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Show National Politics: (1) Another Election Year This election year promises to be a bitter one. The lines are drawn for a hard-fought struggle strug-gle this fall for control of the United States Congress. For the first time in many years the nation's politics is characterized by two parties preaching fundamentally different differ-ent doctrines. The Democrats, of course, are backing President Harry Truman's Fair Deal pro-gtam, pro-gtam, while their Republican opponents, having failed to steal the Democrats' thunder through "me-tooism," have substituted the questionable battle-cry of "Liberty vs. Socialism." President Presi-dent Truman has already countered coun-tered with the charge that, in regard to Socialism, it is an insult in-sult to the American intelligence for the Republicans to again drag out the old moth-eaten scarecrow of Socialism. Although in the political minority mi-nority for the past 18 years, except ex-cept during the 80th Congress, the Republicans have exercised at times a disproportionate influence in-fluence in Congress. Perhaps, for instance, it would be more accurate to say the 81st Congress, Con-gress, has been' composed principally prin-cipally of liberals and conservatives, conser-vatives, of the various shades, and not of Democrats and Republicans. Re-publicans. Actually, there are good Democrats in the GOP ranks, and Republicans like Oregon's Ore-gon's Wayne Morse might well be called Democrats. With a preponderant majority in the 81st Congress, President Truman1 has failed to ram through Congress most of the legislation promised in the 1948 Democratic platform. The reason, rea-son, needless to say, is that he has not had the support of conservative con-servative Democrats and the South is full, ef them. In other words, a mandate of the people in support of proposed legisla-. legisla-. tion has died because of irreconcilable irrecon-cilable friction within the Democratic Demo-cratic party. Southerners like the Georges, the Byrds, McKellars, etc, and northern Democrats of Colorado's Colora-do's Johnson school, allied with the Administration's natural op position, the Republicans, have killed most of President Truman's Tru-man's planned legislation. Consequently, it is easy to see that Administration Democrats are taking greater chances than the Republicans in this fall's election. If they win, they are not likely to gain such a majority ma-jority as to minimize the Southern South-ern Democratic-Republican coalition. co-alition. If they lose, they must face a Republican majority, plus the Southerners. The quandry in which President Presi-dent Truman has found himself much of the time since assuming assum-ing office in 1945 illustrates one of the fatal weaknesses in the American political system: sys-tem: The government cannot force support in the legislative branch. This is a crippling handicap, hand-icap, as at times Congressional business remains at a standstill for months while members of the majority party squabble over ov-er petty, and sometimes major, differences. If the dispute is a major one, nothing may be accomplished ac-complished during the entire session. Government efficiency is also hampered by the fact that often the president is of one party while the majority of one or both houses of Congress are of another. Undoubtedly American presidents presi-dents throughout history have at times yearned for the European Euro-pean parlimentary system of government, most effectively used in two-party Great Britain. In England the majority party selects a prime minister and forms a cabinet following each election. The government is then expected to push promised legislation' leg-islation' through Parliament. If it fails in a major test, it must resign and call another election, the result being that party members mem-bers generally stick together, either as a matter of choice, or to keep from risking their seats in another election. In this way the people's mandate man-date is always respected. GWH |