Newsmen predict Governor Dewey has 50–50 chance with FDR
By Joseph H. Schmalacker
Albany, New York –
Governor Dewey’s White House qualifications and prospects, the question of his press relations and other subjects were put under the microscope here today in a poll of newspaper correspondents who have reported his activities since he assumed office Jan. 1, 1943.
Eight overall questions were submitted confidentially to 26 of his newspaper associates on Capitol Hill by John Mooney, legislative correspondent of the Albany Knickerbocker News. Twenty-three replied.
The 1944 national campaign’s $64 question – Dewey’s chances against President Roosevelt – found none of
However, most of the writers believed Dewey would poll a larger popular vote than Wendell L. Willkie received as the 1940 GOP nominee, thereby establishing an unwritten consensus that a Roosevelt-Dewey race would be a closer one, possibly of the photo-finish variety, than the campaign of four years ago. While none of the correspondents would predict Dewey’s election, their combined opinion is that his chances of defeating Roosevelt range up to 50%.
The correspondents stated they were convinced Dewey would be nominated and that, in fact, he is practically the nominee now.
Most of the replies expressed belief Dewey’s age (he is 42) was an asset rather than a liability for the Presidency. The dissenters said, “Age is important from the dictatorship angle. Age, experience, temper a man, make him less impetuous, more tolerant.”
With three exceptions, all the correspondents declared Dewey’s record as Governor has been a good one, although some assorted adroit publicity and headlines had overemphasized certain features.
In the critical category, it was said Dewey “neither pioneered nor advanced social legislation,” and that he had been fearful, rather than forceful, in certain respects. One objection raised was that he was “opportunistic” and “dictatorial.”
The correspondent’s consensus, with a few exceptions, is that Dewey has maintained press relations ranging from “friendly” to “cordial.” Three replies objected Dewey was not sufficiently frank and free at his press conferences.
Among the Republican Governor’s presidential assets, the poll listed: His records; his buildup; that he symbolizes the vast body of anti-New Deal sentiment and political philosophy; public acceptance of his current views on foreign policy; his showmanship and radio personality; his appeal to women voters (an important factor this year); his own vote-getting ability as Governor of New York, pivotal in the national picture; the pronounced GOP trend with Dewey riding the crest of that wave; “untainted as a politician,” and because his silence to the day of his nomination will make it possible for him, if he can do it, to make the issues of the campaign rather than to trail always on the defensive.
His major weaknesses in the national arena as seen by the reporters: His vacillation; past statements, and present inexperience in foreign affairs; “certain pressure and lobby groups behind him;” his reckless audacity; “all his talk about the tired old men will go out the window when they begin to show him the tricks he doesn’t know;” that he is not intimately known to any of the major figures on the international stage; President Roosevelt; the war.