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Show Despite the urgings of former President Eisenhower and other men that the GOP must put the 1962 congressional elections before be-fore the 1964 presidential speculation, spec-ulation, rank and file interest in the next presidential race is at a fever pitch. Mitchell the Governorship of New Jersey. Clearly 1964 is in the air. Appeals Ap-peals to put 1962 ahead of 1964 are an admission that Republican Repub-lican thinking is racing ahead of itself. They are an admission that '62 is only a road to '64. Even new Republican Chairman Miller's speculation about the '64 ticket had added to the mood and all of the '64 hopefuls are obviously building their fences. Republican hopes may collapse like a pricked balloon. The GOP may be living in a dream world of false hopes. The GOP may be weaker than it appears while Democrats may still be stronger than they seem. President Kennedy Ken-nedy may be able his transfer his own great popularity to his party. His popularity may win again in '64, but it would not now be accurate reporting to deny that Republicans are optimistic opti-mistic and working hard while Democrats are concerned. Ordinarily, there would not be the great interest there is in an-. an-. other presidential election almost al-most four years off and so soon after the nation has just emerged from an exhausting campaign and election. However, President Kennedy's narrow victory margin whetted GOP hopes for a comeback. Republican Re-publican organization machinery is being strengthened at the grass roots the way it should have been a year ago. A fat national Republican party surplus is being be-ing used where it counts while the Democrats struggle with a million dollar deficit. Many Republicans believe the many troubles plaguing the Ken- I The GOP may also engage in i its traditional malady of stifling dissent, alienating youth and tear itself apart. The rivalry between Nixon, Senator Goldwater and Gov. Rockefeller is intense. Each has hurdles to overcome. Gold-water Gold-water must expand his strength into the East. Rockefeller must win re-election and woo conservatives. con-servatives. Nixon must get a base of operations, whether he runs for Governor of California or not, and he must keep his grip on GOP party machinery. Former President Eisenhower is showing by his every action that he intends to continue to play a role in the GOP despite semi-retirement to his Gettysburg Gettys-burg farm. Ike's former distate for politics is eclipsed by his heavy schedule of GOP speech making. His active role in the Pennsylvania GOP, his establish- nedy administration at home and abroad will multiply, and could conceivably upset the tradition that he should easily win a second sec-ond term. Cuba, Laos, Berlin, and Khrushchev are hurting. His stand against parochial school aid has hurt him with Catholic hierarchy. His use of the Taft-Hartley Taft-Hartley injunction in the maritime mari-time strike has hurt him with labor. AFL-CIO President Meany has publicly denounced the Administration Admin-istration for failing to stem the rising unemployment despite a recovery from the Recession and Walter Reuter is said to .be disenchanted dis-enchanted by the strong pro-business pro-business influences in the Administration. Ad-ministration. Teamsters Boss Hoffa is not kidding and should be taken seriously when he says he intends to mobilize a mammoth mam-moth nationwide anti-Kennedy Dolitical drive. ment of a "Responsible Opposition." Opposi-tion." composed of all members of his Cabinet who served with him from 1953 to 1961. Friends tell us that while Mr. Eisenhower has a healthy re spect for Senator Goldwater's "fiscal responsibility" and criticisms criti-cisms of Big Government, he is highly critical of his nationalistic national-istic approach to foreign policy, which the former NATO Commander Com-mander fears would alienate our allies, and like is stunned by Goldwater's support of Birch Society members who denounce him as a "Communist Agent." It is not forgotten that one of the compelling reasons Ike ran for President against conservative conserva-tive Senator Taft in 1952 was his opposition of Taft's Go It Alone policies toward NATO and the Korean war and the Ohioan's toleration of Senator McCarthy's anti-Communism. Kennedy's close margin honey moon with Congress is only the result of a liberal Republican alliance with Administration Democrats. Kennedy's few Deep South backers are sniping at him since federal marshals had marched into the Freedom riders crisis the way troops went into Little Rock. Despite the President's personal per-sonal popularity, polls show that of his party is slipping. Despite the President's success in mobilizing mo-bilizing strong bipartisan support for his foreign policies, partisanship partisan-ship is rampant. Republicans are unearthing scandal after scandal and identifying identi-fying themselves with the cause of reform in all the Democratic controlled big cities of Philadelphia, Philadel-phia, New York, Detroit, Chicago, Chi-cago, Los Angeles, etc., that gave Kennedy his victory in the northern north-ern industrial states. A pro-Nixon pro-Nixon Democrat has won the Los Angeles Mayoralty. Factionalism Faction-alism is likely to lose Democrats their traditional supremacy in New York City. Democratic factional differences differ-ences in such key states as Kennedy's Ken-nedy's own Massachusetts, New York, Pennsylvania, New Jersey. Michigan, Oregon, California, Texas and Alabama are tearing the Democratic machine apart. The GOP's stable of such active, ac-tive, able, attractive, popular vote getters as Nixon, Rockefeller, Rockefel-ler, Goldwater, Mitchell, and Hatfield is bringing youth to the party in droves and strengthens comeback hopes. Such off year election upsets as the victory of conservative Republican Senator Towers in Texas has sent GOP hopes skyrocketing. The most impartial observers are all but conceding ex-Labor Secretary |