Pappy in Trouble

Many a rural Texan firmly believes that W. Lee ("Pappy") O'Daniel, the crooning flour peddler, is the plain man's answer to "professional politicians." The plain people of Texas twice elected him Governor, then sent him to the Senate. But this week, as Pappy sought to succeed himself in Texas' primary, he discovered that ignorance may not be as highly regarded by the voters as it once was.

>> For the first time O'Daniel has tough and brainy opposition: stubby, dapper James V. Allred and high-domed, serious Dan Moody, both former governors with large present followings.

>> O'Daniel, usually a shrewd appraiser of political psychology, made an appalling error in judgment. To Texans, who are fighting-proud of their fighting sons, he said: "I ain't worried about the war. That's Roosevelt's job." Allred and Moody will not let Texas forget this un-Texan remark--or Pappy's votes against neutrality repeal and draft extension.

>> The official O'Daniel biography says that he was named after the South's famed Robert E. Lee. Although he was born in Ohio and brought up in Kansas, nobody had ever bothered to check up on this claim. But this time O'Daniel's enemies have spread the word that he was really named after Dr. Lee Humphrey, the physician who was in at his birth.

>> Speechifying mightily against O'Daniel is flamboyant, influential Rev. J. Frank ("Two-Gun")-- Norris, pastor of Fort Worth's mammoth First Baptist Church. Pastor Norris, a skilled practitioner of two-gun oratory, has staged rallies in Fort Worth and Houston, letting go against Pappy with both guns.

>> What perhaps hurt O'Daniel most was the loss of an old friend and backer: Eugene Ben Germany, wealthy oilman and executive chairman of the State Democratic Committee. This time powerful Mr. Germany is all for genial Jim Allred.

Texans shook their heads admiringly over the primary, the most bitterly fought in a decade, thought surely it would require a run-off between the two high men. Best bet for the runoff: O'Daniel v. Allred, with most of the Moody votes then going to Allred.

* So called because he once shot and killed a man in his Bible lined study. An Austin jury, without leaving the courtroom, acquitted him on a self-defense plea.

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