McCarthy v. Republicans

Joe McCarthy was in the headlines all week, and usually headlines are good for such a man. Last week was an exception.

Until last week, some old-line G.O.P. leaders were inclined, like thousands of U.S. citizens, to take the view that McCarthy might be a little rough now & then, but that he was doing a needed job. Then Republican leaders, including Senators Taft and Knowland, got a sample of what has come to be known as McCarthyism. They did not like it and they did not bow to it.

The vote on Bohlen showed that McCarthy has no substantial following in the Senate. He can obstruct, he can attract attention, he can embarrass. (So can Wayne Morse.) But the pundits who say that the Administration must either appease McCarthy or destroy him in all-out political war were proved wrong by last week's events. McCarthy is still using ammunition left around by the Truman Administration, and he has profited a little from tactical mistakes of the Eisenhower team. Certainly the first, and probably the second, are vote-getting assets for McCarthy.

In addition to offending Republican leaders of the Senate, his recent antics have lost him some editorial support. An important case in point: the anti-McCarthy editorial in Hearst papers (see PRESS), which--to use their own word--have "invariably" supported McCarthy.

Before the week was out, many a McCarthy supporter could grasp, for the first time, that it is possible to be both anti-McCarthy and antiCommunist. In the week of McCarthy v. the Republicans, Joe McCarthy lost.

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