Democratic Party Parade

...But a kaleidoscopic brilliance like Kennedy's can never get to the White House, for while they would like to have him as a friend and acquaintance, nobody would like to have him as a boss...

...Humphrey has no emotional appeal, and Symington, with regard to the Presidency, plays the emotional position of a jeep which a man looks at after he has decided that for some reason a Ferrari, a Cadillac, or even a Dodge sedan will not do...

...Thus the best "compromise" candidate is likely to make the best President and, during the campaign, the best candidate...

...But the job in the White House encompasses so many facets that a certain kind of slowness, steadiness and perhaps even pedestrianism, at least at times, is necessary...

...He is a puppet of the old guard, i.e...

...From there a direct thread leads to the strange group of men now contending for the Democratic nomination...

...People like that...

...Champion and leader of the eggheads, he represents the widespread rebellion against the anti-intellectual trend in American politics and American life, which set in after the Roosevelt Administration and the exhausting war...

...Here, in an article half-spoof and half-serious, Konrad Kellen, a long-time political commentator, takes a "soft-headed" look at the "personality quotients" of the candidates...

...If the Democrats decided to run Bowles for President, Kennedy for Vice President (to avail themselves of his popularity and ability), and slated Stevenson for Secretary of State, they would have more than a party out of office has had for a long time...

...Nixon, though young, is a man, and tough in a tough world...

...Our age is thrown somewhat off balance by the passion for "facts," polls, analysis, consensus, past records and the like...

...The reason is not merely that he is more intelligent and articulate than the others, but also that he has the one thing which a Presidential candidate absolutely needs: He arouses emotions in people...

...of Truman and Rayburn...

...Lincoln...

...He is, on the face of it, a patient, reasonable and kind man, something "new" without being untried...

...People really know nothing about him...

...Again, the chances of both men will be analyzed here from the irrational, "softheaded" angle rather than on the basis of hard "facts...

...He has no glaring handicaps, and his greatest appeal is that, of the various Democratic contenders, he would certainly—and patently—make the best President...

...This brings us, finally, to the dark horse Chester Bowles...

...This is, of course, complete nonsense...

...This is directly relevant to the coming election...

...He is not altogether—what every candidate has to be to get elected—a "man's man," which, incidentally, is also largely identical with the average "woman's man...

...It is a demonstrable fact that the American people, with the exception only of a handful of anxious citizens, obstinately refuse to respond to the allegedly dire consequences of the missile gap, the rocket gap, or the controversy as to whether there should be more jet bombers and whether Strategic Air Command planes should be continuously in the air...

...Kennedy may arouse the emotions of the Junior League set, but that is about all...

...Roosevelt saved the capitalists...

...This is not only unknown to people at large, but Stevenson's defeats are on an entirely different scale from Bowies...

...But they are wrong...

...Above all, Bowles' electibility must be envisioned in terms of a contest with Nixon...

...Maybe he did not have it when he was an eager boy in California...

...He has not got a thought in his head on foreign policy...

...Of course, the choice of candidates, especially by the party out of power, often has its somnambulistic and therefore disastrous and incomprehensible aspects...

...But, unfortunately for him, he simply doesn't look like a President...

...He is too fast, too bright, too witty, too original, perhaps too nervous...

...Taft and Truman were certainly no beauties...

...he lost the governorship, and he did not even win the U.S...

...In a Nixon-Bowles contest Bowles would be at least equal—wanting, perhaps, in over-all administrative "experience," but superior in general experience, political thought and manly resilience...

...No father, mother, brother or sister finances his campaigns or runs around the country for him...

...In the first place, Nixon is a man in his own right...

...It must not be forgotten that especially in our time, but to some extent at all times, the Presidency itself is a sort of "compromise" job in the good sense of the word...

...I once had the pleasure of meeting him briefly, and I mean pleasure...

...He preaches, suavely and uncon-vincingly, that we need more planes, more missiles, more rockets—all the things which the American people instinctively know will not save the nation or even the peace...

...There is no need to talk about Senator Lyndon Johnson, because he has no chance of being nominated...

...If the Democrats believe that he is just a political hack who can be defeated by a glamor-boy they have a surprise coming...

...And Governor Pat Brown has only little more chance of being nominated than Caryl Chessman...

...By the parade of candidates which they are displaying to the country...

...The fact that he lost twice works heavily against him—and people probably do not care or remember that conditions were fate-fully adverse, and that under the circumstances he polled a gigantic number of votes...

...Why should they care about it in a Presidential campaign, and vote for the man whose only issue and reputation lies in that field...

...It seems to occur to people, but dimly, that quite a few of these men, although they "check out" well against the arbitrary hodgepodge of political requirements, simply do not fit the Presidency any more than the average well-built, muscular and eager youth fits the shoes of Jack Dempsey...

...Stevenson is the first man so far named in this article who can be spoken of in the same breath as Richard Nixon...

...Indeed, the almost inexplicable thing is that most of the Democratic contenders for the presidency seem quite unqualified either to win or to exercise the Presidency...

...A man who has his looks against him, usually has more than that against him...

...Yet he has some of these attributes now, though really very few of them, as the Democratic party should gratefully realize...

...While in a Nixon-Stevenson contest Nixon would be the winner and "ordinary" fellow, in a Nixon-Bowles contest Bowles would be a new, though not too new, contestant...

...He can be almost incredibly handsome like Chief Justice Hughes, but he need not be...

...He lost twice, and that gives everybody an uncomfortable feeling...

...Of course, some rich men have become President, for example FDR...

...This is no country for political saints and visionaries, and we are lucky that it isn't...

...The exact opposite is the case—the Republicans do not "have anybody...

...Moreover, no matter what his past or his motives, his agonized enemies notwithstanding, he has attained a certain amount of stature and directness which is not just calculated but genuine...

...But it is neither an accident nor a mistake that people pay so much attention to the looks of their fellow men...

...The last thought that might be discussed here in passing is that Richard Nixon did not have, or did not seem to have, any Presidential attributes eight years ago either...

...And what about Stuart Symington of Missouri...

...There can be no doubt that Kennedy, if nominated, would be torn to shreds by Nixon...

...He has everything...

...Opinions of individuals, individually expressed, count for very little...

...However, there are several handicaps plaguing him...

...Who, then, is left...

...But Stevenson strikes a chord, he is taken seriously, and people raise their voices and collect their thoughts when they talk about him...

...Of course, people might say that Bowles is also a two-time loser...

...Kennedy, who is hopelessly entangled in a web of extraneous issues such as church and birth control, cannot ever prevail against a Nixon who certainly stands for something...

...One of the reasons for this, other than the mysteries of personality, is that Stevenson represents something important and widespread in American life...

...He is as irresistible as Rex Harrison, as poised as George Saunders, as suave as John Barrymore and as tough as George Raft...

...There have only been three men in America's recent past who for a variety of widely divergent reasons have had this toxic and emasculating effect on their opponents: FDR, Joseph McCarthy and Nixon...

...oppose, of all people, Franklin D. Roosevelt...

...But FDR was an entirely different type who, by transcending his origins, made people forget that he was a wealthy aristocrat, which is the last thing Kennedy has done...

...Of the two, despite his handicaps, Chester Bowles has a much better chance of being elected than Stevenson, for the simple reason that he has more Presidential appeals and qualities than Stevenson...

...Like all lightweights, he is neither hated nor greatly admired by anybody...

...In retrospect, no Republican, it may be assumed, can understand why, with their intense dislike of the New Deal and their iron determination to end it, Republicans picked of all people in this great country the hapless Alf Landon to As the election draws closer, THE NEW LEADER will publish continuing commentary both on the issues and the personalities involved...

...looks indicate a great deal about a person's personality...

...They carry the weight and significance of two consecutive defeats of a prizefighter in the world championship ring against the same winner, while Bowles' defeats are hardly more than knockouts in the training gym...

...It is, of course, very late in the day to reorient the Democratic machine, or set it at least so that, in case of a deadlock, Bowles would have a chance...

...He is, unlike the other aspirants, a "compromise candidate" in the best sense of the word, and because of his background, looks, rate of speed, record, intentions and personality, is likely to attract more people than any of the others...

...Moreover, he is a symbol at home and abroad of the "un-ugly" American...

...But that is up to the Democratic party...

...It is only aggressive and derogatory criticism of the figure Humphrey cuts as candidate-for-President...

...And while in a Nixon-Symington contest Nixon would be the man wedded to a dozen vital issues, Symington, contrary to Bowles, would be a one-saw man, harping on his dreary defense issue...

...A man certainly need not be handsome to amount to something...

...He is the mixture of all the things Americans will not stomach...

...And somehow Stevenson lacks that...

...Panic leads to the illusion that the opponent is a giant with supernatural powers who can only be unseated by a superman...

...I will disregard his voting record and things of that sort...

...In reality, Nixon is conspicuously a resourceful and energetic man, but he nevertheless owes his greater-than-life size to the anxiety of his Democratic opponents...

...However, the panic into which the image of Nixon throws his adversaries is bound to lead them to the choice of the wrong candidate and down the way to defeat, unless they finally free themselves of it...

...He has not got a thought in his head on basic domestic policy...

...All this sounds like aggressive and derogatory criticism of Senator Humphrey...

...Humphrey is a very nice and honest man who serves his constituents well...

...Only political panic, political defeatism and some sort of political blackout accounts for the choice...

...People just don't care about that...

...But only the demon of anti-Nixonism can blind Democrats to the fact that of those now in the running he certainly stands the best chance to win and to be a good President, and that, next to him, only Stevenson deserves serious consideration...

...And how about Senator Hubert Humphrey of Minnesota...

...Senate nomination which he sought in 1958...

...Everybody else is, because this is a country of opportunism, and we might as well face it...

...He would not be irritatingly eggheadish for those millions who bristle at the sight of a "pure" egghead...

...That is perfectly true, and if nominated, he would certainly have been defeated by Stevenson in 1952 or even in 1956...

...for elections, and particularly Presidential elections, are largely an instinctive and emotional business—which is exactly as it should be...

...Nixon is an intelligent, capable and human young man no more interested in the destruction of the American Way of Life than you or I. He may be an opportunist, but there is nothing wrong with that...

...His record and his opinions, though "good," are obscure even to politically knowledgeable people...

...McCarthy never had a chance...

...What it all depends on, however, is whether or not the party can free itself of the anti-Nixon hysteria which prevents it from effectively assessing the man's assets and liabilities...

...and as there is no superman in the Democratic ranks or elsewhere, the next best thing that suggests itself is a synthetic man...

...The White House can never be captured by the perfect man but only by a real personality—a brilliant theoretician like Jefferson, an almost painfully human person like Lincoln, a rough and ruthless character like Teddy Roosevelt, an intolerable bore like Calvin Coolidge, a dowdy replica of W. C. Fields like Herbert Hoover, an intrepid and insouciant reform enthusiast like FDR, an earthy Missourian like Harry Truman, an inarticulate conqueror like Eisenhower...

...He is a Southerner...

...Again, since I am not interested in "facts...

...There are only two men in the Democratic party who have a chance to win the election, despite all the strikes against them...

...It appears that the Democrats are at present in a similar frame of mind, partly because they are out of office, partly because their attitude to Richard Nixon is actually very similar to the attitude that Republicans had toward FDR: When the subject of Nixon is brought up, Democrats foam at the mouth, stammer, roll their eyes and have nothing really relevant to say...

...They are Adlai Stevenson and Chester Bowles...

...And the power which these men exercised, mainly because their mere existence reduced their opponents to raging political infants, was enormous and of an entirely different order than that of the ordinary politician...

...The opponents of Roosevelt, McCarthy and Nixon did not just harbor opposing political ideas...

...Therefore, he is infinitely more electible than the others mentioned...

...He is the weirdest choice of all...

...Also his way of thinking, his comportment, is against him...

...no million-dollar trust fund is ready for him if he gets licked...

...As a former businessman, Ambassador to India, Governor of Connecticut and Congressman he has a reassuring background, and the books which he has written are sensible and constructive...

...This leads to a loss of spontaneity and into a quagmire of synthetic generalities which nobody seems able to shake off...

...People who think themselves broad-minded insist that this is an unfair remark to make and will be no handicap...

...Can you visualize him issuing instructions to a Henry Stimson, George Marshall, Harold Ickes, or to yourself...

...But it isn't...

...He is a thoroughbred...

...I can't...

...They fervently believed, and in Nixon's case still believe, that the country, freedom, democracy, life itself were at stake...

...A final word on the often heard, exasperated exclamation that the Democrats do not "have anybody...

...He is a strong, secure, well-to-do man who is very intelligent without being conspicuously an egghead, a man who has served successfully at home and abroad...

...The net result is that most people draw a blank about him...

...Democratic Party Parade By Konrad Kellen EVEN BEFORE the nomination, the Democrats are laying a solid groundwork for their defeat in this year's Presidential election...

...But he has it now, no matter what his detractors say...

...Therefore, people expect that, if he should be elected President, there would be changes in every field, and that is exciting...

...While Kennedy has virtually everything in the synthetic sense, and Symington has virtually everything in the machine sense, Bowles has virtually everything in the real sense...

...Take Senator John F. Kennedy of Massachusetts...