The Nation: Will Rogers' Endorsement

Humorist Will Rogers was never in any party's hip pocket. As he remarked in 1932, "This is not an election of parties or policies this fall. It's an election where both sides really need the work." How to tell a Republican from a Democrat? "The Republican says, 'Well, things could have been worse,' and the Democrat says, 'How?' " Nevertheless,

Will's slogan "I never met a man I didn't like" has been appropriated by some Republicans, who have now put out a bumper sticker proclaiming: WILL ROGERS NEVER MET GEORGE MCGOVERN.

One man who saw nothing funny about this tactic was Will Rogers Jr., a Democrat and McGovern supporter, who denounced the sticker as "grave robbing." "If my father had met George McGovern," said Will Jr., "I am confident he would have liked him. My father's writing should not be twisted and distorted by either party. This is very bad taste." The Committee for the Re-Election of the President denied authorizing the sticker, but traced its origin to a television repairman from Midwest City, Okla. Obviously, Will Rogers never met a TV repairman.