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Show Bruekart's Washington Digest Earlv Political Activity Presages Bitter 1910 Presidential Campaign Wnle-jireaJ Movement Away From New Deal Philosophy Philoso-phy of Government Worries Democratic Leaders; Popularity of President Yet to Be Evaluated. Bv WILLIAM BRUCKART WXC Service." National Press Bldg., Washington, D. C. WASHINGTON. There seems to be no doubt that tlie political mill for 1940 has begun to grind earlier titan has happened in almost al-most any modern time. Politicians and political forecasters, alike, agree that the activity, the advance agents of the 1940 campaign with its national conventions and presidential presiden-tial nominations and national elections, elec-tions, is evident now to a greater extent than has been recorded in almost any other quadrennial period. pe-riod. It is to be recognized, of course, that there would be more intensive effort in advance of the 1940 elections elec-tions than occurred prior to the 1936 national elections because, presumably presum-ably at least, both great political parties will be sorting over the candidates. ALFRED M. LANDON Will not have as much voice in selection of the Republican candidate candi-date as Mr. Roosevelt will have in making the Democratic choice. So, we approach the things that are to be considered and dealt with as campaign questions next year as seen from this distance. Is New Deal On the Wane? I believe it can safely be said as a fact recognized by most able political po-litical students that the 1938 elections, elec-tions, with the attendant increase in Republican strength in the house and senate, together with the evident evi-dent trend of thinking throughout the country, that there is a widespread wide-spread movement away from the New Deal philosophy of government. How far it has gone, or how far it may yet go; how much the personal popularity of President Roosevelt has waned, or how much it may yet fluctuate, and how vigorously Mr. Roosevelt is opposed within his own party are factors yet to be evaluated. evalu-ated. But that evaluation has begun; be-gun; hence, the activity within the Democratic ranks. The fact that there is a trend away from the New Deal philosophy not all of those policies, but a very great many of them is the factor fac-tor that is causing Democrats, New Dealers as well as anti-administra-tionists, to scramble around. There is more "under cover" maneuvering for delegates to the Democratic national na-tional convention going on right now than I have witnessed thus far in advance during any of the last seven sev-en preliminary battles. The faction of the Democratic party that may be roughly delineated as headed by Vice President Garner, Sen. Pat Harrison of Mississippi, and Senator Sena-tor ByTd of Virginia the old linersr appears determined to rid the party par-ty of radical leadership. The group which has stood by President Roosevelt Roose-velt New Dealers through thick and thin is overlooking no opportunity to keep the Democratic label pinned upon their factfou G. O. P. Has Tactical Advantage Within the Republican ranks there are undoubtedly more of those waiting wait-ing to see which way the cat will jump than there are among the Democrats. The Republicans, however, how-ever, have one distinct advantage; they can attack anything and everything every-thing the New Deal administration has done. They do not need to defend de-fend anything, which is the handicap handi-cap that burdens each faction of the Democrats to a greater or less extent ex-tent Moreover, the Republicans are not burdened with the will of any one man to which they must give consideration. con-sideration. That is to say, neither former President Hoover nor Gov. Aif Lar.don, the nominees in 1932 and 1935. respectively, will or can have as much voice in selection of the next candidate as Mr. Roosevelt ordinarily would have in making the Democratic choice. This condition condi-tion springs from the fact that, as President, Mr. Roosevelt retains titular tit-ular leadership of his party. Messrs Hoover and Landon, having taken a licking in turn, need cot be accepted i by the rank and file of the party or bv Republican wheelhorses as having hav-ing any greater rights than others. And by the same token, the Roosevelt Roose-velt leadership complicates the Democratic picture. Since he has stated with great frequency and with an emphasis that cannot be denied that "there is no turning back," he can be regarded as determined to insist upon selection of a Democratic Democrat-ic candidate either himself or someone else next year who will push the New Deal forward. And that position, boys and girls, is what the old line faction of the party seem determined now to overturn. As a matter of cold fact, it appears from all of the information available to me that Mr. Roosevelt's determination determina-tion on this point is really the fundamental fun-damental basis for the current canyon can-yon between tlie New Dealers and the old liners. Again, none can foretell fore-tell how far it will go; but it can be said without equivocation that if that schism continues up to the 1940 nominating conventions, the 1924 convention fight between William Gibbs McAdoo and Al Smith will appear as a tea party. This bitterness bitter-ness can be just as deep seated as that Small G. O. P. Machines Demand Recognition It should not be overlooked, however, how-ever, that there is hair-pulling in prospect on the Republican side as well. It extends down to the grass roots because of individual thinking that has been taking place. This condition results through lack of a federal political machine. Dozens of small machines have been wagging wag-ging their own tails for so long that they now are demanding recognition rec-ognition from the brass hats at the top. Further, since there is a growing belief that the Republican presidential presiden-tial nomination in 1940 is "worth something" that is, that the Republicans Repub-licans have a chance after eight years of political drouth there is an extraordinary crop of favorite sons coming forward. Concerning the prospective campaign, cam-paign, itself, there again is that uncertainty un-certainty about Mr. Roosevelt's personal per-sonal popularity, about the prestige he has or will be able to lend to the mantle bearer of the Democratic party. There is likewise the question ques-tion as to how much of the New Deal ought to be discarded and how much ought to be kept, and it is not an easy decision to make. There is, for instance, no question ques-tion in my mind but that voters everywhere are getting disgusted with too much government. I do not mean to infer that they are unanimous. unan-imous. But the evidence cumulates that the federal government is engaging en-gaging in too many functions; that it is invading private rights too far; that its general scope is beyond what government was designed to be, and that more and more people are saying say-ing "there ought to be some laws repealed" rather than that "there ought to be a law." Government Spending Causes Dissatisfaction Another obvious sentiment shows a rather amazing dissatisfaction with continuation of government spending and the creation of added debt. With this, of course, is coupled cou-pled the general fear of added taxes. It is quite widespread, this feeling that some gloomy years are ahead. While the money flowed as free as water, there was no lack of takers. I A change appears to have taken place, however, and from all quarters quar-ters one hears expressions, or questions, ques-tions, as to how high the taxes will have to be to pay off even a part of the debt. A third thing that stands out wherever wher-ever political leaders talk over the campaign problems is the matter of unemployment which, of course, includes in-cludes the question of whether government gov-ernment would not be serving better bet-ter if it omitted attempts to "reform" "re-form" business. It sifts down to some of the basic New Deal policies poli-cies and, say what you will, it is a red hot subject. It remains as a fact that there were 10 or 12 million unemployed un-employed when Mr. Roosevelt took office, and there are at least 10 million mil-lion now. Voters are asking, therefore, there-fore, whether and how long such a situation can continue without a collapse. col-lapse. All of these questions, it is to be noted, strike very close to every voter in one way or another. It likewise comes within the range of thought that the man who is elected next year man, because no woman is yet included in the list will have a tough time satisfying even a ma-jonty ma-jonty of the people. Just as a rail fence guess, or maybe it is a hunch -anyway, I believe the next Presi-dent Presi-dent wlU be good for only one term He will not be popular after four years. As a further guess, I hava an idea that the candidate who will be elected next year will be the man who paints the greatest picture of gloom about the situation (Rtteucd b, Western Newspaper Union 1 |