OCR Text |
Show Mr. Bryao id tht Fatnrt. - There is everything to indicate that William J. Bryan is preparing to be the biggest tish iu th-? Democratic Dem-ocratic pond in 1908. That is a good while off, but politicians do not do all their work on the spur of the . moment. They are constantly planning, and scheming for the future and things that happep apparently ap-parently accidentally are really the result of long study and plotting. Mr. Bryan is fully aware that while he cannot command the full Democratic strength be can command com-mand more than any other member of the party. Should he announce himself as a candidate for a third nomination he would get it. The element that I nominated Parker may control some of the machinery ma-chinery in 1908, but not enough to don.'.natt; a national na-tional convention. lit has been weakeneji for a long time to come by. the weakness of Parker and of the ihsues selected for the leading ones in the campaign of 1904. Bdt Mr. Bryan expects to draw the vote which is apparently Republican, but which r- :t ly is .independent and fluctuating. II'' has wisely praised President Roosevelt for some of the things the executive has done, but it is patent to the observant that they are the things that have been consistently advocated by Mr. Bryan and incorporated incorpo-rated by him into two Democratic platforms. The Nebraskan sees that, rightly presented, his ideas are popular. He reasons that in 190S Mr. Roosevelt will be out of politics for good and that the Republican organization will in all probability nominate an altogether different type of man. If that is the case Bryan will come out boldly as the logical successor of Roosevelt, the only man qualified quali-fied and competent to carry out the principles put into practice by the President. If he commands two-thirds of the Democratic strength and draws from the Republicans half of the men who voted for Roosevelt because they believed he would do the things he is now doing or proposing to do, Mr. Bryan will find his great ambition achieved. Stranger things have happened. At any rate, we are going to have some interesting politics for several years yet if Mr. Bryan lives. |