Evening star., 1954-10-26
scaredG 0.p. Works
So Hard in Six States
Il Yet May Triumph
By Don Whitehead

By Don Whitehead
Assoeio.ed Press ssaff Writer
The Republicans are running
so scared they may have fright
ened themselves into a stronger
position that they held 80 days
ago in the block of industry
farm States stretching from In
diana to Pennsylvania.
A fear complex caused by talk
Of a Democratic trend-whether
This is onother in series Of summing
up stories by rowing Associated Press
reporters who ore onolyzins the com
poisn in vorious sections OF the
country.
real or imagined-has spurred
the G. 0. p. into efforts that
possibly could salvage cam
paigns which had appeared to
be lost causes in the battle for
Congress.
A close look at the campaigns
in six States-Michigan. Ohio.
Pennsylvania. Kentucky, West
Virginia and Indiana-leaves a
strong impression that it's a
tight, close fight in this region.
The pay-off could very we'll go
to the side with best organiZa-
tion for getting out the vote.
These six States will elect four
Senators and 96 Representatives.
The Senate seats at stake are
divided evenly and the House
seats this way: 81 Republicans.
"a Democrats. and l Independ-
ent including vacancies. A
slight shift either way is i'm
portant to the control of Con-
greSs.
The great unknown, of course,
Is whether or not there is under
way a shift of voter sentiment
from Republicans to Democrats
as the Democrats claim and the
Republicans fear. Unless the
experts are badly mistaken, the
signs do point to such a trend.
Three Questions.
The situation raises these
questions:
/. In just two years, have the
issues which swept the Repub-
licans into power been cast aside
by q majority of voters as no
longer being a reason to vote
Republican?
2. Have the voters with the
balance of power become so dis
enchanted with the Eisenhower
administration that they want
the Democrats back In power?
8. And if so, how does this
square with all the reports that
President Eisenhower still is
tremendously popular with the
voters?
The usual political explana-
ton is that the people regard
Gen. Eisenhower as standing
aloof from politics, and that
voter resentment isn't directed
at him but at those around him.
Even good many Republicans
are fearful this analysis may be
accurate and it's a primary rea-
son why they're suffering from
jitters.
Neither side has found slogan
such as the G. o. P.'s 1852 cry
of "the mess in Washington"
nor an issue to match that of
lets bring the boys home from
Korea" whicfr Gen. Eisenhower
used so effectively against Demo-
cratic presidential nominee Adlai
Stevenson.
Battle of Organization.
For this reason, many politi-
clans think the November elec-
tion will come down to a case of
which side does the job of get
ting out the vote-in short, a
battle of organization.
The Democrats appear to be
gambling heavily that this one
is going to be a 'pocketbook
election"-with a bonanza of
votes coming their way from the
unemployed; from small buSi-
nessn1en feeling an economic
pinch; from workers who don't
have the overtime pay they had
a few years ago and who are
afraid Of being jobless; from
farmers whose prices have
sloughed off and who are dis
satisfied with the G. O. p. cut
in price supports.
In every State in the Ken
tucky- -to-Pennsylvania block,
Democrats have seized on the
economic situation as their No. /
issue, saying the Republicans
have a do-nothing policy toward
the unemployed.
The theme is that the G. o. P.
administration favors the privi-
legged few and not the mass of
low-income families. The Dem
ocrats have promised the voters
they'll turn the economic trend
upward and produce a bigger
and better prosperity than the
Republicans.
The Republican argument is
that Eisenhower must have a
G. o. P. Congress to carry out
his program which, they say, has
already placed this country on a