National Affairs: A KEY STATE: OHIO

One of the pivotal states in the 1952 election is Ohio, with 25 electoral votes. This is the situation there:

Background: In the 13 presidential elections since 1900, Ohio has gone Republican seven times, Democratic six times. In the past five presidential elections, it has gone Democratic in four. Harry Truman carried it in 1948 with 7,107 votes, out of a total vote of nearly 3,000,000. Contrary to the Democratic trend in presidential voting, Ohio has two G.O.P. Senators and 16 of its 23 Congressmen are Republican. Although it lies entirely in the eastern time zone of the U.S., Ohio’s character is primarily Midwestern and its political temper is more conservative than that of most industrial states. The most effective political instrument in the state is the Cuyahoga County (Cleveland) Republican organization, headed by Congressman-at-Large George Bender, Bob Taft’s white-gloved bell ringer at the Chicago convention. Star performer of this outfit is a Cleveland lawyer named Paul Walter, who in 1950 lined up 150,000 northern Ohio volunteers to work for Senator Robert Taft’s reelection.

For Governor: Frank J. Lausche, tousle-haired onetime mayor of Cleveland, now completing his third term as governor, has a reputation as an able official. He is a Democrat who consistently emphasizes his conservatism and his independence of the rest of the party. There is no Democratic organization in the state except Lausche’s. The Democratic state chairman, a Lausche man, does not work hard for any other Democratic candidate. Lausche is pleased when labor leaders oppose him; he figures that in Ohio this is more valuable than their support. On the platform he can weep almost as easily as Iran’s Mossadegh, and can charm as well as any politician on the Ohio scene. In 1946 Lausche was defeated after some of his warmest supporters among foreign-born groups complained that he had stopped attending their weddings and christenings. Lausche quickly corrected that and now seems to be as popular as ever.

Lausche’s Republican opponent is Charles P. Taft, Cincinnati lawyer, younger (by eight years) brother of Senator Taft. While many Democrats think Lausche is too much like a Republican, many Republicans think Charlie Taft is too much like a Democrat. As a result, Taft will get considerable labor support, while many a conservative who looks upon a “liberal” Republican as an apostate will vote for Lausche. Some Republicans have never forgiven the younger Taft for helping to break the Republican machine’s power in Cincinnati in 1924, when the nonpartisan Charter movement established the city manager form of government. Charlie Taft is a pleasant, hardworking campaigner, but his speeches are not striking fire in this campaign.

Seven weeks before the balloting, Lausche is ahead.

For U.S. Senator: John Bricker, governor for six years and Senator for six, is—at this point—the surest bet in the Ohio election. His Democratic opponent is a somewhat slimmed Michael V. Di Salle (writers can no longer call him squash-shaped, says Di Salle, because he has lost 30 Ibs.). Di Salle is not well known in his home state, despite his three years as mayor of Toledo and his 14 months as U.S. price administrator in Washington. Di Salle is using the talkathon, the marathon radio question-answering technique, which has been remarkably effective in some states and not so effective in others. There is a wide difference in the organization support the two men have. When Di Salle held a press conference in Columbus recently, Democratic state headquarters didn’t even know where the candidate was receiving the press. Bricker, on the other hand, is very close to the Republican organization—closer, perhaps, than Bob Taft. Taft is considered a great man; Bricker is looked upon as one of the boys.

Bricker is well ahead of Di Salle.

For President: Until Bob Taft announced his wholehearted support of Dwight Eisenhower last week, Adlai Stevenson was running ahead in Ohio. Many Taft-minded Republicans, bitter about Taft’s three defeats at Republican national conventions, were talking about sitting this one out. But Taft’s announcement of an intensive campaign for Eisenhower may have tipped the balance. There is no doubt about Bob Taft’s political strength in Ohio, which sent him back to the Senate with a margin of 431,000 votes in 1950. Taft has said he will be on hand for Ike’s appearance in Cincinnati Sept. 22, when Ike will begin a two-day tour of Ohio.

Adlai Stevenson will invade Ohio too, but he will not get the kind of help from Lausche that Ike will get from Bob Taft. Characteristically, Lausche is trying to avoid involvement in the Stevenson campaign. Nor will the governor’s popularity at the polls be any help to Stevenson. Ohio has the separate “office” ballot plan. The names of candidates for President and Vice President appear on one ballot, those for governor and other state political offices on another. There is no one-mark, straight-ticket voting. (The plan was put through by Bob Taft’s forces before the 1950 election, after polls indicated that Taft might run far ahead of the other Republican candidates if straight-ticket voting were eliminated.

As of mid-September, Ohio’s 25 electoral votes are in doubt, with Dwight Eisenhower gaining.