Still in There Fighting

Despite his setbacks, Bill Scranton kept up the fight. Said he to a newsman: "There isn't much time remaining, I know, but I have been told by professionals that I am further along at this time than Willkie and Eisenhower were before they were nominated."

Scranton even managed to put the best light on his Chicago defeat, saying calmly: "I came to Illinois with the calculation that 54 delegates would vote for my opponent. Our plan for the visit was to begin to demonstrate to the delegates at first hand that a vast majority of Republicans in Illinois, as elsewhere, prefer my candidacy. Dick Nixon said on television in Chicago last week that if ten Illinois delegates did not vote for Goldwater--watch out. This was what I was watching for also--then we would be on our way. Ten did not vote for him."

Out of Step. This week Scranton planned a second assault on Illinois. No matter what Ev Dirksen might say about polls, Scranton figured that he had some new ammunition in a state wide survey calculated to create second thoughts among delegates. According to Scranton, Illinois Republican and independent voters preferred Scranton over Goldwater, 65% to 35%. Moreover, when the two men were matched against Lyndon Johnson, the same voters picked Johnson over Goldwater, 38% to 25% (37% were undecided), while they favored Scranton over Johnson, 33% to 24% (43% were undecided). This was one of the first times since Lyndon took office that any Republican has beaten him in any poll. Scranton figured to barnstorm Illinois early in the week, hitting "as many places as possible," top his campaign off with a nationwide telecast, then head for San Francisco.

Last week, in a high-speed delegate-wooing tour, Scranton traveled 7,000 miles, visited ten cities in ten states. From North Carolina to North Dakota, he kept up a blistering attack on Goldwater's candidacy. In a nationally televised speech from his home near Scranton, Pa., he laced into Barry: "If a man marching in a parade discovers that his cadence is different from every other marcher, who is he to say that the rest are out of step? But despite all this--despite the knowledge across the country that he lacks public support--despite his reckless pronouncements in the area of war and peace--despite his unorthodox and unusual views of what the Republican Party stands for--despite all of this, Senator Goldwater today is the front runner in the contest for the Republican presidential nomination. This can be changed. For the sake of our party and of our nation, it must be changed!"

At the end of the telecast, he urged people to fire off telegrams supporting him, later reported happily that wires were piling up at the rate of 1,500 an hour.

"Reckless Proposals." Next morning he breakfasted with delegates in Charlotte, N.C., then flew to Atlanta, where he got a roaring welcome from a confetti-throwing crowd. Cried Scranton to Georgia's convention delegates: "Of course we Republicans believe that the states should exercise maximum responsibilities. But we also believe in federal responsibility. We believe that the honorable doctrine of states' rights should not be used to set South against North, to set East against West, to set black man against white man."

That afternoon he was in Knoxville, Tenn., where he blasted Barry for suggesting that the TVA should be sold. Snapped Scranton: "I cannot ascribe these views of my opponent, all placed firmly on the record, to malice. He is not that kind of man. I think that ignorance must be the explanation."

After the affair in Chicago, Scranton flew to Salt Lake City, attacked Goldwater's foreign policy stands. "I know that my opponent in his heart wants peace. He is a gentle man. But isn't he playing the warmongers' game when he proposes authorizing field commanders to use tactical nuclear weapons on their own initiative, when he suggests sending the marines to capture the Guantanamo water supply? These are reckless proposals. They are the very opposite of the calm strength with which President Eisenhower for eight years maintained the world's peace."

After a session with delegates and a balloon ride in Sioux Falls, S. Dak. to dramatize his high-flying hopes, Scranton pushed on to Fargo, N. Dak., where he spoke of the potential reaction to Goldwater's civil rights bill vote. "When you arouse emotions in that very vital and human field," cried the Governor, "it can create disruptive disorder, even violence, which we all want to avoid."

Words with Ike. Among the hopes held by Scranton backers was the possibility that Dwight Eisenhower might yet be persuaded to endorse their candidate. Scranton was irked by Ike's refusal to move. Said he: "I wasn't able to stay neutral, and I feel very strongly about this, and if I were somebody else I would assume I'd act like myself--that is, get out and do something about it."

That was Backer Cabot Lodge's main assignment from Scranton headquarters--to get Ike to speak out for Scranton. Lodge had convinced Eisenhower that he should run in 1952, and he seemed a logical man for the job now. He made a stab at it last week at

Washington's Walter Reed Hospital. The meeting did not go well.

When Ike arrived at the hospital Lodge was waiting inside. But outside on the steps were dozens of reporters. Ike flushed deeply when he saw them. He strode past, paused only when a reporter asked about the meeting with Lodge. At that, Ike whirled about, said angrily: "I'd just like to know how you knew about it. That's all!" Then he stomped inside.

The two men talked for 45 minutes and Lodge went all out, even urging Ike to nominate Scranton. When he left the hospital, Lodge described the meeting in cryptic terms. "You will probably not be surprised to hear that we talked politics," he said. "I can give no details on that. Events will disclose what took place." What had actually happened was very little: Eisenhower had budged hardly at all, agreeing only to meet with Lodge again, probably late this week in San Francisco.

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