National Affairs: Setting the Tone

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Like the Democrats, New York Republicans are puzzled about the identity of their candidate for governor. Tom Dewey, finishing his third term, is expected to 1) take the nomination himself, or 2) give it to U.S. Senator Irving Ives, who doesn't want it. Last week, when the governor stepped before 5,000 Republicans at an anniversary dinner in Long Point, N.Y., everyone listened carefully for an announcement or a hint.

Old Prosecutor Dewey immediately lashed out at Democrats who had been criticizing his record. Said he: "I don't particularly enjoy having to spend useful time protecting the people of this state from fraudulent misrepresentation by ambitious Democratic operators, but the people must know the truth about the public business. The Republican record of progressive, humanitarian achievement for the people of this state is long and proud, and shines all the more brightly in comparison to the shoddy Democratic period of stubborn, stupid and shortsighted political obstruction . . . [The Democrats are] bankrupt of political conscience and any sense of responsibility to the people . . . Never trust your city, your state or your nation to destructive demagogues, who try to torpedo sound programs and have nothing themselves to offer. Don't ever let them get elected. They will wreck any community and bankrupt any government they ever control."

When the governor sat down, amid cheers, his listeners still did not know whether he intended to run. But they did know that he intended to set the tone.,of the Republicans' 1954 campaign in New York, and that it would be anything but soft.