Evening star., 1952-08-31
Frank & Eurnest

IL was ike GQe Ola rOuC1ne ABOUT
the two fellows named Frank and
Earnest. Gov. Stevenson had, as
his stock in trade, an almost un-
limited supply of candor. Gen.
Eisenhower's bag of tricks was
filled mainly with sincerity. These
two virtues were, perhaps, new to
politics. How well they would serve
their users remained to be seen.
But to date both Stevenson and
Eisenhower seemed to be doing
quite well, all things considered.
Each had alienated a few people,
but these persons ability to do
either good or harm was open to
question.
Stevenson's goal early in the
game seemed to be to let every one
know exactly where he stood and
damn the consequences. He told
Texas, in effect, that he was against
State control of tidelands oil. He
told the American Legion that he
was against professional patriotism
and professional patriots. He told
the South that he was against the
f1libuster and Dixie's irreconciliable
attitude toward civil rights. He even
told Harry Truman, by implication,
that the President had made a
mess in Washington.
Eisenhower's Striving
Eisenhower, for his part, was
earnestly striving to get elected as
the man who could and would take
the stencil out of professional poll
tics. He was foursquare for Ameri-
can cooperation in world affairs
Tin spite of the sentiments of the
ultra-right wing of Republicanism)
He reluctantly agreed to support
Joe Mccarthy of Wisconsin, but
made it clear that he did not ap-
prove of McCarthy's tactics. He
earneStly-a1d, some thought, un-
wisely-declared a war of nerves
against the continued repression of
subject peoples in Eastern Europe.
What had each man harvested
from this planting of frankness
and earneStneSS?
Stevenson drove Gov. Shivers of
Texas out of his camp, but brought
two other powerful Texas politicos,
House Speaker Rayburn and Sena-
tor Johnson, running to his aid.
He drew the wrath of one top-level
Legionnaire for his "anti-veteran"
views, but got the applause OF
others, veterans and non-veterans
alike. There were rumblings Of dis
content in the South and charges
that he was a captive of the left
wing, but he received the support of
the h-conservative Democratic
Senator McCarran of Nevada, who
said he was sure Stevenson was no
ones captive. He got snort from
President Truman, who said he did
not know of any mess" in Wash
ington, but gained the applause of
voters who felt that as long as
there is a mess, why not admit it?
BIosts and CounterbIosts
Eisenhower, for his foreign affairs
views, was blasted as Democrat in
disguise, but managed to convince
many voters that a Republican
victory would not mean return to
isolationiSm. He was criticized for
agreeing, however reluctantly, to
support Mccarthy, but was not Of
fered any feasible alternative by
his critics. He lost the support of
the biggest paper in the Midwest
for what its publisher called Ike's
IT, too" attitude, but that paper had
supported Republicans in the last
five elections, all of which Demo-
Gratis won. Pravda, the Russian
newspaper, aSSailed him as a war
monger for his remarks about
Eastern Europe, but Pravda's OPP
EpoSition could not be counted as a
debit in the Eisenhower ledger.
Both candidates, meanwhile,
we're sticking pretty much to the
middle of the road. There was no
great disparity between their plat
forms-at least, on the planks that