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University Daily Kansan Monday, April 11, 1960
Wake Up, GOP
How do you wake up a major political party or a faction of that party? If anyone knows the answer, we wish they would talk with the president of the KU Young Republicans.
Many Democrats are now surveying the Republicans as easy prey for the coming November elections, and personally, we agree with them. Unless the Kansas Republics awaken and realize that the state no longer is run by "the Methodists, the Republics and the Kansas City Star," we think they are bound to be disappointed again.
In the 1956 elections, Republicans in the southeast part of the state took the attitude that they had the offices won. There was little campaigning by any of the Republican candidates. And of course you couldn't turn around from April to November without getting a Democratic candidate's card shoved into your hand. What happened? The Democrats scored what Republicans called an "upset," and swept into every office but one in Labette County and the southeast Kansas area. It was no upset. It was laziness on the part of Republic candidates.
AN EXAMPLE of this was the candidate for Congressman from the third Congressional district. Ninety per cent of the area's voters never saw the Republican incumbent candidate, Myron George. But we doubt if there were 10 per cent who didn't see Denver Hargis, the Democratic candidate, at least once. The consequences? George is in Altamont; Hargis is in Washington.
On campus, the Convocation Committee has received some criticism that it has presented only Democratic speakers. Talking with one member of the committee (who is a Republican) we found out why.
"We've been promised Republican speakers by the National Committee, but they never arrive. We've begged them to send us a good speaker. They just don't seem interested. On the other hand, the Democratic National Committee has cooperated every time we've asked for a speaker," he said.
So, until the time the Republicans decide it would be worth the effort to give KU one of their members to speak here, we will continue to listen to Democrats.
LAST SEMESTER the KU Young Democrats were getting quite a bit of publicity in connection with some political news which was running in the Daily Kansan. For a couple of weeks the newspapers were filled with replies by the KU Young Democrats. The city editor of the UDK tried for three days to get a comment from the Young Republicans on campus All to no avail.
State Republicans seem optimistic about defeating Gov. George Docking in his bid for a third term. But the Democrats don't seem to be too worried, for they know that defeat can't come unless the Republicans decide to get out and work prior to the election. And they know that if the Republicans repeat their 1958 performance, Gov. Docking will breakvet another Kansas tradition.
BUT WHY shouldn't he? At least he has been smart enough to keep himself in the news. And Virginia's column hasn't hurt any. You'd be surprised at the number of rural folk who are interested in whether or not the governor and his wife liked those apples which were sent them from Haws, Kan.
There is only one way the Republicans can hope to get back in the saddle. That is to put down their checkbooks and copies of George Sokolsky, get angry, and stand up and fight.
— Rael F. Amos
Sen. Stuart Symington
By Carrie Edwards
(This is the fifth in a series of articles on the presidential candidates.)
Sen. Stuart Symington (D-Mo) may be a compromise candidate for the Democratic presidential nomination.
The current leader in the Democratic race is Sen. John Kennedy (D-Mass), fresh from a victory in the Wisconsin primary. But Symington backers believe Kennedy, a Catholic, will be pushed aside by the convention delegates, leaving the way clear for a compromise candidate.
SYMINGTON HAS refused to run in any state primaries so far. However, he said on March 2 he would not withdraw his name from the Oregon presidential primary.
The Kansas City Star quoted Charles Brown, campaign spokesman for Symington, as saying:
"If Kennedy can muster all he claims, he will lead on the first ballot at the Democratic convention in Los Angeles. But he won't have enough for the nomination. Symington will win on the second ballot."
There is bound to be strength for Symington in his negative assets and the appeal they might have to professional politicians. At 58, Symington is neither too young nor too old. As an Episcopalian, he does not have the worry Kennedy has
Senator Stuart Symington
over public opinion that a Roman Catholic shouldn't be President. As a politician who has run for a Senate seat twice and won twice, Symington does not carry any stigma of past defeats, such as burdens Adlai Stevenson.
HE WAS Air Force Secretary under Harry Truman. In 1950 the blue-eyed future senator resigned from that post in protest against the Truman administration's "armament reductions for the sake
of budget balancing." Last month Symington charged that President Eisenhower was putting economy before the security of the people to the point of misinforming them of the dangers of the Soviets and their missile strength. Symington said:
"Unpleasant facts well known to Communists are kept from the American people. No administration has the right to give information in secret to Congress which shows in missile gap is widening in favor of the Soviets — and at the same time inform the public the gap is narrowing. That is what was done this year."
Except for his stand on defense, the tall, handsome Symington has escaped being linked prominently with controversial issues. Bill Robinson, staff writer for the Associated Press, classes the Missouri senator as a liberal without being identified with the ultra-progressive or egghead groups. The Americans for Democratic Action last September gave him perfect marks in an analysis of the liberal position of senators.
Symington said he would favor higher taxes if these meant more security. He wants to combine military and civilian defense plans into one agency. He wants to do away with the present Space Agency in Washington.
Daily Hansan UNIVERSITY
University of Kansas student newspaper
Telephone VIking 3-2700 Extension 711, news room Extension 376, business office
Founded 1889, became biweekly 1904, triweekly 1908, daily Jan. 16, 1912.
Member Inland Daily Press Association. Associated Collegiate Press. Represented by National Advertising Service, 18 East 50th St., New York 22, N.Y. News service: United Press International. Mail subscription rates: $3 a semester or $5 a year. Published in Lawrence, Kan., every afternoon during the university year except Saturdays and Sundays, University holidays, and examination periods. Entered as second-class matter Sept. 17, 1910, at Lawrence, Kan., post office under act of March 3. 1879.
NEWS DEPARTMENT
... Managing Editor
Douglas Yocom and Jack Harrison ... Co-Editorial Editors
IN OTHER ISSUES. Symington voted in favor of freezing farm price supports. He was the only one of today's announced Democratic Presidential candidates to back anti-secrecy amendments to give Congressional committees more detailed information on foreign aid spending.
BUSINESS DEPARTMENT
Bruce Lewellyn ... Business Manager
Symington has backed proposals to increase individual tax exemptions. He favored an increase in gasoline tax which Humphrey, Johnson and Kennedy all opposed.
In 1958 Symington opposed a foreign aid bill to free the President from restrictions on the extension of economic aid to Communist-bloc countries, especially Poland. Communist China and North Korea. In direct contrast to other Democratic hopefuls Humphrey, Kennedy and Johnson, Symington opposed aid to Yugoslavia and the Dominican Republic.
He has said that President Eisenhower should have used the prestige and influence of his office to settle the steel strike.
More on Nixon
By Jack Harrison
One of our Republican readers told us, in a letter in Thursday's Kansan, that we are wrong in our evaluation of Vice President Richard M. Nixon.
We looked over the Nixon record, and concluded that he is no man for the Presidency. Our letter-writing friend tried to refute our criticisms of the Vice President and said that he is more qualified for the Presidency than any of the Democratic hopefuls.
In reply to the letter, let us first explain our interpretation of the role of an editorial writer and his handling of the facts of an issue.
ANY REPORTER can look at Nixon's record as a campaigner, Congressman. Senator and Vice President. But it seems that each comes up with a different interpretation of what he sees. Earl Mazo looked at the facts and decided that Nixon was the only man for President. William Costello looked at the same facts and decided that Nixon was entirely inadequate for the post.
We also looked at the facts — not that we count for much — and came to our own conclusion.
K7
An editorial writer is supposed to interpret the facts. We did. Our readers are entitled to the same privilege.
Nixon has used all the cheap tricks in the book in his campaigns. In 1946 he used the guilt-by-association technique to link Rep. Jerry Voorhis with communism. A pamphlet put out by the Nixon forces stated that Voorhis "record in Congress is more Socialistic and Communist than Democratic."
SHE SAID THAT "I fail to find any politically unscrupulous dealings" in Nixon's career. We would like to relate a few incidents which we believe to be in the category of such "dealings," and also to point out that some political experts have found Nixon's qualifications do not measure up to his ambitions.
Now let us answer our friend's letter.
In 1950 Nixon ran for the Senate and tried to associate his opponent, Mrs. Helen Douglas, with communism. It was the year of McCarthyism and the Korean War, and Nixon was successful in showing an alleged relation between the voting records of Mrs. Douglas and Vito Marcantonio, New York's ultra-left-wing Congressman.
Nixon charged that "during the six years she (Mrs. Douglas) has been in Congress, she has consistently supported the State Department's policy of appeasing communism in Asia, which finally resulted in the Korean War." There was no reason for attacking the voting record of Mrs. Douglas on these grounds. Communists had denounced her many times, in fact.
A telephone campaign had anonymous callers telling the voters of California that "I am a friend of yours, and I would just like you to know that Jerry Voorhis is a Communist."
Nixon called Adlai Stevenson "Adlai the appeaser, who got a Ph.D. from Dean Acheson's 'College of Cowardly Communist Containment.'" Nixon said President Harry Truman and Stevenson had "tolerated and defended Communists in the government." We believe such charges are a bit unscrupulous and in very poor taste.
MRS. DOUGLAS' husband was half Jewish, which led Gerald L. K. Smith of the Christian Nationalist movement to urge voters to "Help Richard Nixon get rid of Jew-Communists." Nixon conveniently looked the other way while this undercover campaign of bigotry was going on.
NIXON WON the contest with Voorhis through a series of five debates, in which the incumbent representative was always on the defensive, trying to show the untruth in Nixon's chain of vicious accusations.
Of course the two representatives voted the same on some questions. So did Marcantonio and Nixon.
(Continued tomorrow)
LITTLE MAN ON CAMPUS By Dick Bibler