THE DEMOCRATS AFTER MINNESOTA

NEW YORK POST:

Stevenson's setback in Minnesota was undoubtedly influenced by regional factors; what is far more significant is the general decline of the spirit of the Stevenson forces on a national scale that began long before the Minnesota race.

In 1952 Stevenson was the daring young man on a political trapeze; in 1956 he has too often sounded like a prematurely elder statesman. In 1952 the backroom boys eyed him skeptically; now he has been maneuvered into the role of Democratic regular, identified with the record of indecision, inertia and total surrender compiled by Democratic Senate Leader Lyndon Johnson. On matters ranging from civil rights to the gas giveaway, Stevenson lowered his voice to the point of inaudibility; the effectiveness of his thrusts against the Administration has been dimmed by his tacit apologia for the Democratic record.

JAMES RESTON in the NEW YORK TIMES:

The lesson of Minnesota in the minds of many powerful figures in the Democratic Party is that no Democrat can compete with President Eisenhower on the middle ground of American politics. Therefore, they conclude the party must revert to its radical tradition and pick somebody who will wage a slashing attack on the Republicans from the left, even if this alienates the Democrats in the South as it did in 1948.

The lesson of Minnesota in the minds of many of the Stevenson supporters and Southern conservatives is that the coalition of northern moderates and southern conservatives that won the nomination for Stevenson in 1952 must be revived or the Harriman-Kefauver coalition will win this time.

Mr. Stevenson may yet win the nomination for the simple reason that nobody else will be acceptable to the two wings of his divided party. Senator Kefauver's weakness is that he has nobody for him but people. It is impossible to overstate, or even to explain, the fierceness of the opposition to him among his colleagues in the Senate and in the party organization.

Pundit ARTHUR KROCK in the NEW YORK TIMES: stunning success in Minnesota has tossed Stevenson off the bandwagon, but it has not put the Senator in the driver's seat. Nevertheless, the Senator's opponents see two specific strengths in his challenge: 1) Minnesota is in the farm area where the Democrats hope to repeat the event of 1948; and the participation of many Republicans and independents in its Democratic primary stimulated that hope, especially when the much smaller Republican primary vote is considered. 2) The Democratic Party may be headed for a Southern insurrection; and if this happens the claim that a Southerner, however unpopular in his section, has a better chance than another to hold down the loss of Southern votes may determine the choice of the convention.

BOSTON HERALD: THERE are many indications that the big factor in the vote was not Democratic bossism or Republican indifference but agrarian discontent. Senator Kefauver outbid Mr. Stevenson on the issue dearest to the rural voter, farm aid. The Republicans would do well to pay more attention to farm sentiment and putting across their essentially constructive farm policies.

MINNEAPOLIS STAR:

The plain-speaking Senator from Tennessee has confounded most of the political experts and given a painful kick in the shins to the DemocraticFarmer-Labor brass of Minnesota. Certainly a number of Republicans crossed over party lines for this occasion and probably most of these wanderers voted for Kefauver.

SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE:

DESPITE our cross-filing law, California allows no cross-over by the voter in a Presidential primary, so the fight between [Kefauver and Stevenson] in the state will be a strictly Democratic Party showdown. It shapes up today as the pivotal Democratic pre-convention battle, out of which will come a clearer indication of the relative strength of Kefauver and Stevenson than Minnesota has given.

JOHN O'DONNELL in the NEW YORK DAILY NEWS:

IF Stevenson is a dead duck politically --and this seems quite likely--don't think that Estes Kefauver is a live one, flying directly to a White House perch. Like Wendell Willkie, Estes Kefauver seems to like people and people seem to like him. But the political leaders don't like him--and in particular the Democratic members of the Senate. The Southerners in these days of the hot segregation issue don't like Estes either.

If the Democrats have a hope of winning the fight for the White House, they will name some such candidate as Sena tor Symington of Missouri, Governor Lausche of Ohio or Senator Lyndon Johnson of Texas. If the big boys privately decide that they can't beat Ike in '56, watch for the nomination of the boy with the big bank account, New York's Averell Harriman.

LOUISVILLE COURIER-JOURNAL : ALTHOUGH this primary has left Stevenson's future in doubt, it has not enhanced Kefauver's chances for the Democratic nomination. He does not have the support of party leaders. He does not have the support of a single Senator. It would not be far wrong to say that the Minnesota primary has done more for the chances of Missouri's Senator Stuart Symington than any other possibility as of now.

CHICAGO TRIBUNE: the President said that he was a candidate, many Democrats concluded that the best course was to nominate some expendable and ambitious soul to have the rug pulled out from under him. Mr. Stevenson, other wise admirably fitted for the role, isn't going to be available if he meets any further reverses. Senator Kefauver is as light as a cork. His only qualification is his ambition, which commends him to few besides himself. Governor Harriman is colorless. It begins to look as if the Democrats may have difficulty finding someone to stand on that carpet.

If this is indeed the case, the party may have to turn to a genuine candidate who could convince the voters that his beliefs, his experience and his character really qualify him to occupy the White House. The only. Democrat who fills these specifications at the moment is Governor Lausche of Ohio.

Columnist DAVID LAWRENCE:

STEVENSON might qualify for the Vice-Presidential nomination this year. There has been a lot of solicitude expressed recently by Democratic Party spokesmen about the quality of the Republican Vice-Presidential nominee. Most of this effort has come from the so-called "liberals" who don't like Vice President Nixon, but now they have an opportunity to provide a first-rate "liberal" for the Democratic VicePresidential nomination.

Senator Kefauver is very far away from the nomination. A few victories in the primaries aren't enough to win him the support of the big labor and political organizations which dictate the Presidential nomination in the Democratic Party. Only Harry Truman can unite all the factions of the party, and despite his own professions of disinterestedness, there is under way a quiet but powerful movement in his behalf. J

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