Show CALI FORNIAS POLITICAL SENSATION on august 28 the state of california produced some of the most startling political news of the decade the voters nominated upton sinclair lifelong life long socialist for governor on the democratic tic ticket ket jn in addition they nominated him by a tremendous majority over his nearest rival who ran as a Bt straight raight new deal advocate and his vote was well in excess of that of the republican candidate act i 1 ing governor merriam if mr sinclair wins in november it will be the first time an avowed socialist ever reached a high governmental position in this country with the single eingle exception of the late victor berger As was to be expected this unprecedented happening has aroused nationwide nation wide comment those who believe in mr Sin clairs principles state jubilantly that his success means the definite beginning of a swing to the left that it is only a matter of time before believers in socialism will sit in all the seats of the mighty those who oppose him tend to the opinion that the voters of california have gone temporarily insane neither of these views to an un prejudiced observer is convincing mr sinclair whether you like his economic dicta or not is a nian man of unquestioned probity and absolute almost fanatical sincerity and those are two main reasons for his nomination citizens of california have grown weary of machine politics the state has plunged steadily into debt and many taxpayers think rightly kightly or wrongly that they have little to show for much of the money spent As a result thousands of people who do not favor socialism cast their votes for sinclair because he is against all existing political machines and apparently has no political connections or obligations the sinclair program is about as aa promising as anyone could imagine high lights are heavy taxes on large inheritances and incomes over pensions for the sick unemployed and aged sinclair campaign motto goes by the initials EPIC meaning end poverty in california it is a noteworthy fact that mr sinclair financed his campaign by charging admission to his speeches and he packed the voters in while other candidates who charged nothing addressed half empty halls this is largely due to the fact that he is a brilliant and experienced perien ced speaker and a convincing writer some literary critics of distinction here and abroad regard him as the foremost living american novelist president roosevelt at once made an appointment with mr sinclair Si laclair observers believe he will attempt to tone down some of mr Sin clairs wildness if he is elected and his chance of that depends upon how many democratic voters who supported other and mare more conservative candidates he is able to hold it is likely to prove somewhat embarrassing to the democratic party by putting a genuine socialist high in its councils thus eyes in all parts of the nation will be trained on california next november N To vember and between now and then the state will witness one on e of the bitterest campaign battles in its history no two men could stand farther apart than mr sinclair and mr air merriam who recently popularized himself greatly by his decisive action in the san francisco strike situation I 1 such a wide difference is what makes first class political wars |