Evening star., 1948-10-10
New Strategy Evidenced
By Detructors of Dewey
Enemies Cease Open Disparagement
But Still Work to Defeat Him
By Frank X. Kent

But Still Work to Defeat Him
By Frank r. Kent
One Of the interesting phases Of this cam.
paign is the suffering of the confirmed jour-
nalistic and political Dewey haters, nearly all
of whom are New Dealish Left-wingish and
CIOish in their natures and records Few Of
these can write piece or make a speech with
out using the word liberal" from two to 20
times.
These are the individuals who ever since
1910 have sneeringly referred to Gov. Dewey
as Little Tom," repeated with relish the Ethel
Barrymore story of the bridegroom on the
wedding cake and gleefully circulated the
venomous remark of Mrs. Kenneth Simpson
that "You have to know Tom Dewey we'll
really to dislike him" Largely, inspiration for
this petty form Of disparagement came from
the White House during the Roosevelt regime.
1t was typical of the late Mr.. Roosevelt's atti-
tude toward those who opposed him. Since
the Republican Convention, however, this
group has ceased to harp on these strings.
One reason of course, is the strong probable
ity that Mr.. Dewey will be elected President
on November 2. Another is that the Dewey
record and performance make these stories
seem silly and continued effort to treat hin,
with contempt undoubtedly would react upon
those who try 1t. So that form of detraction
has gone into the discard. And those who most
conSplcuous!y practiced it are now crowding
the periodical and daily press with articles
about Dewcys extraordinary ability as an ad-
mlnistrator and the amazing competence Of
the devoted coterie of friends who constitute
the Dewey team
But none of this means that this transmitted
enmity has disappeared or that those who
cherish 1t look forward to the Dewey election
with pleasure. On the contrary, the prospect
causes considerable pain, evidence of which is
to be found in new lines Of attack, plainly de-
signed to make trouble If and when he becomes
President. Some of this is absurd, very little
OF it Is important and a lot of it is malicious.
Several examples can be given First, there is
the hopeful insistence that while Gov. Dewey
is sure to be elected the Democrats will regain
control of the Senate and Mr.. Dewey will thus
be powerless to put through a program. This,
Of course, is a possibility but it is remote one
The fact is that if Dewey is elected by anything
like the landslide indicated by the polls, he
will pull through the Republican Senators In
all the States now classified as doubtful"
In brief, decisive Dewey victory means a
Republican Congress in both branches Every
experienced politician knows this and most Of
the talk about Democratic Senate comes from
persons who, for one small reason or another,
would like to see Mr.. Dewey handicapped after
he gets in. Second, there is the hopeful in
sistence that Mr.. Dewey and Senator Taft are
bound to clash, with resulting administration
futility. This, too, is remote possibility. The
facts are that Gov. Dewey and Senator Taft
are now on exceedingly good personal terms.
serious clash is the last thing either would
want. Clearly, it would be disadvantageous
politically to both. No one expects Senator
Taft to be blind follower of President Dewey
or to agree with him on every point But there
are so many reasons why real rift, such as
suggested. would be bad for both these intelli-.
gent and patriotic men, bad for their party and
bad for the country, that those who know them
best regard the idea as exceedingly farfetched.
Third there is the hopeful insistence that
the so-called "Old Guard" In the House and
Senate will capture the Republican Party and
frustrate all of Deweys plans. This, of course.
utterly ignores the facts that, as President,
Mr.. Dewey will have tremendous lot of Fed
eral jobs and Federal favors to distribute
through Republican members Of Congress; that
these jobs and favors are of great political
value in the States and districts; that mem
bers of Congress who try to nullify the plans
of new President automatically cut them.
selves off from such jobs and favors; that
the hostility of a popular President would
be a great liability to members of Congress
who come up for reelection in 1885,
Fully aware of these things, few detached
~lc l>njsA hat
elected Mr. Dewey will have any real diff
culties with his own party. They take no
stock in the notion of a great Dewey-Taft
feud As for the Old Guard capture" Of
the party, that is even more farcical. Nearly
all these suggestions are the product of wishful
thinking. Most of them are predicated upon
the false assumption that Mr.. Dewey is a
small. stupid man who will not know how to
use the presidential power as q party leader.
OF course he will have trouble with some
members in Congress. Every President has
that But that he will not be able to get
along with his own party in the legislative
branch is certainly not borne out by his
eight-year record at Albany.
Nevertheless, these and similar forecasts will
continue Most Of them will seem ridiculous
if they have not been forgotten-by the time
they are scheduled to be fulfilled. Right now
the silliest one to appear in print is the state
ment that Gov. and Mrs. Dewey are jealous
of Gov and Mrs. Warren because the lovely
Warren daughters have been getting more
and better publicity than the not-so-lovely
Dewey sons. That should get the prize. How
ever, it Is only a little more absurd than the
contention that all the rich Democrats land
there are plenty in Office here are patriotic
and self-sacrifcing fellows. while all the rich
shoddy phrase which the professional liberals"
love to roll of their tongues and pens.
chnnoes