Nonpolitical Politics

With the hustle of a heavyweight champion's entourage heading for Pompton Lakes, Harry Truman and his retinue filed aboard the presidential yacht Williamsburg this week and glided south down Chesapeake Bay toward Key West, Fla. The destroyer William C. Lawe steamed along nearby, carrying Secret Service men, newsmen and photographers.

At 175, the champ was carrying too much poundage and there were a few fatigue pencilings around the mouth; otherwise he seemed to be in good shape. But it was time for some serious training. Although his own title would not go on the line for another two years, Harry Truman was going to climb into the ring for the 1950 congressional elections and take on some of the ruggedest heavyweights in the Republicans' stable. By mixing work with three weeks of lolling under the Key West sun, the President and his advisers hoped to sharpen up for a big tour that will take him across the U.S. and back in May. Just about every trend spotter, word shaper and evil-eye caster on the President's staff was on hand to condition the champ and polish up his footwork.

The Counter-Punch. The Republicans' biggest weapon in 1950 was certain to be the same one that they had been using in some form or another since 1934: the charge of Democratic softness toward Communists. Familiar with such tactics as they were, from previous encounters in the ring, the President and his aides were plainly worried about how to counter the punches this year. The trials of Hiss, Fuchs and Coplon gave the Republicans more wallop than they had before. The headline-catching feints of Wisconsin's Joe McCarthy (see below), even if he hadn't landed any hard blows, were not making it any easier. Five speech-writing aides were put to work preparing the pattern of the President's countertactics.

About May 1, after a month back at his desk in the White House, the President will begin a slow trip westward to dedicate a new dynamo at Washington's Grand Coulee Dam. Officially, the trip will be billed as "nonpolitical," an ancient device whereby a President can pay his expenses from his $40,000-a-year travel allowance instead of from the party treasury. He will deliver the Democratic line as the presidential train winds through Maryland, where Millard Tydings is gunning for re-election to the Senate; Pennsylvania, where Democratic Senate Whip Francis Myers faces a stiff fight against Republican Governor James Duff; Ohio, where the President would love to kayo Senator Bob Taft; Indiana, where Republican Homer Capehart is up for reelection; and Illinois, where Senate Majority Leader Scott Lucas has to step fast to be sure of another term. If time and disposition permit, there will probably be side excursions, including a lunge into Wisconsin for a few quick jabs at Republican Alexander Wiley.

The Manly Art. On his trip back to Washington, the President will stop off at Chicago. There, more than 2,000 Democrats--the entire National Committee, Administration leaders, Cabinet officers--will convene for three days in mid-May in the biggest off-year political powwow in U.S. history. Its purpose is to make 1950 sound as important as 1952 to keep the Republicans from making big gains, as they have the past three times, in nonpresidential election years. On the third day of the Chicago convention, the champ himself will go a few fast rounds and lecture the party faithful on the manly art of political offense. That will climax Harry Truman's nonpolitical spring tour.

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