Evening star., 1952-09-28

NSPuDIt$OsIS IIOuttlIiS
From Nixon Incident
Writers See Democrats Hurt
By Their Own Attack
By Fronk R. Kent
It goes to show that in politics as
well as in many other fields of human
endeavor, you never can tell" For
right now it appears that the 'Nixon
disclosures" over which the Democrats
had been so jubilant and which corre-
spondingly distressed the friends of Gen.
Eisenhower have become a political
asset instead of the devastating liability
for the Republican ticket they seemed.
They were designed to destroy: they
seem to have rehabilitated.
In other words it is possible the pro-
Eisenhower journalistic warriors who so
quickly echoed the partisan demand Of
Democratic officials that Senator Nixon.
having committed an objectionable i'm
propriety. be dropped as the Eisenhower
running mate and that Ike repudiate
him forthwith, may have made very
bad guess themselves and be feeling
considerable discomfort in view of the
overwhelming public sentiment mani
tested against that idea. Developments
of the last few days would more or less
indicate that
First, of course, Is the fact that Sem
ator Nixon's remarkably moving speech
eliminated from the minds of the people
all question of his personal integrity.
Almost no one who listened to that
speech could cherish doubt Of the
complete integrity Of the man. Except
among the more violent partiSanS, his
character was re-eStabliShed. You could
believe he had made a mistake. You
could disapprove of the thing he had
done. You could even detect some corn
in his defense speech. But you had to
believe in his complete honesty-and
cleanness. That was the practically
unanimous reaction-and that was the
big thing.
Second, there was the extraordinary
favorable response from the public all
over the country, the countless tele-
grams and letters that swamped the
Western Union, the Republican National
Committee and the Eisenhower head
quarters. These evidenced a good deal
more than approval of the Nixon speech.
They evidenced a deep popular SYM
pathy which practitioners OF politics re-
gard as one of the most potent forces
in their profession. The spectacle OF this
able, decent young man and his wife.
so obviously thrilled by the honors that
had come to them, barring the most inti-
mate facts of their financial life, making
a desperate and courageous fight to
avert the ruin that threatened, moved
vast numbers of people in their favor.
There can be no doubt Of that. Perhaps
certain flaws in the Nixon defense can
be picked and will be expanded. but the
zest of the attack has disappeared and
it's continuation will be difficult with
Nixon, vindicated in the eyes Of the
people, and again able to assail admin
istration corruption and Communist in
filtration.
There is, too, the tremendous impact
of Gen. Ike's wholehearted Endorsement
which came after a period of deep
disturbance, reflection and urgent advice
from some exceedingly close to him to
throw his colleague overheard. Add all
this up and it rather justifies the view
that the whole episode has made Senator
Nixon stronger tnan oeGOre, actually
bettered the Republican tnospects. When
the purpose of the disclosures is con-
Sidered, this is ironic indeed. The argu-
ment is that the attack on Nixon came
from the extreme left-wing press. which
hated him because but for his determi-
nation and persistence Alger Hiss would
have escaped indictment. Certainly the
charges were first printed in an ex-
tremely left-wing New York paper.
which had been violently anti-Nixon
from the start.
The point is now being made that per-
haps the person who emerges least we'll
from the Nixon charges is the very per-
son who was supposed to profit most by
ito wit, Gov. Stevenson. It is true
that when first the Nixon charges were
made Gov. Stevenson somewhat unc-
tuouSly said, 'tWe must not condemn
until all the facts are known" That. Of
course seemed very noble, indeed, but
not when contrasted with the almost
simultaneous statement of his hand
picked chairman of the National Com
rnittee, Stephen Mitchell who made a
vicious attack upon Mr.. Nixon for i'm
proper and unethical conduct and de-
manded that he be dropped Immediately.
Now, Mr.. Mitchell is not only Gov.
Stevenson's hand-picked chairman but
he is one of his oldest and most intimate
personal friends. Their relations are so
close that it is incredible that Mr.. Stew
enson did not know what Mr.. Mitchell
was going to say on this subject and
that Mr.. Mitchell did not know what
Gov. Stevenson was going to say. 1t,
therefore, is possible to give Mr. Stew
enson credit for extreme political
Shrewdness for his broad and tolerant
statement, but not for nobility. There
is here room for more than mere sus-
picion of double talk.