Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1955-01-04
LvH Before the Storm

ArMH DGtOtG AW& NNNtstA 8t
AS the newly elected members of the
Democratic 84th Congress come trooping
into Washington for the opening session
tomorrow, there is much speculation, pro
and con, on the prospects for harmony
between the Democrats in Congress and the
Republicans at the other end of PennSyl-
vania avenue.
It is a pretty fair bet. however, that
harmony and talk of harmony will go down
the drain before many months have rolled
by.
Those who take the most hopeful view
of the situation say that the Democrats viii
be slow to engage IN personal attacks on a
popular President, fearing that they might
backfire Some of the Democratic leaders
seem to share this view. It is view, how
ever, which overlooks one thing-the fact
that General Eisenhower was brought under
personal attack long ago,
AS far back as March, 1854, the then
Democratic Chairman, Stephen Mitchell,
was saying that the President had made
IAN unholy political alliance with Senator
Mccarthy for the purpose of the next cleo
ton" That charge had begun to look
rather silly long before election time, but
Mr. Mitchell was not discouraged. In August
he was implying that the President, in the
Dixon-Yates proposal was trying to turn
over some easy money for his golfing friend,
Bobby Jones. That one backfred, too, but
Mr.. Mitchell kept plugging away. In Oc-
tober he discovered that the President had
become party to a shameful red smear"
initiated by Vice President Nixon.
There may be room for debate as to
whether this was good or bad politics, but
Mr. Mitchell can always point to the fact
that the Democrats won the congressional
election. And so certain SkepticiSm
may be pardoned when Paul Butler, Mr..
Mitchell's successor, is heard to proclaim
sin solemn tones that the Democrats will
not "abuse or vilifyp the President, but
that they will speak out plainly and vigor-
ously" when it is their duty to do so.
This is form of fancy political Ian
guage which may be translated roughly as
follows: (1l A presidential election is COM
ing up; (2) the chips are down and the
stakes are high; (3) the record made in this
Congress can be the decisive factor in ~;
ca the Democrats and Republicans will be
after each others jugular, tooth and claw,
and (5l the President soon will be wonder
ing whatever became of the old definitions
of .ahuse" and willy"
1t does not necessarily follow, however,
that there will be any serious damage to the
national interests.
The President certainly can command
a majority for the essentials of his foreign
policy, since, as they have been revealed to
this time, they are hardly more than an
extension Of Democratic policies. For the
Democrats to repudiate him on his major
foreign policies would be to repudiate them
selves, There will be some hard fighting
over domestic issues But here, again, the
President has reasonable expectation of BIZ
partisan support for middle of the road pro-
grams, and, in any event, he has at his
command the enormous power of the veto.
In short, one can expect the air to be
filled with shrill cries and angry words
from both sides of the aisle. Democrats and
Republicans will scramble for political ad-
vantage. But the International pressureS
are too great to permit reckless and un-
restrained partisanship. The Democrats,
when the big tests come, are not going to
kick over the national applicant, for that
would be to commit political suicide.