Democratic Tide

The Democratic tide slapped hard against Republican pilings 18 months ago when Democrats won slender control of Congress while Dwight Eisenhower swept to his re-election victory. It swirled and eddied ominously when traditionally Republican, Midwestern Wisconsin sent Democrat William Proxmire to the Senate ten months ago to fill the late Joe McCarthy's seat, and again last month when more Democrats turned out in the Ohio primaries than at any time in the last 20 years. Last week it surged unmistakably across politically powerful California, the G.O.P.'s last outpost on the West Coast. In the popularity-poll California primary, the Democratic candidate for Governor, State Attorney General Edmund G. ("Pat") Brown, outpolled U.S. Senator William Knowland, Republican candidate for Governor, by 600,000 votes, and Democrats outpolled Republicans all up and down the ballot (see Elections).

Democratic bigwigs in Washington, eying the California results, predicted that in the November congressional elections the Democrats would improve their present 49-to-47 margin in the Senate by six to nine seats, would improve the present 233 to 198 in the House of Representatives by 30 to 50 seats. Eying 1960, states-rights-minded Southern Democrats got a special signal out of the Democratic prospects: if big Democratic years are ahead, they intend to fight for a veto power on the 1960 Democratic candidate. Republicans glumly talked of little more than cutting off their losses.

Last week the President listened while California's Bill Knowland reported on his own misfortunes and his party's in the California primary. Ike's comment was the understatement of the week: "We have just got to work."

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