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Show TAFT CERTAIN ' OF II MAJORITY OF DELEGATES Considerable Talk of Roosevelt Roose-velt Running for President, but No Real Basis for Prediction. AIR CHANGED WITH ! POLITICAL GOSSIP I .- j Woodrbw Wilson Leads the Democratic Procession So Far; His Nomination Regarded Re-garded Doubtful. BY RALPH M. WHITESIDE. By Leafed Wire to The. Tribune. WASHlNC'rOtf. Dec. 2. The shadow shad-ow of Theodora Roosevelt really dominate.'; the. poll lien I talk In . Washington Just now. If Roosevelt was an active candi- I date for the Ropublloarj nomination. It; Is regarded as extremely probable be , could win it. . Unless he Is avowedly j out for tho nomination, however, shrewd ; observcrr. can 300 nothing but Taft. From all sections of the country men whoso business ll Is to keep In touch with the sentiment of their roinmnni-llcs roinmnni-llcs te) the same story: Repuhlloau , sentiment Is for the rcnomlna.tlou of Tafl, unlets Roosevelt Is In the nice. I havn talked with scores of men from all sections of Ihe country and. they all have the. same story to tell. "Willi Roosevelt out of it, or not an aotivc candidate, Taft will win easily;,! with Roosoclt an active or even a j passive candidate, it is not so sure State of Uncertainty. 1 don't' wish to bo understood as saying say-ing Roosevelt could got --the nomination even were he an avowed candidate. As a matter of fact, I think ll extremely doubtful. But unless soriitj means o(tn be devised to iako the colonel definitely out of the race, tho Taft men will not feci certain of anything until ths convention con-vention bus acted proposition bus a. most important bearing 011 the Democratic nomination. With President Taft the. Republican standard bearer, it is practically certain that the Democratic' nominee will b a man oi' 'progressive Idcao, a man who will be likely to attract the element in tho Republican party which would vote for La Follntto with enthusiasm. ts'iould the unexpected happen and Mr. Roosevelt bo the Republican nominee, the chances of Harmon. Underwood or somo other man of conservative tendencies tenden-cies would bo vory greatly increased. Underwood in Race. And let me say that tho man who tlgurc& on the Democratic nomination, leaving Underwood of Alabama out, would do well to go blow. II Is by no means certain that the conservative. con-servative. Hcnient In the party will not find the Alabaman the best man upon whom to enter if Iho deudlock which is expected develops In the Democratic convention. con-vention. In tho Judgment of shrewd political observers he has more of the elements which go to make a dark horse than any man who can be picked out. While he is looked upon as somewhat of a conservative, he has not alienated the extreme wing of the party to the extent that they would not be willing to vote for him. As things look today In Washington, Governor Wilson will go Into tho Democratic Demo-cratic convention with a good lead, but It is not regarded as probable that he can get tho necessary two-thirds of the convention. Wln-n It comes to a compromise, com-promise, Clark. Underwood and Marshall arc mentioned In about that order. |