McCarthy And The Voters

Press, Volume LXXXVIII, Issue 26857, 9 October 1952, Page 8

McCarthy And The Voters

The final month of the United States presidential election campaign has found General Eisenhower and Senator McCarthy on the same platform, and General Eisenhower ready to say that they seek the same goal, however different their methods. This is an unexpected turn in a Republican presidential campaign that was expected to rely on the support of independents and anti-Administration Democrats. When General Eisenhower was selected as the Republican candidate it was confidently predicted that he would give Senator McCarthy as little countenance as possible. That was not only because of the personal repugnance General Eisenhower must have had for the attacks made on a man to whom he owed much—General Marshall. It was widely believed that the McCarthy methods of “ character “ assassination ” and “ guilt by asso- “ ciation ” had outraged an important section of American opinion, as well they might. General Eisenhower started the contest with the advantage of being well known and well liked everywhere in the United States, whereas his opponent was unknown in many parts of the country. But it was conceded that this was not enough unless the Republican candidate could appeal ■ to many who would normally vote Democrat, and that they were the people who would be most offended by Senator McCarthy. Why then, apparently in the face ; of political wisdom and personal - feeling, has General Eisenhower . endorsed and accepted, Senator McCarthy? Part of the answer lies in General Eisenhower’s aim to unify

his party, which'led to a reconciliation with Senator Taft. It is not the whole answer, because some of the followers of Senator McCarthy were happy to make concessions to the party leader and did not ask him to make concessions to them. An instance is Senator Jenner, who had been more intemperate than Senator McCarthy in his attacks on General Marshall, whom he had accused of being “ an accomplice in a deliber- “ ate conspiracy against the Ameri- “ can people To get General Eisenhower’s backing, Senator Jenner gave an unqualified promise to support any policy or action he was instructed to support. If he is told to praise General Marshall he now has to do so. Not so Senator McCarthy. Perhaps the chief reason he can now sit with his leader is his remarkable success in the Wisconsin primary. A seemingly important section of the Republican Party tried hard to get someone else chosen as the party’s candidate for the Senate. They found a strong opponent and conducted a vigorous campaign. Sure that Democrats objected to McCarthyism, they invited Democrats to take advantage of a peculiarity in the Wisconsin law and vote in the Republican primary. The result was a heavy blow for liberal opinion /in the United States. Nearly 1,000,000 persons voted in the primary, but only 197,000 in the Democratic section, although in the 1950 Senate election the Democrats had polled more than 500,000 votes. The only explanation for this was that many Democrats had accepted the invitation to cross over and vote in the Republican primary. That was not unexpected. What was unexpected was that most of them then voted for Senator McCarthy, who polled 100,000 votes more than all the rest of the candidates in both primaries combined. Obviously the people of Wisconsin believed that Senator McCarthy in his search for Communists in the Government and government employment had performed a service to the nation, perhaps in goading the Administration to more effective security measures. A man who can command such electoral support cannot be ignored. The implication of General Eisenhower’s acceptance, of Senator McCarthy at this stage is that the Republican Party thinks he can rally more voters than any appeal to the more liberal section of the people can. It seems that the Republican campaigners are coming round to the belief that the Americans fear Communists more than they fear Senator McCarthy.