistol is
put to his head; second. it is in
conceivable that General Eisen-
hover would fall for any such
transparent frameup as that-even
IL he wanted to be President, which
he does not; third, even II Mr..
Truman turned coward and per-
mitted himself to be scared out
of the picture, and the convention
unanimously drafted General
Eisenhower. that clearheaded gen.
tleman could not in honor let him
self be used to salvage the fortunes
or crafty the prejudices OF the
aforementioned groups 49, because
that is what it would amount to.
A fourth reason is that though
he has not-and will not-make
statement on the subject, there Is
every reason to believe that the
Republican, Kansas-born Eisen-
hover is no more opposed to the
"villainous program" than any
other Republican. The fifth and
final reason is that even If Mr..
Truman were bullied out OF the
picture and even if General Eisen-
hover permitted himself to be
drafted" thereby opening himself
to the charge Of iAsincerity, he
would certainly be playing a rather
low trick on Columbia University,
which has spent a good deal OF
money remodeling a handsome
home along lines suggested by him.
And, he might even be beaten in
the election.
Would Lose Negro Vote.
Considering these things, the
calmer Southern Democrats pri-
vately admit there is small chance
of getting Mr.. Truman to withdraw
and less of getting General Eisen-
hover to play ball with them. Also
they admit they have no alternative
candidate who could be nominated
or elected If nominated. Certainly,
1t is clear the nomination OF any
Democrat who repudiates the "vil-
famous program" will drive every
Negro vote in the pivotal border
and Northern States back into the
Republican party from which they
came. This would insure a Demo-
cratic defeat Just as surely as an
electoral bolt in the South.
Also, they admit that any candi-
date. pleasing to the Roosevelt
family-particularly Justice w. o.
Douglas-inevitably would be for
the "villainous program and just
as offensive to them as Mr.. Tru-
man. With Eisenhower unavailable,
the Southern Democrats are en-
gagged in an obviously futile battle,
the only result of which would
seem to be their own discontinue.
Unlike the New Deal group and its
Roosevelt window-dressing, the
Southern Senators are inspired by
a real conviction. The act they are
putting on is based on a defendable
principle. Perhaps their own self