Declaration of Independents

"There is no room for independents in our political system," said Democratic National Chairman Paul Butler, as he settled back to chat with students and newsmen at Ohio Wesleyan University last week. And he left no doubt in the minds of his Ohio listeners that he was talking about their independent Democratic Governor Frank Lausche. Lausche's recent endorsement of the President's farm bill veto "was quite shocking to Democrats everywhere--it was sharply in conflict with the majority." If Lausche wins his Senate race against Republican Senator George Bender this year, Butler would not hazard a guess whether Lausche "would vote with the Democratic majority or the Republican minority.'' And as for Lausche for the Democratic presidential nomination, "I haven't heard much about Lausche in the party outside of Ohio . . . There has been no organized effort under the administration of Governor Lausche to do anything for our national party."

Lausche, who has been politely mentioned as a presidential possibility by such powerful Southern Democrats as Georgia's Richard Russell and Arkansas' John Mc-Clellan, turned his thoughts only momentarily toward Paul Butler. "My strength," explained the five-term governor, as if to the inexperienced and the young, "has been that no one has been able to dictate to me--bankers on down to labor leaders, strip miners, truckers, the utilities and the whole raft of them.

I can tell them all to go to hell except the people whom I've tried to represent."

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