Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1954-02-06
The Political Min
Republicans Warned
ToCIose Ranks or Lose
Nixon States the Cose
In Plain, Simple Language
By Gould Lincoln

by 0ould Lincoln
Close ranks under the Eisenhower
banner or lose, was the blunt warning
which went forth to the Republican
National Committee and to Republican
Congressman as the G. o. p. this week
launched its drive for victory in the
1854 congressional elections. This was
the burden of the speeches delivered by
Speaker Martin, Vice President Nixon,
Republican National Chairman Leonard
w. Hall and other leaders who ad-
dressed the National Committee at it's
meetings here. Vice President Nixon
stated the case in plain and simple
Of the tremendous popularity Of Presi-
dent Eisenhower. a Republican. it
should be difficult to elect Republican
Congress. His reply to his own question
was: If we Republicans all stand to-
gether, we can win.
Many suggestions. the Vice President
put it automatically, have been made
that the Republicans are divided. This
was mild. AS matter of fact, the
papers have been full Of reports that
this Republican or that group Of Re-
publicans is at odds with President
Eisenhower on the farm program, the
tax program or what have you. The
Vice President, however. was correct,
quite, when he told the national COM
mitteemen that not only will divisions
in the party hurt Republican chances at
the polls, but that the Democrats seize
upon these divisions and exaggerate
them-and If there are no real divi.
Sions. then the Democrats will manu-
facture divisions. The real answer to
all such reports, he said, is Republican
support of the program which the Presi-
dent has advanced. That program, he
pointed out, has been we'll received in
the country. and in the opinion of the
President it is program on which the
party can hope for victory.
President Still Popular.
Judging from the statements made by
individual members of the National
Committee, who come from all parts Of
the country. the popularity and prestige
of the Republican President is as great
as or even greater than when he was
first elected. In the opinion of the lead
ers, it would be the height of folly to kick
aside this valuable asset. So, without
demanding that all the Republicans in
Congress agree to every issue that
comes up, it is reasonable to expect
unity on many major issues and so
show to the country fighting front,
when opposed to the Democrats.
The National Committee, acting upon
the advice of the Republican National
Finance Committee, is committed to
a record breaking budget for this
congressional election campaign. This
budget is slightly less than 81 million.
or about twice as much as the budget
for the last comparable campaign, in
1850. 1t is all very well to provide the
sinews of political war-as is now pro-
posed. But without party unity the
effort may be Of no avail
Democrats Less Confident.
Republican National Chairman Hall,
in his report to the committee, said
that since the President sent his pro-
gram to Congress, the Democrats are
by no means as confident of victory in
the November elections as they have
been in the past. That program, he
said, has demonstrated that govern
ment in America can once more help
the people without trying to become
their master" He added that the
change in the political climate has
been violently reflected among the
left-wingers in the Democratic Party.
Il sometimes wonder" he said, whose
interests these left-wingers think they
are serving by incessant talk of slump.
recession and depression" The chair
man pointed out that in 1949 and 1850
when there were AZ million unem-
ployed in the United States-more
than twice the number today-these
left-Wingers weren't saying a word
about recession or slump or depreS-
sion. He Jumped together Walter
Reuther. president of the CLIO: Adlai
Stevenson, Senator Paul Douglas of
Illinois. and Senator Morse of Oregon,
and called" them 1.-The four horsemen
spreading gloom and doom across the
Nation" because of the speeches they
have been making.
The Republican attitude is that,
while the country has been for eight
months in a period of transition from
a wartime to a peacetime economy, the
American people have enjoyed their.
most prosperous year under the adj
ministration of President Eisenhower
Therefore, they say. the people are not
likely to condone reckless utterances
by left-wingers. who seemingly regard
a depression as their one-way ticket
back to power.