The death of a party
The Grand Old Party is going to hell in a very conservative basket.
Torn asunder by internal bickering and faced with presidential candidates that offend intelligence, the Republican Party now stands—albeit limply—to be raped and plundered by its imperious right wing.
After the fiasco of 1964, the liberal and moderate element of the party made an intensive attempt to regain sanity in the ranks and hunt for a party image that would not send voters running for fall-out shelters.
But somehow, the attempt fizzled and faltered, and now the boys on the right are slithering back into power.
THEY ARE REVIVING the "youth" by pumping funds into such withering organizations as the Young Americans for Freedom and subverting the legitimate GOP youth outfits such as the Collegiate Young Republicans.
Instead of burying the dead, the conservative elite has chosen to resurrect Barry Goldwater and, judging from their recent propaganda, are in the process of canonizing him.
With a clarion call to arms, the conservatives are again digging at their faceless "grass roots" element, hoping to uncover legions of county chairmen who want Dick Nixon for President.
The irony of it all is curious. Instead of facing the dissenting pragmatism that smashed them in 1964 and politely shifting ground or dissipating, the conservative GOP'ers have decided to grapple with the realities of mixed economy, government involvement and the cold war communists once again.
THE REPUBLICAN PARTY—at least its moderate and liberal wng—had plausible alternatives that deserved attention and, occasionally, votes. But that party is being splintered and dissected by a minority that at least can master power and money.
The conclusion of such a state of affairs within the GOP is all too obvious.
On some cold November Tuesday in 1968, the GOP will die of conservative cancer and be buried without benefit of clergy or political succor.
-Dan Austin
Moderate GOP runs scared. Nixon wagon begins to roll
By RANDOLPH SEALEY
The moderate Republicans are running scared—there's a good chance they can't stop Richard Nixon from getting the Republican Presidential nomination in 1968.
Nixon is a two-time loser and runs behind Johnson in the polls while his rival Gov. George Romney, according to the same polls, is running ahead of the President.
THIS SEEMS TO FLY in the face of logic, but it's true.
This is because what the people who have been polled want is not the same thing key Republicans want.
These "key" Republicans are not those Congressional leaders and state governors who have done much to revitalize the Republican party's image in the past two years, but the county and state leaders who wield greater control over the party machinery than the others. And they are in a position to determine whom the party shall nominate for the presidency.
THE MATHEMATICS of the 1968 convention are already in Nixon's favor but the county and state leaders could insure his nomination.
Nixon has the Southern delegates wrapped up. Goldwater's electoral votes from the deep South amid disaster elsewhere, gives this section the largest bloc of votes, 356, more than half of the 668 needed to win. Combined with the Southern delegates, Nixon's support from county-level leaders could easily put him over the line.
Only if they could be convinced that Nixon can't win, would these leaders shift their support to Romney. So long as it appears to them that any Republican, including Nixon, can win, they will stick with their favorite.
The reason for this lies in the attitudes of the county and state leaders themselves. They are, for the most part, committed to the status quo and regard Nixon as the best bet for preserving it.
IT IS THESE MEN who would have the most to lose by the success of vigorous, aggressive Republicans. When these new-style Republicans are elected, they quickly become confronted by the entrenched, county leadership.
This has led to the development of two parties in many states, the regular party dominated by county chairmen, and the "governor's party," led by the state's governor and his followers. Some governors have attempted to purge the county leaders, but, as in the case of Gov. Dan Evans of Washington, this has led to disastrous setbacks.
With their position thus threatened, these county leaders tend to resist the progressive trends among many Republican leaders in Congress and statehouses. While Republicans formulate new alternatives to the Democratic program, county leaders cling to the old formulas. They persist in espousing negative positions on taxation, foreign aid and many other issues, particularly when they view the proposals as a waste of taxpayer's money.
THEY ALSO RESIST the movement to build a dynamic party, demonstrating little interest in developing the party's rising support in the urban areas and in the South. Instead of appealing to voters in the cities and suburbs, they remain content to rest upon their rural-based support.
In the South, they show little interest in giving the urban and Negro voters alternatives to rural segregationist Democrats. Consequently, the party in the South consists of renegade Democrats and only a few exceptional new-style Republicans such as Sen. Howard Baker of Tennessee and Gov. Winthrop Rockefeller of Arkansas.
What all this means is that the Republicans who wield the most influence in the party, are prepared to chose Nixon for the presidential nomination in order to preserve their position, even at the cost of weakening the party nationally. They are more interested in retaining their own power than they are in electing a President.
A significant reflection of this problem is the moderates' relative cohesiveness in backing Romney. Many moderates are being tempted to turn to other attractive moderates such as Sen. Charles Percy and even Gov. Nelson Rockefeller. But considering the formidable base of support Nixon has, the moderates know they cannot afford the disorganization that occurred in 1964.
"They're Simple, Happy Folk Knowledge Would Just Confuse Them"
UDK Movie Review: Hotel
Go see 'Hotel' surprisingly good
By SCOTT NUNLEY
Go see "Hotel."
In every moviegoer's cache of pleasant memories there is reserved a spot for that evening when, with electric surprise, a second-rate film turned into premier entertainment. "Hotel" is such a movie, and an evening spent viewing it will be remembered.
Without dragging in the novel, the earlier films, and the plays in this "Ship of Fools" tradition, take a look at this movie. Red Taylor is as solid as the Grand Hotel itself in his role as a brilliant manager. Camera work and color distill from the rich interior of the great old inn a vintage taste that flavors the entire picture.
The number of sub-plots has been wisely slashed, and it is impossible to find a minor performance that sags. Each plot level intrigues the viewer, each characterization refreshes him. In a tradition of le grand cliche, "Hotel" is a film without cliches.
Go see "Hotel" with a knowing ennui.
“Hotel” will surprise, amuse, and delight you at every turn. Here is the magnificent St. Gregory in New Orleans, not an inch as expected. Here are the staff and guests, each a strange and complex human being. Here is the plot—to save, perhaps, a bit of a better world—somehow a need as constant and vital to man as his breath.
The motion picture has an inner tension, a torque, an energy of its own that binds all its divergent pieces with a saving unity. No one scene, but the film as a whole makes its impression upon the viewer. Rod Taylor's demanding performance is only Quine's most obvious means to that end: look carefully and virtually every aspect of "Hotel's" cinematography will be seen working to this same purpose.
Catherine Spaak as Jan is perfectly cast. This young actress has a delicate style that beautifully blends spontaneity with experience. Her work makes a cake-frosting part as nourishing as the entree.
"Hotel," alas, is not flawless. But what ingratitude to dwell on small errors in the gift of an unexpectedly fine evening!
OFFICIAL BULLETIN
Foreign Students: Sign on new for
purpose. Inquire at P-t-P office, Union.
a baseball game, P-t-P office, Union.
TODAY
Univ. Lecture, 5:30 p.m., Alb-let al-Imw immughlobugh, Dyeh Ab, University of Alabama.
H story Fraternity Initiation Banquet, 7 p.m. Jayhawk Room, Union. Stud at Peace Un on Open Meeting, 7:30 p.m. Kansas Union.
TOMORROW Business Students Lecture, 1:30 p.m.
Dr. Levinson, Menninger Foundation 411 Su.
University Lecture, 2:39 p.m. dr. Donald Klein, Boston U. "Mental Health in Community Development." 411 Su.
Latin American Club, 7.39 p.m.
Alcoves A. B, C. & Kansas Union.
Humanities Lecture, 8 p.m. Dr. Wr. M. W. F. Ea. "Ciceto & Classical Tradition." University Theatre.
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Daily Kansan
editorial page
Monday, April 24, 1967
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