The journal. (Caldwell, Ohio) 1934-1961, 1952-08-21
This Week
in
Washington
By WALTER SHEAD

Governor Adlai Stevenson of
Illinois emerged as winner of the
Democratic presidential nomi-
nation, the object of a true draft,
much in the same position as
Eisenhower, who became the
COP standard bearer. Both must
heal the wounds of intra-party
strife before either can get down
to the real campaign issues.
There is little doubt that the
Democratic convention picked
the strongest man from its list
of candidates . for, as the sue
cessful Governor of Illinois in the
heart of the great midwest,
Stevenson is the one man best
fitted to hold that important
sector of the electorate for the
Democrats in November.
1t was this great farm belt in
1948 which carried President
Truman to victory Illinois,
Iowa, Kentucky, Minnesota, Ten.
nessee, Ohio, Wisconsin and Mis-
souri, with 1913 electoral
votes.
Democratic leaders at Chicago
took calculated risk when they
forced through a loyalty pledge
which delegates must take if they
want to return to the 1866 con-
vention. They believe that even
if they lose the same four south
ern states lost in 1948-South
Carolina, Alabama, Mississippi,
and Louisiana with 80 votes and
possibly Texas or Virginia, a
total of II electoral votes-they
will more than overcome that
handicap with a win in either
New York with it's At votes or
Pennsylvania with 35 and New
Jersey with Is. 1t will be remem-
bered that the Democratic ticket
would have carried New York
and probably New Jersey in 1948
had it not been for the splinter
party headed by Henry A. Wal
lace.
One obvious result from both
conventions is that the southern
states are to become political
battlefields in this election for
the first time since the civil war.
For it is apparent that Eisen-
hover has strength in the South
far exceeding any Republican
candidate in a generation. 1t will
mean the birth of a two-party
system in the South. In the
Democratic convention the dele
gates told the southern leaders
such as Senator Harry Byrd of
Virginia, Governor James Byrnes
of South Carolina and Governor
Robert Kennon, of louisiana;
''You are here by suffrance of
the other delegates of this con-
vention, and you cannot partici-
pate in the nomination of ticket
in this convention and then go
home and use the Democratic
party label for any other ticket
That's what the loyalty pledge
means which was adopted as a
permanent rule of the conven-
ton.
1t is expected to effectively
prevent those states from doing
what they did in 1948-namely
putting the Dixiecrat ticket, or
any other ticket under the party
emblem of the rooster" and
forcing write-in votes for the
nominees of the convention.
These southern leaders are
mad, they were humiliated, and
for this reason the administration
will see to it that for the first
time in history a real national
campaign will be conducted in
southern states.
The Republican convention
also whipped southern states in
line by adoption of the "fair
play" rule and addition of the
incentive rule on the national
committee giving more recogni-
ton and membership for those
states which get in the winning
column. 1t means that the patron
age hungry rotten borough" and
absentee landlord" system OF
Republican leaders in the south
is ended and that if southern
states want equal representation
on the national committee with
other states, they must get out
and work for the honor, work tc
win.