OPINION: Party Images

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With Election Year 1960 pressing hard, Republicans hope to present to the voters an image of the G.O.P. as the party of peace and prosperity. But hope is one thing, success is quite another, and party images are often based on long-held feelings and fears that remain almost unchanged in the face of current facts. Thus, by 1952, after three wars under Democratic administrations, the G.O.P. had established itself in the popular mind as the party most likely to keep world peace. The seven peaceful years of the Eisenhower Administration have done little to change that image for better or worse. Last week a Gallup poll showed these results on the question of which party is most likely to keep the U.S. out of war:

1952 Now

Republican 36% 35%

Democratic 15% 25% No opinion or no difference 49% 40%

It is much tougher for Republicans to achieve the image of the party best able to assure prosperity. Many voters still associate the G.O.P. with depression, think of the Democrats as looking out for the little fellow and his purse problems. Although President Eisenhower has made the sound dollar—basic to true prosperity —the keystone of his domestic policy, Gallup showed these results on the question of which party is most interested in holding prices down:

Democratic 39%

Republican 25%

No opinion or no difference 36%