Montgomery County sentinel. [volume] (Rockville, Md.) 1855-1974, 1961-08-10

The County pOlLcdl picture 1911 cAedI py
any means
The Democratic Party in Montgomery
County has rolled up fairly good record.
And IL has been done with minimum of con.
flict between the two factions of the party.
And there are two definite factions. Perhaps,
they do not snarl too much in public but there
are evidences of differences. And there aren't
too many observers who believe all will be Sc.
rene up to and including the spring primary.
There are too many leaders in both groups
who feel strongly and who are perfectly
capable of acting pretty strong.
The biggest fight will center around one
strong individual who wants to be on the
County Council in the worst way. This is the
same person who has in the past shown an
iron will and absolutely no heart when it
comes to knocking opposition out of the way.
Furthermore, this person is highly intelligent
and Just as ambitious as they come. And it
is our guess that the liberals will insist on
this one candidate more than any other And
it is Just as certain that the more conserva.
tive of the Democratic leaders will be just as
strong in opposition to this one prospect
Ray Murphy and his co-worler and CO.
political thinker, Margaret Carpenter, are not
plot. They have been meeting with various
leaders discussing a great many persons who
may or may not make good candidates for
the many local offices.
But in complete fairness to them, it must
be said that nothing has been decided and no
individuals have been tapped for political star
dom. They just want to keep ahead of things
and be in position to act when the time
comes to play for keeps. They've been in this
game too long to act like amateurs. And
they'll never be accused of being blushing vio
let's in political matters.
If you think the next few months aren't
going to be interesting you haven't been in
this county very long Be patient and you'll
see all of the tricks of the big game of politics
unfold before you.
The local Republican organization is in
fairly good shape.
1t is quite apparent that there will not be
a repeat of the bitter 1858 primary fight And
while there is some fault to be found In the
way things have been done according to few
persons, there is no great division of opinion
such as existed prior to the 1858 primary.
OF course, the Republicans in the county
have an uphill fight to get elected to single
local office But you can bet they'll be ready
to provide the leadership in case the Demo-
Gratis split themselves into two bitter camps.
In the meantime, they will continue to build
and hope for changes that could bring about
local victories.
1t is evident that Republican leaders are
pleased with the performance of Mac Matthias
In his first term on Capitol Hill. And he will
be able to keep them on a sound political
basis even If some leaders would like to split
things a bit.
AS matter of fact, even the Democratic
leaders have come to the conclusion that Ma.
thlas would be hard man to beat So far,
they can't seem to find anything in his record
that hasn't been outstanding. They're waiting
and hoping but the veterans on the Hill tell
them that Matthias is one of the few natural
Congressman they've seen come to Congress
and develop so quickly