Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1956-09-28

is not easy 10 ueIlne. AHe
growing number of @. o, p
hopefuls in congressional and
gubernatorial races are with
drawing a little Of ther reliance
on President Eisenhower to get
them elected in November.
The trend-if 1t can be called
that's noticeable mostly in
contrast to what was going on a
few weeks back. At that time
it looked as If the Republican
campaign at all levels would be-
one Of the greatest mass demon
STATIONS Of coattail riding in
political. history. Even though
Mr.. Eisenhower might remain far
away, combining himself to tele-
vision speeches, he was still very
near and dear to every Republic
can candidate whether running
for the Senate or for dogcatcher.
At the San Francisco conven-
ton and wherever one went in
the country for a few weeks
afterward, the same thing APP
piled. In every case there was
the familiar implicit or explicit
appeal: "A vote for me is a vote
for Ike and his program" No
candidate In this period who
could possibly get away with it
ever muffed the chance to claim
CLOSE association" with the
President. No kind of help was
more precious or more eagerly
solicited than Mr.. Eisenhower's
personal Endorsement.
The attitude today is harder
to pin down. Few candidates,
after all, like to admit that they
need help from on high to get
themselves elected. Nor would
they dream of openly disasSoci-
ating themselves from a national
ticket which ran far ahead of
most local candidates in 1882
and is expected to do so again.
Nevertheless, if the experience of
this reporter is at all typical,
there is a noticeable cooling of
enthusiasm for operation coat
tails among the Republican
rank and file.
Today candidate is likely
to look just a bit uncomfortable
when you ask him about the
effectiveness in his own territory
of the speeches and appearancesI
Of the President. There is apt
to be even less enthusiasm about
the activity of lesser administra-
ton figures who are invading
the grass roots like locusts chirp-
ing their message of peace,
prosperity and progress. The
most common reaction is well, !
I guess every little bit helps. II
But the candidate will go on
quickly to emphasize that he.
at least. can stand on his on feet
and is running his own cam
paign.
In Colorado, the outstanding
example of this new Republican
spirit of independence is Sena-
torial Candidate Dan Thornton.
So far, in the midst Of a strenu-
GUS and close race, Mr.. Thorn
ton has notably refrained from
so much as mentioning his own
very genuine "close association"
with Mr.. Eisenhower.
In his case there may be no
need to, since just about every
body in Colorado already knows
of the warm personal friendship
between the President and their
former Governor. But something
of the same reserve is to be
found among other candidates
as well, including those who
freely admit that they need
every bit of help they can get.
1t may seem strange that at
q time when the President is
certainly under great pressure tol
step up his own part in the cam
paign, this gentle withdrawal
from the Eisenhower bandwagon
should be taking place. The best
explanation is probably to bel
found in the result Of the Maine
elections earlier this month.
The post-mortem examination
of Republican hopes there indi-
Gated a resentment among voters
against the most blatant forms
of coat-tail riding. Many OBJ
servers picked that as an inn
portant factor in the debacle.
And 1t seems possible that G. o.