Milford chronicle., 1950-11-24
N&AN&
WHAT CAUSED THE DEMOCRATIC
DEFEATS2

DEFEATS?
The significance of the last election will
be the subject of heated discussion for a
long time to come as victor, vanQuished,
and objective observer alike try to figure
out what made the people vote as they did.
But, regardless of the verdict of history,
certain conclusions can be drawn right now
with small chance of rebuttal.
First of all, Mr.. Truman and his "Fair
DeaP' program took a stunning defeat. 1t is
true that the Democrats have paper-thin ma
jOrities in House and Senate. But it seems
impossible that any of the more cOntrOver-
sial sections of that program can be pushed
through while this Congress is in Office. The
majOritieS are just too small. A good many
Of the Democrats are notably unenthusiastic
when it comes to the Brannan plan, compul-
sorry government health insurance, regional
authorities and administrations, virtually
unlimited social security, and the rest. They
will line up with the strong Republican bloc
to stop them.
The defeat of so many Democratic stall
warts rubbed more salt in the AdminiStra-
tiOn's wounds. The loss of such Senators as
majority leader Lucas and Tyding and
Thomas is a bitter one. Men such as these
carried much of the load for the President
in his dealings with Congress. They will be
extremely difficult to replace. At the mo-
ment, there seem to be no willing candidates
for majority leader to succeed Mr.. Lucas.
Whoever the choice is he will have rugged
and thankless job next year.
Perhaps the most unequivOcal Truman
supporter of all was Mrs. Helen Bahagan
Douglas. She lost badly in the California
senate rate-and it must be remembered
that this is key state, which Mr.. Truman
fO1s
James Roosevelt to go down to Overwhelming
defeat in his try for governor.
But the Truman administration and the
Democratic party were not the only losers
in this election. Organized labor, as pOliti-
cal force, took terrific whipping. The Taft
Ferguson election in Ohio was the key spot.
The CIO-AFL high commands did every
thing conceivable to beat Senator Taft, whom
they regard as their arch-enemy. Up to
shortly before the election, they were conf
dent of success. They felt that, at the worst,
Taft would just squeak by. Actually, he
smOthered his opponent with 400,000-plus
majority. He even carried most of the in
dustrial counties where union membership is
greatest. In other words, the rank-and-fle
didn't obey their union officers. And that was
true in other states and in other counties
including number of very important CUB
ernatOrial battles.
Another interesting point is that political
registrations don't necessarily mean thing
any more. Oregon is a fine example. In
that state, on the basis of registrations
Democrats now Outnumber Republicans by 9
substantial margin. Yet the C. o. P. swept
this election. Republican Senator Moss beat
his Democratic opponent by better thar
three-tO-One. Republican Governor Mckay
beat his Democratic opponent, a strong pro
Truman man, by twO-to-one. The people vot
ed for individuals, not party labels.
What caused all this? The internationa
mess; the growing worry over government
domestic spending; the feeling held by mil
lions of people that the Administration ha,
been keeping secrets from them; the equally
potent feeling that we have carried interna
tlOnalism to an extreme and that it is ius
not possible for us to support and police tn,
whole world; the ominous turn of events il
Korea-such forces as these, it seems now
caused the great revolution in voting tina
occurred last November z.