St. Paul recorder. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1934-2000, 1960-11-04

| PreSldentS moderate statements or
Negro rights and his refusal to
fatty endorse the Supreme Court
1854 decision against school segre-
cation.
Il had so much confidence in the
Republicans on the indignation
problem" complains Mrs. Dorothy
Nichols Of Hamtramck, a secretary
in a doctors office. Eisenhower
just has not done much about it,
so maybe a Democrat will be bet
ter" Another former Eisenhower
voter switching to Sen. Kennedy,
B a fillmore paper mill worker
Charles Dorsey, asserts: Nixon
has been influenced by Eisenhow-
ers policies on civil rights, which
could be improved some"
Some Negroes, almost all OF
them white-collar workers, are
backing Mr.. Nixon because OF
Southern influence in the Demo-
cratic Party. Specifically, Vice
Presidential candidate Johnson def
initely is losing votes the Demo-
Gratis might otherwise have cap
tured.
Don't Trust Sen. johnson"
Nixon could do more to carry
out his civil rights policies than
Kennedy could" predicts Chicago
beautician Olander Hawkins, a
Stevenson Democrat who is switch
ing into the Republican column.
The Southerners would hold Ken
nedy back, like they made him take
Johnson as Vice President" Mrs.
Harriet McCrary, wife of a Pitts
burgh warehouse foreman, is sup
porting Mr.. Nixon partly because
Il don't trust Sen. Johnson an
inch"
Yet strategists of both parties
may be magnifying Sen. Johnson's
influence on the Negro vote all out
Of proportion. COP. campaign lit
erature stresses the Texans OPP
position to extreme civil rights
legislation and quotes his off-the-
cuff remark at a Texas barbecue
that he'll oppose the Democratic
platforms civil rights plank when
it gets up in Congress-not in the
November election" Democratic
civil rights specialists fret over
Sen. Johnson's failure to spend
more time delivering pro-civil
rights speeches in Negro popula,
ton centers.
Voter interviews, however, show
most Negroes are totally unaware
of Sen. Johnson. And many who
realize that a Southerner is Sen
Kennedy's running mate aren't
bothered by it. II think Kennedy
will be able to handle Sen. John
son and the Dixiecrats," forecast.
Mickey McElroy, a Pittsburgh
clerk and party-line Democrat,
voter.
NixOn's Other Attractions
Actually, the support Mr.. Nixor
does enjoy among Negroes stem!
less from his civil rights recorC
than from other attractions: Hi!
experience as Vice President, hi!
reputation as a coldwar strategis
who can keep the peace and-tt
few Negroes anti-inflatioI
policies.
World peace is more importan
to me than racial disturbances,
maintains Pittsburgh barber Eph
RAIN Crockett, a Nixon enthusiast
Richard Robinson, a Boston waite
who voted for Mr.. Stevenson fou
years ago, is switching to tn,
: COP. because Nixon seems I,
: be more experienced"
, In addition, a few Negro vote
5 have been turned Mr.. Nixon's wa,
] by the surprise asset on the COP
ticket, Vice Presidential candidate
5 Henry Cabot Lodge: Il thinl
Lodge is more qualified than eithe
4 of the two Presidential candidates,
4 argues 23-year-old Brooklyn ma
] chinist Jerome Wilson, explainin,
why the Republicans will get hi
, first Presidential vote. Says Chi
S cago bartender Russ Thomas: "Tn
for Nixon because he's got a yer,
good man for Vice President"
But, SO far, there is little reac
ton among Negroes to Mr.. Lodge
"prediction"-not backed up b,
Mr.. Nixon-that a COP. victor
would mean a Negro in the Nixol
Cabinet.
One reason why Sen. Kennedy
gains among Negroes are so dram
attic is that there's an almost tota
absence of any switches to MI
Nixon of Stevenson Democrats VIII
object to Sen. Kennedy's Catholic
ism. Although Negroes predomin
ately are Protestants there is al
most no discernible Catholic
ism. Rather, a small bloc Of Negr
votes may swing to Sen. Kennel,
because of sympathy by member
Of a racial minority for a membe
of religious minority.
Being a member Of a minorit,
group himself" argues r. Q
Strange, a uniformed receptions
for us. Steel Corp. in Pittsburgh
81 think he'd be beneficial to tn
Negroes and more inclined to figh
bigotry."