Pressure Makes Arithmetic

Outside the U.S. Senate Chamber stands a bust of Harry Truman. Its nose gets dirty because visitors are always tweaking it--most of them affectionately, some not. Last week, as workmen were finishing the Capitol's annual housecleaning, the nose was immaculate--all was ready for the second session of the 83rd Congress.

The legislative precincts were stirring and buzzing like a beehive in spring. By 8 o'clock almost every morning, Republican Senate Leader William Fife Knowland was in the Senate restaurant having California orange juice, poached eggs, politics and legislative plans for breakfast. The six telephones in the office of Senate Democratic Leader Lyndon Baines Johnson were beginning to jangle. From one side of Capitol Hill to the other, Topic A was: What kind of session will it be?

Irrelevant Figures. The most obvious --but not the most important--fact about the new session was the almost-equal party lineup.

THE SENATE:

Democrats.... 48

Republicans... 47

Wayne Morse... 1

THE HOUSE:

Republicans... 219

Democrats ...215

Frazier Reams.. 1

To some observers, this close line-up suggested the prospect of dramatic hairline votes, with the party leaders dragging the halt and bedridden to the floor. In fact, the arithmetic creates an illusion that harks back to the days before the direct primary, the days when U.S. political parties had cohesion, enforced by such instruments of discipline as copious federal patronage for local political organizations, which, in turn, picked party nominees for Congress.

Today's congressional parties are not even split into definite factions. Each legislator studies his own state or district, pursues his own formula of how to get reelected. All legislators cross party lines freely and with impunity, and nobody can read them out of the party. The congressional party whips do more wheedling than whipping, and the party leaders have become brokers of opinions and, occasionally, managers of debating teams.

This robust independence (or egocentric anarchy) is tempered by the influence of the presidency acting on the people--not through a party machine, but more directly through the President's access to press, radio and TV. The voters reached by the President exercise an influence on Congressmen. In this way, a President can exert almost as much (or as little) leverage on opposition Congressmen as on members of his own party. As election day approaches, a popular President's influence on Congressmen can be expected to increase considerably.

Carrots & Sticks. During the first session of the 83rd Congress, party lines and programs were blurred. The session had little shape or direction, because President Eisenhower was reluctant to assume a role of congressional leadership, which, strictly speaking, does not belong to his office.

But the President now appears to realize that if there is to be leadership, it must come from him. This fact is no reflection upon Senator Knowland, Vice President Nixon, House Speaker Joe Martin and their lieutenants. For a generation, no congressional figure of either party has been able to exercise congressional leadership in the old sense. Martin, Knowland & Co. have no carrot, no stick--except as the President, by arousing public interest in his program, can provide them with carrots and sticks. Significantly, President Eisenhower began the political year 1954 by going to the people with a preview of his program (see above). If he succeeds in arousing and maintaining public interest, Congressmen, aware of next fall's elections, will be responsive to leadership. If not, not.

It Depends on Ike. This makes the Democratic position somewhat delicate. The Democrats are aware of Eisenhower's continued popularity, aware also that his prestige may drop sharply if the coming session of Congress gives an impression of being lost and leaderless. Accordingly, the Democrats want to avoid opposing Eisenhower, and at the same time they want to encourage all possible dissensions in his party. At the first session, the Democrats had some luck with this tactic. Although hotter heads now demand a frontal attack on Eisenhower, wily Democratic Senate Leader Johnson counsels waiting to see how Eisenhower makes out in his new role of positive leadership. Johnson puts it this way: "We will back the President when we think he's right; we will oppose him when we think he's wrong."

Neither party in Congress has crystallized around a program. Ike has a program (TIME, Dec. 28). Whether Congress adopts it or picks it to pieces depends not on the party arithmetic in Congress but on how much popular pressure Ike can generate and apply to Congressmen.

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