Evening star., 1952-07-14
Democrats Tune Up
Convention Guns and
FIay 6. 0. P. Platform,

FIay 6. 0. P. Platform
Democrats turned up their pre-
convention burners today by
booming various contenders for
the presidential nomination and
blasting Republican platform
promises and methods.
Averell Hartman denounced
the G. o. p. foreign policy plank
as dishonest and the labor plank
as insulting. That platform can
not be hidden behind Gen. Els
enhower's SMILE" he said.
Mr.. Hartman. himself. re-
ceived something Of a cold shoul-
der from Senator Douglas of nli-
nois. Senator Douglas acclaimed
Senator Kefauver of Tennessee as
"the choice of the people" and
the Democrat with "the best
chance to beat Gen. Eisenhower"
Stevenson Sits Tight.
AS a host Of candidates pre-
pared to head for Chicago and
the opening of the Democratic
National Convention next Mon
day, Gov. Adlai E. Stevenson of
Illinois, one of the leading but
unannounced prospects for the
nomination, continued to sit tight.
Il have asked Illinois delegates
mt IN mt y,o1, v,ovoa Il, ,,ovso;~ok;o,.
and hope others respect my
Wishes" he told a news conference
yesterday at Camp Riley, MINI.
But he added:
mo politician can say he
would refuse a draft"
The idea of a draft of any coy
candidate ought to be distasteful
to Democrats this year, in the
opinion of Gael Sullivan, cam
paign manager for Senator Ke-
fauver.
"A draft would imply the bank
ruptcy of the party" he COM
mented. 1--WE have a lot of fine
candidates" :.
Comments on Democratic hopes
and Republican action were made
yesterday by Senator Douglas and
Mr.. Hartman in TV interviews.
"Kefauver Can Clean EN- Out"
Senator Douglas, on ali NBC
Meet the Press" program, listed |
these Kefauver advantages:
The Tennessee Senator is 40
years old. he has the peoples
confidence, he has spent IL years
In the House and Senate and has
greater governmental experience
than Gen. Eisenhower. He "can
clean out the camp followers who
have diSgraced the Democratic
Party" and he can heal the
North-South feud within the
party but do it on liberal basis.
Reminded that he once sug-
gested that both major political
parties nominate Gen. Eisen-
hover. Senator Douglas remarked:
''I did that before Ike got in
such bad company. He's a good
man, but he's tied up with the |
wrong people"
Senator Kefauver's strongest RI
val is neither Gen. Eisenhower nor
any Democratic aspirant for the
nomination, but is "the Democrat
ic organization in Washington"
the Illinois Senator declared. But |
he added that he did not think
President Truman's choice for the
nomination would be "determin-
ing" in the convention.
As for the Republican conven- |,
tion, Senator Douglas 4 asserted :
"the Republicans behaved like
jackasses-but we're going to try
to do better"
SCOTS at G. o. p. Liberalism.
Mr.. Hartman, appearing on an
NBC Hats in the Ring" program
yesterday. scoffed at what he
called the mislabeled "new lib
eralism" of the G. o. P.
The G. o. P. foreign policy
plank. he said, is a hodge -podge
Of views of former President
Hoover, Senator Taft, Gen. Eisen-
hover and Gen. Macarthur.
THAT shows it is not an honest |
document" Mr.. Hartman con-
tended.
The labor plank, he maintained,
IS zone of the most insulting"
statements ever made against |
labor. Mr.. Hartman said he was
convinced such a labor policy
would destroy the great funda-
mental rights Of labor to or
ganize unions and bargain COL
lectively."
The only affirmative positions
Mr.. Hartman said he could find
in the G. o. p. platform "are
where they take the Democratic
position on issues"
Mr.. Hartman predicted the
Democratic convention would not
retreat on any issue and particu-
1arly on civil rights" He said.
I'VE cannot have a progressive
policy abroad and a reactionary
policy at home"