Milford chronicle., 1948-07-30
LOOK For Political FIREWORKS

Neither presidential convention prOduc-
cd any important surprises. Governor Dew
ey moved to the top of the G.. o. P. list when
he beat Stassen in Oregon. His organization
made those of the other hopefuls look woe
fully amateurish, and he was clearly the
logical choice. The stOp-Truman movement
within the Democratic party was noisy but
1t never controlled many votes, and when
Eisenhower refused unequivOcally to run it
promptly died.
The vice-presidential selections came
pretty close to being nOn-cOntrOversial. Gov
ernOr Warren is a magnetic figure, with a
remarkable record of vOte-getting in the inn
pOrtant State of California. Senator Bark
ley has performed arduOus and faithful ser
vice, and the delegates obviously wished to
honor him.
The platforms, like the keynote and NOM
mating speeches, were exactly what were to
be expected. They were designed to offer
something to everybody and, so far as is
humanity possible, to offend nobody. Couch
ed In general terms for the most part, they
are subject to practically any interpreta-
ton. In this connection, it would be inter-
esting to know just how many voters pay
attention to the platforms anyway. Ger
tainly, they are completely over shadOwed
by the statements and personalities of the
cOntenders
pail of gloom overhung the Democratic con-
clave. The party leaders were going through
the motions out of necessity. Delegates wan
dered out while the speeches were going on.
The spectators seats were only partly filled
More important, the machine leaders-the
men who run the vital state and city Organi-
zations and get the vote Out-were cOnspicu-
Gus by their absence. They were always pres
ent, certain of victory, in ROOsevelt's day.
oo Don AbO-s h0,,
jRbilant when they met in the same hall
They were obviously convinced that after 16
years of starvation they were at last in sight
Of the promised land. All the polls bear them
out in this so faT-thOUgh it's a long time
until November. And most of the cOmmen-
tatOrs are writing as if the election were
over, and Dewey is about to enter the White
House.
That brings up the question of possible
Republican Over-cOnfidence-the feeling that
the ticket can't lose. However widespread
that spirit is in some circles, it doesn't ap-
pear to be pervading the Dewey camp. He
and Warren will take no chances. They will
go to every section of the country. 1t is said
that he has decided on a constructive cam
paign-that is, he will not just denOUnce
Truman and his works but will stress a posi-
tive and specific program. He did that with
enormous success in New York, where he
has sometimes left opponents at loss by
acting as if they didn't exist, and by stick
ing to his own guns.
The nearest thing to the unexpected that
has occurred is Mr.. Truman's calling a spe-
cial session of Congress. This was hardly a
bOmbShell, however. 1t is a political move,
designed to embarrass the Republicans. The
President said he wants the G. o. P. to put
its platform into law at once, and he would
be more than human if he didn't hope for
fruitless dissessiOn and debate by the Re
publicans. He could then go to the country
with the theme that the opposition is incap-
able of running our affairs, and that the
only hope is to return a Democratic Presi-
dent and Congress-