Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1956-12-13
Mr.. Almond Gets the Nod

jr., has emerged as the almoSt-certain
Democratic candidate for Virginia'S next
Governor and as strong favorite to
defeat any Republican who may run
against him.
This has taken quite bit of doing.
AS every one knows, Virginia'S Democrats
have been suffering from a severe case
of split personality. The liberal faction,
led by Delegate Bob" Whitehead, has
long been at odds with the Byrd men.
The latter have been afflicted with intra-
factional divisions of their own, and to
cap matters Mr. Eisenhower twice walked
off with the States electoral vote-thiS
last time by an astonishing margin of
some $4,000 ballots. Furthermore, the
Virginia Republicans have been feeling
their oats at the State level In 1858
their gubernatorial candidate, Senator
Ted Dalton, got As per cent of the vote,
and the G. o. P. congressional candidates
made an impressive showing in this years
national election
Obviously, something had to be done.
And that something" from the point
of view of the Byrd men, was to unite
Mr.. Almond, from all appearances, got the
nod. One by one, the other organization
men who had been talking like candidates
quietly bowed out of the picture. This
left it up to Mr.. Whitehead-to run or not
to run? Should he invest some $4,000
in primary campaign in which he would
have little chance against united organ
ization? Mr.. Whitehead thought it over
and now he, too, has decided to wait and
try again, perhaps, some other time.
Finally, as If to close this business here
and now, Senator Byrd has come forward
with an Endorsement Of Mr.. Almond
most unusual thing for the Senator to
do at this stage of a political campaign.
So it is safe to say that the nominal
ton is in the bag for Mr.. Almond without
party-Splitting fight. This, in turn, is
bad news for Mr.. Dalton, if he intends to
run again. For his chances of winning
next November will drop in direct pro-
portion to the extent that the Democrats
are able to unite against him. In fact,
there have been predictions that Mr..
Dalton will not run against the candidate
of united Democratic organization. II
this proves to be the case, Mr.. Almond
is well on the way to becoming Virginia'S
next Governor.
What kind of man is he? To begin
with, he is an oldline conservative Demo-
crat. He believes in the doctrine of
States rights and is opposed to Federal
encroachment. He believes in segregation
in general and in school segregation in
particular. But If one may Judge from
his public statements, he does not adhere
to that body Of opinion in Virginia which
seems to hold that mere defiance can
nullify the Supreme Courts ruling. Dur
ing this summers do-nothing interval in
Richmond, Mr. Almond pleaded strongly
for legislative action, asserting that he,
as Attorney General, had come to the end
Of his legal rope in defending against
indignation suits. In short, he recognizes
that the State, If 1t is to save its school
system. must meet the legal requirements
Of the Supreme Courts order. II he be-
comes Governor, one may look for in
telligent direction Of the States side of
the school hght--a fight which has
already begun, but which is very far from
having run It's course.