Evening star., 1951-12-25
The Political Mill
The Political Mil
Democrats Have Gosh
But Issues Favor 6. O. P.
+, Administration on Defensive
In Year of Decision
By Gould Lincoln

W oOutU @hu@OUb
Another "year Of decision" opens for
the American people few days hence.
The decision, fortunately, is made at the
polls and in the voting booths. The
choice Is continuation Of 20 years Of
rule by the Democratic Party. under the
leadership of the late Franklin D.
Roosevelt and Of Harry s.. Truman, or q
restoration, after many years, of Repub-
Ican control of the Federal Govern.
ment. As Of today, the issues favor
the Republicans, and the cash the
Democrats.
The Truman administration finds It.
self on the defensive. Recent efforts by
the President and by his new Demo-
cratic national chairman, Frank Nc
Kinney, have been unable to change this
situation. Foremost in the public eye Of
all the issues is corruption in Federal
Government. Cleanup promises, made by
Mr.. Truman and Mr.. Mckinney, get
only horse laugh. And so far the
President has apparently been unable
to fill a cleanup commission, with J.
Edgar Hoover. FBI head, and Judge
Thomas r. Murphy of New York and
Alger Hiss fame declining to be drawn
in. Further the cleanup commission
idea has become identified In the public
mind with whitewaSh. In addition, the
corruption revelations promise to run
on for months, passing from one agency
Of the Government to another.
Three Messages In Month.
Within a month, President Truman's
three major messages to Congress at
the opening of new session will be
his messages on the state of the Union,
on the budget and on the economic
condition. The closest the President has
ever come to answering publicly the
question Of his candidacy to succeed
himself was when he told a press con-
ference he would say nothing Of his
plans until after his messages had gone
to Congress. He may find 1t advisable
for him to declare himself, therefore,
within a few weeks. or he may wait
until the big Jefferson Jackson dinner
in Washington, in February. At any
rate, Chairman Mckinney has told
friends he expects to have O candidate
for President by March-presumably
Mr.. Truman.
Mr.. Truman. If he wishes. may keep
his party members in the dark as to
whether he will seek what would
amount to third term in the White
House, just as the late Franklin D.
Roosevelt did in 1910. The longer he
remains silent, however, the more con-
yinced his followers will be that he will
run again. OF course, he can have q re-
nomination If he wants one-unless the
going should become much rougher for
the administration. In the minds Of
some Of his close associates, there is a
firm conviction Mr.. Truman will run.
In the minds Of others is growing be-
lief that he will be unable to avoid
running; that he will have to accept the
challenge hurled at him by the G. o. P.
Never Fled Fight.
The President has never run away
from fight. He may become convinced
that he must defend his administration
OF the Government; that only by becom-
ing candidate can he win vindication.
On the other hand, if the President does
not wish to run, he has an out In the
Twenty-Second Amendment Of the Con-
>stitution which limits President to two
terms. and which makes of Mr.. Truman,
OF all the people, the sole exception to
this rule. He may very properly say that
ne prefers to live up to the spirit Of the
amendment. But again. having the
Franklin D. Roosevelt precedents of
third and fourth elections to the presi-
dency Immediately behind him, Mr..
Truman may consider himself justified
in seeking another term in the White
House.
OF one thing Mr.. Truman may be
sure. The pressure for some kind of
pronouncement from him will become
stronger as the days pass. The Demo-
cratic and Republican National Conven-
tions are only little more than six
months away. The party must know
whether 1t is to rally back Of him or
In support of another.
In addition to the corruption issue.
Mr.. Truman, II he runs, must face those
OF high taxes. high prices, controls. the
Korean war and his Far East policy.
and Government waste. There are too
many things for too many people to be
unhappy about. His ace In the hole, how
ever, Is the huge sum which he will dis
pense during the coming year-some $50
billiens-in Government payrolls, Gov
ernment subsidies. Government relief
rolls. and Government contracts-an eff.
fective means of purchasing an election.
when distributed to many millions of
men and women. In addition, the people
have jobs and they have money.