Evening star., 1952-09-27
The Political Min ~~%
..4-.-.-- 2.
Stors Appear Brighter
For 9. O. P. Victory
EIeventh-Hou Happenings
Unlikely to Change Vote
The Political Min

tleventh-Hour happenings
Unlikely to Change Vote
By Gould Lincoln
Five weeks from next Tuesday the
American voters 60 to the polls to elect
a President. The election already may
have been decided. How many Of tho
voters would honestly say today they
do not know whether they intend to
vote for Eisenhower or for Stevenson?
The issues in this campaign run deep.
Eleventh-hour happenings-the disclo-
sure Of a Nixon political fund" or. q
Stevenson political fund"-both pri-
vately contributed-are not likely to
change enough votes to affect the OUT
come.
The Republicans, on their side Of the
argument, count on the resentment of
voters because of high taxes and higher
prices than in the history of the United
States, resentment because of the many
instances of corruption already proved
in some of the bureaus Of the Federal
Government, and finally. but by no
means least, resentment because there
is no peace and there is a war, which
has cost the people of America more
than 100000 casualties and billions Of
dollars, war which has run two years
and three months and still shows no
sign of ending.
They hold that "it's time for q
change" and believe the people will back
them up. Twenty years of continuous
Democratic rule. they say. has brought
in its trail dictator complex and lower
morality in government. q
The Democrats, for their part rely
on the fact there is high employment.
at higher wages than ever before; on
the fact that business is good, and the
Government has billions of dollars to
spend in Government contracts. They
hark back to the days of 1882, when.
in deep depression, the Republicans
were turned out of office, and the
New Deal-Fair Deal era was begun.
Pendulum Swinging.
The political pendulum, however.
seems to be on the swing. In 1892.
Roosevelt defeated Hoover with a
7-million-vote plurality. In 1896, he
defeated Landon with a 10-million-vote
plurality. -Four years later. he defeated
Willkie with 5-million plurality. and
in 1914 he defeated Dewey with
312 million plurality. In 1948, President
Truman defeated Dewey with a 2.100.-
600 plurality-in the popular vote. Mr..
Truman, in so doing, however. won the
necessary electoral votes Of number
of important States-for example, Cali
fornia, Illinois, Ohio and q number Of
otherS-by very narrow margin. In
Ohio, the Truman lead over Dewey was
only about 1000, in Illinois about 10000.
and in California some $1,000.
Today Gen. Eisenhower must gain
only small percentage Of the votes Of
these States, If he can hold the votes
that Dewey received. to win their elec-
toral votes. The Democrats did not. in
1948. have the handicaps they have to-
day. The shadow Of corruption did not
hang over their administration. There
was no war in Korea. Prices were not so
high, and taxes did not bear down so
heavily as of today. There was. indeed,
a clamor for change, but 1t was not
so vociferous. not so meaningful. It
looks as though the vote percentages
may be won in the States where they
are needed. a..
Gen. Eisenhower has won people to
him by his sincerity. One of the cor
respondents who has travelled far with
tile general-and does not think his
campaign speeches compare to those Of
his opponent. for wit or style-com-
mented to the writer. But the people
love him-Eisenhower" If he Is cor
rect in his estimate, Gen. Eisenhower
should be "in."
Words Can't Conceal Mess.
Gov. Stevenson of Illinois, the Demo-
cratic presidential candidate, has
charmed his listeners with his polished
epigrams, his wit and the sharp digs he
has taken at the Republican Party.
Rarely has any candidate for public
Office made speeches equal in literary
quality. But amusing and cauStic as
his comments have been, they have not
concealed either the mess in the Far
East or the mess in Washington. Gov.
Stevenson laborS under the handicap
of not having been known at all to
millions of Americans before he was
nominated-while his Republican op-
ponent's name has been a household
word in every part Of the country. He
has the Endorsement Of both the CIO
and the AFL-but this Is not entirely
an unmixed blessing.
AS the campaign comes into the
stretch, 1t appears that the Republicans
are more firmly together than are the
Democrats. Senator Taft has taken
of his coat and gone to work in earnest
for the man who defeated him for the
nomination. Gov. Stevenson labors
under the disadvantage of having thou
sands on thousands of Southern DEM
ocrats opposed to him-and many con-
servative Democrats in other parts Of
the country.
The Democrats appeared to be VIM
ming In August-but the skies look
brighter for the Republicans in october.
Questions and Answers
any question 81 fact By either .sritils Tho
Evening Star Information Bureau. 1900 ] street
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