Evening star., 1963-04-22

uIAIlS CllcLH lIlIO ITeQu6HC COH- |
tact with Congress teild to take
a cautious-to-dim view Of the
purge" plan, while those who
operate more broadly in the
political field tend to approve
1t.
These differences may prove
crucial when the time comes
for deciding. in specific cases,
whether a challengr will be
helped in a primary contest
against All incumbent. Specu-
lative purge lists" exist, but
the key decisions on where help
will be given will not be made
for some time.
Strategic Agreement
Overriding the differences in
views on tactics within the
White House is the widespread
agreement that long term
strategy requires a basic re-
orientation of the Democratic
Party in the South from its
present predominantly eonserv-
ative cast.
This view is known to be
shared by the Attorney Gen.
eral. He is known to accept
with equanimity the prospect Of
certain interim losses to the
Republicans in the South as
part of this process.
According to his analysis,
which underlies the Southern
operations of the White House
and the Democratic National
Committee, the industrializa-
ton and urbanization of the
South make increasing two
party competition inevitable.
THE Republicans are 60
ing to get votes from lots of ,
Southerners whom you can call ,
conservatives, or purebreds, or !
die-hards or whatever you
want" one official said.
Negro Role Assessed
But within a decade, this :
analysis holds. the increasing {
Negro registration, soon to be !
speeded by the expected adop-
tion Of the anti-poll tax
amendment. plus the legal de-
struction of county unit systems I
and apportionment schemes +
that dilute urban voting h
strength-all these, taken to- 1
gether, will produce a mixture
of minority, labor, liberal and ,
middle-class voters in South :
ern Democratic parties COM :
parable to that in most North
ern States today.
1t is inevitable, these Off /
cials say. that Southern Demo- I
cratic officeholders adapt to +
this change or be replaced. I
Adaptation is the preferred
means. Downtown" Demo- ,
cratic officials note with pleas
ure the fact that Senators Rus +,
sell and Talmadge of Georgia,
both traditionally viewed as :
conservatives, voted for the q
Presidents mass transit bill :
this month.
Many of the disagreements
on the proposed purge" stem /
from differing judgments on .
how rapidly a given Represen- I
tative or Senator is likely to 4
adapt" The prevailing view 7
of Capitol Hill Democrats is y
that each member is the best
Judge of his own district and 6
should not be pressured to Z
change by the threat of Wash 7
ington intervention in his {
primary. !
Within the White House, the
more purely political" opera c
tors tend to be more impatient I
than those who have persuaded
increasing numbers of South +
ern Democrats to "go along"
on specific parts Of the Presi-
dents program.
There is no disagreement
over the propriety of seeking
Democratic candidates in
Southern districts now held by ;
Republicans who will. If elected,
at least not be committed
against the President"
And there is no real doubt
that, In a few districts, where
the incumbent Democrats are :
judged unbudgeable obstruc-
tionists, ways will be found to
help worthy challengers in the
primaries.
If this makes them "purg-
ers," the most influential Of the
downtown" Democrats are
quite willing to be burgers"