Salt Lake Telegram | 1936-04-21 | Page 6 | Merr-Go-Round

Round Merry By DREW PEARSON and ROBERT ROBERT ALLEN ALLEN Trade irada Mark I WASHINGTON WASHINGTON-If If Alfred Mossman London Landon of Kansas is is pitted a against Franklin Delano Roosevelt in n November Novembers s presidential derby the country will witness a race between two men closely matched in personal attributes Like the Democratic president the slightly younger young r Kansas governor has a highly attractive attractive tive five and winning personality Characteristic of his midwestern background Landon's charm is ismore ismore ismore more homey He lacks the accent the polished manner of Groton and Harvard But his innate friendliness and liking for people are genuine and real Hard boiled d newsmen who have journeyed jour jour- eyed to Topeka t to give him the once over have come conie away burbling with enthusiasm about the personality of the man y 17 Skilled Politician n As a vot and political strategist Landon Landon Lan Lan- don has d demonstrated that he also is there His a accomplishments c in Kansas' Kansas strife-ridden strife political cockpit are impressive Four years out of law school he organized his county for forThe The Theodore Theddore dore Roosevelt's Bull Moose sortie sortie and and carried it In 1928 he managed the successful campaign of Governor Clyde Reed In 1932 he performed the double miracle of unifying the warring G. G O. O P. P factions and with this united front support defeated a popular Democratic Democratic Democratic Demo Demo- cratic governor despite the Roosevelt landslide Two years later again notwithstanding a anew anew new deal tidal wave he not only repeated the performance but was reelected by a greatly increased majority Disability In on one important personal aspect Landon is distinctly inferior to Roosevelt He is is not an effective public speaker But when it comes to personal contact with individuals Landon is a master of the craft In Kansas Kansas' it is said he knows more voters personally personally personally per per- than any politician since the late Vice President Charley Curtis On the rostrum and over the air Landon isa is isa isa a limping figure Physically he makes a good appearance His face i is friendly and firm his chin well molded his figure sturdy and arid above middle height ht But when it is time f for r forensics he bogs down By temperament Landon is not the orator type The moment he rises to his feet his speech becomes stilted and faltering Also his midwestern midwestern midwestern mid- mid western nasal twang lacks timber and carrying power a deficiency which the ra radio raio io accentuates accentuates ates In contrast to Roosevelt's rich full voice Landon's sounds flat and rasping For a national ca campaign in which radio plays a leading role this is a considerable considerable- handicap Political Twins But in certain other attributes he has a lot lotin lotin lotin in common with Franklin Roosevelt He has for instance Roosevelt's knack of getting along with his legislature He doesn't believe in waving waving way way- ing the big stick like Teddy Roosevelt or in in issuing mimeographed warnings like Hoover He gets what he wants but he gets it through flattery flattery flattery flat flat- tery personal contact and adroit politics Should a serious opponent to one of Landon's Landon's Lan Lm- dons don's pet bills develop say in the Kansas senate senate senate sen sen- ate he would probably find himself called ov over overto overto r to the governors governor's mansion Prior to the vis visit t the governor would have found out what his opponent wanted wanted wanted-a a job for a friend a concession concession conces conces- sion or whatever And about the time Landon's pet bill came up for a vote the job in question would have come through through perfectly timed And the Landon bill would be passed Ka Kahs Kansas s s Coolidge The ballyhoo that Landon is a Kansas Coolidge is pure regarding myth myth regarding both his budget and his temperament Landon has anything but the slow cautious character of Calvin Coolidge All his life he has been an oil man a gambler On occasion he has thrown his fortune into an oil field and on top of that his shirt r 0 As governor of Kansas Landon has been a strict economizer but it is an inescapable fact that without federal relief f r remittances and AAA crop payments any balancing of the Kansas budget would have been impossible Even so so the state budget was balanced at the expense of closing many Kansas schools school and putting a severe drain on municipalities Secret Liberal One thing which worries worries' Landon is the problem tem lem of getting across to the great mass of voters the fact that he is more liberal than the powerful powerful powerful power power- ful eastern interests and old guard leaders who are falling over themselves to get aboard his bandwagon It is a fact that many of Landon's ideas are lre c close ose to the new deal policies of the man he is lighting fighting tinge 1936 1035 by United l Feature Inc e I r. r L r