The Pot Boils

The political breezes that blew into Washington from the West shortly after Franklin Roosevelt's secret trip felt warm & good to Democratic strategists. Sensitive as weather vanes to political currents, they felt an upsurge of Democratic feeling. Franklin Roosevelt's trip had been as unpolitical as Franklin Roosevelt can make any appearance. He had stimulated political feeling in his own masterful way, by brilliantly dissociating himself from the entire Washington mess, in the press conference at which he blamed Congress, the press, and his own Administration for all the faults the people had found. The strategists felt that the Republican trend which had been noticed everywhere (TIME, Oct. 12) had now been stopped.

Last week more political breezes blew in from the West--farther West, this time--and to Democrats they were chill indeed. From Guadalcanal came grave news (see p. 30). Democrats had hoped for a battlefield victory in October; this looked like something else. Said one Democratic bigwig: "If we lose the Solomons, it is going to be terrible. The loss of the Solomons, if we do finally lose them, is going to set this country afire. Hell's fire, the people will be mad."

In the two weeks before election the loss or retention of a jungled island 5,000 miles away may thus materially affect the character of the next Congress and the government of many a State. These are the weeks when political candidates are at the mercy of chance. A political accident now could change a whole career, and history. Last week the political pot began to boil--and in 1942 it is no ordinary kettle.

One who had expected to benefit by Franklin Roosevelt's tour was California's matinee idol, Governor Culbert L. Olson. He had been seen with the President frequently. But pictures-in-the-papers to prove it were scarce. With party funds low, reports had it that rich Governor Olson had to dig into his own pockets. His Republican opponent, Attorney General Earl Warren, remained a 22-to-1 favorite in the betting.

In Oklahoma, independent, redhaired, 300-lb. Democratic Governor Leon Chase Phillips, whose term expires at year's end, asked Oklahomans to vote for Republican Senatorial Candidate E. H. Moore instead of 100% New Dealing Senator Josh Lee. In Montana, political advertisements for Democratic Senator James E. Murray listed his record on foreign policy, contrasting it with the pacifist record of Republican Candidate Rankin. The ads did not show that the record was compiled by Congresswoman Jeannette Rankin (who is not running for re-election), while Murray's opponent is her brother, Wellington D. Rankin.

Most Senators and Representatives stayed in Washington. One who hurried home was Iowa's New Dealing Senator Clyde La Verne Herring. Regarded as Iowa's best vote-getting Democrat, Clyde Herring stands in imminent prospect of defeat at the hands of long-faced Republican Governor George A. Wilson. Venerable George Norris planned to go back to Nebraska, if there was a lull in Senate work, to make a personal appeal for reelection. George Norris' job now is to head off front-running Republican Kenneth S. Wherry, automobile and furniture dealer and embalmer. Known in every part of the State, Kenneth Wherry threatens to end George Norris' Washington career of 40 years.

One candidate who did not know what to do was New Jersey's Hague-owned Senator William H. Smathers. Hearing of the sober, dead-serious campaign waged by Republican Albert W. Hawkes (industrialist and onetime president of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce), he hurried home, only to find Hawkes effectively belaboring him for previous absences from the Senate when important measures were at stake (Selective Service Act and its extension, declaration of war against Germany). Bill Smathers hightailed it back to Washington, then nervously returned to New Jersey for another look.

In New York, Democrats were asking for more help from Franklin Roosevelt for their candidate for Governor, John J. Bennett. The New York Daily News's poll showed Republican Thomas E. Dewey leading even in usually Democratic New York City, gave Dewey a 59%-to-36% lead in the State. (A semifinal Gallup poll gave Dewey the advantage, 51%-to-41%, but showed a Bennett comeback.) In Massachusetts, Republicans now felt certain that their handsome Senator Henry Cabot Lodge Jr. would beat off the threat of determined Congressman Joseph E. Casey (still waiting for a Roosevelt blessing).

These were some of the chief hot spots. There were many others, especially in Congressional races. One forecast predicted Republican victories in seven out of ten Congressional contests outside the Solid South. This would give Republicans control of the House. Sober Democratic estimates agreed on a Republican gain of 20 to 25 in the House; many Republicans felt that would be enough. They did not want control of the House now, with a Democratic President and Senate. But anything might happen.

This file is automatically generated by a robot program, so reader's discretion is required.