Show GENERAL so HUGH S JOHNSON F CAMPAIGN weaknesses washington you certainly have to hand it to the old master in the white house for his ability to keep the show going all by himself and to conduct a brilliant political campaign without even seeming to know that one is going on he is doing it in scintillating fashion he is getting away with it he even being seriously challenged by what should be his opposition maybe mr willkie is just winding up but he is taking a painfully long time about it public enthusiasm is a fickle jade mr winkles Will wink kies fes performance in taking the nomination away from the professionals fessio nals at philadelphia was as spectacular a show as mr roose belts getting the naval and air I 1 bases it captivated the cc country but as the president knows so well a popular figure has got to keep the glass balls dancing mr Will kle himself apparently relies more on orrin roots amateur willkie clubs than on the republican party organizations in the several states that at is a mistake that mr roosevelt never made he had oil all kinds of amateur clubs too Business mens roosevelt tor for president clubs the good neighbor league and as many others as could be thrown together these dont have to putter around depending on emergency organization and manufactured enthusiasm they depend on dough and hatch act or no hatch act money still t talks alks mr roosevelt has 10 billions to spend yet with au all that intricate pattern of decentralized region al organization mr roosevelt never neglected the good old democratic political organization on the contrary he relied on it rewarded it it reorganized it and built it up to a greater strength and on a wider range than any democratic organization had ever known before mr willkie may have been nominated in spite of the professionals but he certainly cannot be elected wit without them he cant be elected without making election issues either the ammunition is there by the ton cals cais sons bursting with it but no shell is worth its cost without a gun to shoot it I 1 always thought the president was wrong in condemning yes but men in off term debate of issues but you cant get anywhere in a political campaign if all 11 you have learned to say is yes but you have got to learn t to 0 say no sirl sir and make it emphatic and convincing enough to be heard and carry conviction I 1 expect that any candidate or any party would ever again make the terrific blunders of the alt alf landon campaign but so far this republican campaign looks enough like it to be its twin a a the high command of both the political armies appear reasonably confident and tranquil but the great 9 general staff of each is in a dither for the democrats the loss of jim farley on the eve of the battle of the third term was some such luc h catastrophe as would be the loss of I 1 hitler to the nazis before a deals decision ion in the battle of britain mr PI flynn y nn make no mistake about it is a very able man with a better basic brain I 1 think than his great predecessor but mr flynns flynne field command has been restricted to the battle of the bronx and this great american terrain is a very different matter even on his own ground mr flynn will have to wait until the great boss buster tom dewey gets through with him mr flynns flynne bronx empire was just a little imitation competition tammany I 1 dont know what bones are burled buried in that realm but maybe mr dewey does on the republican side campaign manager joe martin is as active as a night prowling tomcat tom cat on a tin roof dodging missiles and talking hick back but that is in congress not the campaign the purely political general staff is therefore leaderless and accordingly disorganized there even a speech factory there Is no strategy board of elder statesmen states menor or rather seasoned politicians tic ians mr willkie fas fascinates fascinato cinat es everybody who sees him or hears him talk extemporaneously either on a chair or platform but thre are people in tah witry and he cant see them i there is the radii i he is not coached to click the ad d in spite of the wailing of seve several al such speech experts as haines falconer th that a t he has h as a natural equipment with which he could promptly be made the 9 greatest radio orator of our time a combination of diffidence and rugged individualism prevents that A great opportunity seems to be trembling in the balance washington senator pepper wants the president to have the power to suspend all statutes in preparing tor for defense and imagining that he is patrick henry shouts if this be dictatorship make the most of it it happens to be patrick henry in reverse senator josh lee wants the president to have power to take thi the newspapers and radio for propaganda in other words to suppress truth and tell lies to the american people in short they say we must become nazis to fight hitler |