On the Rise

Douglas MacArthur, Torn Dewey and Harold Stassen got most of the play in the political headlines and over the radios last week, but the man who was showing the biggest gains in the Republican presidential sweepstakes was Arthur Vandenberg. This week the Gallup poll clocked the race, confirmed what many a GOProfessional had already guessed: in the six weeks since Ike Eisenhower dropped out, the Michigan Senator's popularity had more than doubled; the declared candidates had neither gained nor lost much ground.*

No Bandwagon Zip. Many GOPoliticians were privately talking Vandenberg up as the strongest man to whom the party could entrust its interests and the nation's.

Last week's primary in New Hampshire --the first test of 1948--illustrated their point. Tom Dewey won six delegates--no less than he had expected. Harold Stassen won the other two--no more than actually expected. Each side was satisfied. Dewey's organization power was proved again. So was Stassen's vote appeal; Stassemen led in almost every town and hamlet in which he had done some personal campaigning. But in New Hampshire there was no real bandwagon enthusiasm for either.

If Tom Dewey were to make a better showing in the next two primaries, he would have to develop more zip than he had shown in New Hampshire. In Wisconsin (April 6), Stassen will be on friendlier ground, and General MacArthur will have the benefit of some advance spadework in his home state. In Nebraska (April 13), almost every avowed and unavowed candidate's name (including Vandenberg's) is on the free-for-all ballot.

Focus of Confidence. It is a time for greatness, but greatness is unpredictable in any President. More exactly, it is a time for statesmanship in the White House and Arthur Vandenberg is clearly and predictably a statesman. Thus he is esteemed in all quarters except those envenomed by the Chicago Tribune or perverted by fellow travelers. In New Hampshire, for example, many Deweymen and Stassenmen were second-choice Vandenbergmen. In sum, the private conversations of many GOP wise men were expressed by Pundit Walter Lippmann. Said he: "There is no doubt that Vandenberg is now the man on whom the active candidates could most readily come together ... of no other man can it be said that there are so many Republicans who trust him, so few who are deeply opposed. . . ."

*The poll, taken among Republicans before General MacArthur's announcement, showed these preferences, in percentages: Dewey, 37; Stassen, 15; Taft, 14; Vandenberg, 13; MacArthur, 12; Warren, 6; Martin, 1; Saltonstall, 1.

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