Evening star., 1949-01-28

Dor" &ieesoH' national Q m .
mittee, by and large, stood by the
young chairman who proclaimed
himself a middle-roader.
They saved him. Among the IA
miliar faces. the Old Guard had a
majority. They had been able to
do what they could not do at Phila-
delphia in time to prevent the re-
nomination Of Gov. Thomas Dewey.
They had formed coalition with
the Stassen group and accepted a
compromise candidate. Roy Dunn,
from a Stassen State. Minnesota.
To win the unknowns and the
women If possible, the Scott forces
bore down on the effect on young
voters, the veterans and the man In
the street of making World War II
Veteran Scott the scapegoat for the
November 2 debacle.
The pattern OF the Scott victory
is spotty. No theology unites his
supporters, nor does geography. He
did not have the advantage Of the
powerful emotional force the other
side enjoyed in a common detesta-
ton of Gov. Dewey, his policies and
his method of campaigning. But as
the day wore on it appeared that
the committee, whose great griev-
'ance is that Dewey ignored 1t, was
beginning to regret the attention
lit was now drawing to itself. And
the uncharted vote, less tied emo
tionally to the committees past
swung to Mr.. Scott.
Irony in Situation.
In general, the Scott forces COM
prised those a little closer to the
people than the pro-Dunn faction.
A major exception lies in the irony
that Mr.. Scott, touted as the new
look in Republicanism. is a
Joe Grundy selection, named to the
Craftsmanship by Gov. Dewey in
payment of a political debt owed
Mr.. Grundy and Senator Ed Mar
tin, spokesmen for Pennsylvania
conservatives.
But the question was increasingly
asked during the debate: What
shall we tell people when we go
home and they ask what we did at
Omaha? Shall we tell them we
fired a World War II veteran as our
chairman"
Mr.. Scott describes himself as a
middle-roader. He says he is un-
fettered by allegiance to any man.
He is not for any candidate for
President, he says, but he is against
one: Gov. Dewey. That practically
makes it unanimous; the committee
Is adjourning with but one kind
word for the '48 nominee. Mrs.
Consuelo Bailey, lawyer of Burling-
ton, VT, defiantly told them they
all were to blame, too. She added
that such pickering on the part Of
adult, sensible people would not
endear the party to the voters. The
gentlemen didn't like it much,
either, but it had an unusual rational
sound in the smoke-f1lled room.
Few Jests.
The best phrase was turned by
Author Clarence Burlington Kelland
in an attack on Mr.. SCOTS failings
in the campaign: HE is only a
ghost looking around for a cam
paign to haunt"
But there were few jests. The
Old Guard, the Midwest and Far
West liberals took seriously their
anti-Dewey drive. They want the
party back so strongly they even
Joined each other.
Harrison Spangler, the neat Cedar
Rapids 1owa) lawyer and Spanish
American War veteran who was
once compromise chairman him
self, after another big row, revealed
the Old Guards true nostalgia. De-
parting momentarily from his at
tack on Mr.. Scott, Mr.. Spangler
eulogized Herbert Hoover with real
feeling. These party seniors long for
the comfortable old days and that
remoter America; they apparently
feel they can get it all again if they