Principles v. Fragments

"Could we only hit upon a few great principles," wrote a fellow Democrat to Martin Van Buren during the campaign of 1828, "we should succeed beyond a doubt." In the campaign year 1954, the same politico might have begun: "If we only knew what to do with the principles at hand, we should succeed beyond a doubt," and his prescription would fit either party.

The U.S. lives today in the grip of great principles. The challenge to the free world is Communism--political, military and economic. This challenge dictates the major factors in the U.S. counterchallenge: 1) the U.S. must define clear attitudes on Communism which can be reflected in political and military policies; 2) it must prove the vitality of a political-economic system which both fortifies the free world and preserves the worth of the individual.

Translated into domestic politics, these factors turn into flaming issues. It is essential, for example, that the Republicans examine the Democratic conduct of government for the past 20 years, question Washington's conduct of the Korean war, and expose laxness in internal security. It is incumbent upon Democrats to police the Eisenhower Administration's economic policies, to question whether defense is suffering in the name of a balanced budget, to challenge fiscal policy and new theories of taxation.

But last week, as the 1954 campaign got rolling, Republicans and Democrats alike were dueling with jagged fragments of great issues, to the peril of the issues themselves. The jagged fragment that some Democrats liked best was a charge that the U.S. economy is in a recession and headed for worse (see below); they were saying privately that the only way for the Democrats to win control of the House and Senate in the fall lies in increased unemployment and depressed farm prices. The jagged fragment that some Republicans liked best was a sweeping and scurrilous charge that the Democrats form "the party of treason."

It was into this duel that the President of the U.S. stepped with an intuition about politics in 1954 which both parties could profit by. Dwight Eisenhower believes firmly in party responsibility, but, said he, the times are too perilous for extreme partisanship. Moreover, the people of the U.S. know the difference between political wild-talk and fact, and are likely to elect and re-elect on the basis of performance.

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