POLITICAL NOTE: LaGuardia v. O’Brien v. McKee (cont’d)

LaGuardia v. O’Brien

v. McKee (cont’d)

With New York City’s most turbulent Mayoral election in 20 years only eight days away, last week the semi-final results of the Literary Digest’s straw poll stood: Fusion Candidate Fiorello Henry LaGuardia, 217,599; Recovery Candidate Joseph Vincent McKee, 169,715; Tammany’s Candidate, Mayor John Patrick O’Brien, 51,562. Undoubtedly Candidate LaGuardia had drawn ahead for a while in the preceding fortnight but other, more up-to-date straw-voting persuaded Wall Street betters to reinstate McKee last week-end as the favorite at even money, with odds against LaGuardia 7-to-5.

Candidates McKee and LaGuardia were fighting the contest bitterly. LaGuardia accused McKee of hounding a Seabury investigation witness to death, of reinstating a dismissed assistant when the assistant threatened to report McKee’s misdoings as Aldermanic President, of being a Jew-baiter, a foe of women’s suffrage. McKee accused LaGuardia of being a Communist, a liar. Candidate LaGuardia reported to NRAdministrator Johnson that a member of the McKee slate was using the Blue Eagle insignia on his campaign literature. General Johnson promptly ordered the practice stopped. Inquisitor Samuel Seabury, stumping for LaGuardia, declared that McKee had drawn up corporation papers for a realty concern, then voted as a city official to grade the street passing the company’s premises.

Well in the rear of the race. Candidate O’Brien was pitifully appealing for re-election “on his record.” He said he was sure the city’s women would continue him in office. Magnificently he forbade the holding of a German-American rally that was tinged with Naziism (see p. 24), and to a Negro audience declared: “Not only alien agitators, but for that matter not any people can’t form any plans to stir up race hatred in the metropolitan city of New York.”

The cry of BOSSISM was being flung about from candidate to candidate like a medicine ball. On this issue, Daniel F. Cohalan, an oldtime politician and member of Tammany’s war board, delivered one of the campaign’s most illuminating speeches. Cried he: “What is the boss system, after all, except the development of that quality of human nature which makes one man the leader among his fellows, the man of light and leading among his associates?” Compared to the light of Tammany’s Boss Curry, he said, “The word of Flynn [McKee’s boss] is as light as a half-burned match.” And should Judge Seabury, LaGuardia’s boss, come into power, “He will, in my opinion, give us an example of iron discipline and arbitrary action that will make the town sigh for the gentleness of Croker or the softness of Murphy.”