Evening star., 1953-04-30
The Political Mil
Nominating Procedure
Is Under Loud Attacks
Smothers' Plan Unlikely
To Get Vote This Session
By Gould Lincoln

mltteeS Will soon be Work1ng-or hold-
ing hearingS-on proposals changing
the systems of nominating and elect
ing Presidents and Vice Presidents Of
the United States. Preconvention cam
paigns and the national conventions
themselves last year brought many
criticisms of the present manner of
nominating candidates for these high
Offices. The chief grievance, according
to the critics, is that the people don't
have a voice in these nominations and
that the political bosses have too much
voice in them. This criticism is aimed
primarily at the nominating processes
for President. It is even more perth
nent, however, when it comes to NOM
mating vice presidential candidates.
Presidential candidates have sometimes
the final say when it comes to picking
their running mates. In any event. the
vice presidential nominations are usual
ly made in hurriedly called conferences
of party convention leaders soon after
weary delegates have finally selected
their presidential candidates. 49,
Primaries in is States.
Only 16 States hold presidential-pref-
erence primaries. and in some of those
the primary is optional. Other States
choose their delegates in county, dis
trict and State conventions. There is
no uniformity, even in the States hold
ing primary elections of delegates to
the national conventions. Presidential
candidates and their supporters decide
whether or not to enter the presidential
preference races. Some of them rely
strongly on control of party organi-
cations in various States to get them
delegate strength. On the Democratic
side of the fence in 1852, the candidate
who was finally nominated for the
presidency did not enter any Of the
primary elections for delegates-in fact.
Adlai Stevenson Strenuously sought to
avoid nomination. The runnerup. Sen
ator Kefauver Of Tennessee, entered all
the primaries he could. For the Re-
publican nomination. President EiSen-
hover and Senator Taft of Ohio. his
runnerup, were entered in some of the
primary elections. but by no means
in all.
Smathers Has Plan.
One Of the proposals for change in
the nominating system calls for Ma
GlOI1.W1UC CICCbAOllS VI CdIluI~
dates. Senator Smathers. Democrat, Of
Florida. who supported Senator Russell
of Georgia for the presidential nomi-
nation, has introduced constitutional
amendment which proposes that the
national conventions be abandoned and
that, instead, the nominations be made
in State primaries held on the same
day throughout the country. Other
measures calling for changes in the
system have been introduced by Sena-
tors Kefauver, Humphrey of Minnesota,
Douglas of Illinois, Nicely OF West Vir-
ginia, all Democrats, and supported by
other Democratic Senators.
The election Of Presidents and Vice
Presidents through the electoral COL
lege, with each State electing its men,
bers of the electoral college. has long
been a target. Literally hundreds of
proposals to do away with the elec-
toral college and substitute more Oil
rect elections have been introduced in
the past. One proposed amendment to
the Constitution, sponsored by former
Senator Lodge, Republican, of Mas
sachusetts and former Representative
Gossett, Democrat, Of Texas, was
adopted by the necessary two-thirds
vote in the Senate but never reached
vote in the House. 1t left the States
with their electoral votes as at present
but provided that they be allotted to
the presidential candidates "propor-
tionally' instead of giving all the State
electoral votes to the candidate with a
majority Of the votes in that State.
One important congressional leader
who did not wish to be quoted said he
saw no prospect of any of the proposals
to change the systems Of nomination
and electing Presidents and Vice Presi-
dents being acted upon at this session
of Congress. What will happen next
year he did not attempt to say.
Criticizes Methods.
The Senate Judiciary Subcommittee
dealing with these proposals Is headed
by Senator LANCER of North Dakota,
and the House subcommittee Is headed
by Representative Mccullough Of Ohio.
In a statement prepared for delivery
before the Senate subcommittee, Sena-
tor Smathers called the methods used
at the national conventions last year
inefficient, archaic and disgraceful."
He declared that the nominations Of
presidential candidates should be taken
out Of the hands Of "a few haggling,
ambitious backroom barons."
One reason, however. that the inter-
est in changing the system Of NOM
mating candidates has Jagged Is that
out of both the Republican and Demo-
cratic national conventions Of 1852
emerged two of the best qualified and
strongest candidates for the presidency
that have been offered to the voters.
Both were nominated after bitter
struggles. The only real change which
has been made in the system Of NOM
mating presidential candidates for
many years was the elimination Of the
old "two-thirds rule" of Democratic ma
tional conventions and the substitution
of nomination by a majority vote OF the
delegates, change that has since been
regretted by many of the Southern
Democrats.