Evening star., 1949-03-10
The Political Mill
Naming Victor johnson
Held Wise G. o. P. Move
Will Set Up State Organizations For
Senatorial Elections
By Gould Lincoln

By Gould Lincoln
Realizing the Importance of the 1850
senatorial elections-where victory is almost
sine qua non for the Republicans If the
COP is to have any chance whatever to
control the upper house in 1953-the Re-
publican Senatorial Campaign Committee,
headed by Senator Brewster of Maine, with
former Senator Townsend of Delaware as
co-chairman. has taken wise step: The
appointment of Victor johnson as executive
director of the committee.
Mr.. johnson, friendly and likeable, is one
OF the shrewdest politicians the COP has
produced IN recent years. In addition, the
new executive director of the Senatorial
Committee is tremendously hard worker.
He believes in organization and more Or
ganlzatlon He's not concerned with the
age OF the party workers. Young and old
look alike to him, if they will work. The
Republican organization, at the county and
still lower level, is not what it should be in
many of the States. L will be Mr.. john
sons job to see that, in the States where
Republicans have a chance for victory, even
an outside chance. the organization is built
up from the grass roots. That is, in those
States where senatorial elections will be
held, about third of the total number.
Some See 1t as Slap at Scott.
In some quarters the unusual activity, in
cluding the appointment of an executive di-
rector on the part of the senatorial COM
mittee is being interpreted as a slap at
Republican National Chairman Scott. At
National Committee headquarters however,
satisfaction with the appointment of Mr..
johnson is warmly expressed along with the
belief that Mr.. johnson will cooperate
soundly with the National Committee and
the National Committee with Mr.. Johnson.
It takes money to run a campaign. The
Senatorial Committee has in the recent
past at least looked to the National Com
mittee for its money. Now it has been
demanding, according to report $250,000,
although the National Committee had put
it down for $4,000 in its budget. More
recently, it is believed the Senatorial Com
mittee has reduced its request to some
$4,000. The Republican House Committee
also has been out after greatly increased
sums of money-giving the impression that
it, too, is going to be more active in the
coming campaign and not rely to the same
extent upon the National Committee as in
the past. The House Committee started
with a request for $250,000 and has scaled
it down to 100000. The National Com
mittee had $4,000 in its budget for the
House Committee.
These requests for additional funds by
the congressional campaign committees
were to have come before a meeting of the
Executive Committee Of the Republican
National Committee last Thursday bus
Chairman Scott suffered badly sprained
back in a fall in his home and the meet
ing had to be postponed. Mr.. Scott is him.
self member of the House from Pennsyl-
vania. His fiat refusal to resign the chair
manship after the last campaign, however,
aroused considerable antagonism and some
Of his colleagues have been cunning for
him. Things came to a showdown at the
Omaha meeting of the National Committee.
and after bitter row Mr.. Scott won out.
Resentment Still Shows.
The resentment of Mr.. Scott's opponents,
however, continues to show itself here and
there. The inSistence of the Congressional
Campaign Committees that they are going
to run things next year is one indication
of the feeling. The Republicans, however.
have built up a very satisfactory system
whereby campaign funds are raised through
financial committees which are the creatures
of the National Committee. 1t may be ex-
pected that the National Committee will
yield in part at least to the requests of the
House and Senate committees that larger
funds be allotted them But it also may
be expected that these committees will not
undertake to break down very satisfactory
campaign fund raising organiZation-which
might happen if the committee sought to
raise funds entirely outside of the National
Committee.
Mr.. johnson worked for the Stassen-for-
President movement in 1948. He is credited
with having been largely responsible for
Mr.. Stassen's favorable showing in some Of
the early preferential primaries-particu-
larly in Wisconsin and Nebraska. Later he
held an important post in the Republican
drive to elect Mr.. Dewey President. En-
phatically, however, he is not representing
any of the potential 1852 presidential nomi-
nees in his new job. Before he twas ap-
pointed, he conferred with Senator Taft OF
Ohio. and the Ohio Senator, who is facing
desperate struggle for reelection next year,
complimented Mr.. Johnson and Mr.. johnson
made it clear that one of his main tasks was
to get Senator Taft reelected.