Bricker fights on, with help of Taft
Ohioans ask candidates be invited to address convention, and only he is on hand
By Charles Hurd
Chicago, Illinois – (June 25)
The Ohio delegation to the Republican National Convention emphasized its determined and continuing support for the nomination of Governor John W. Bricker as standard-bearer by adopting today a resolution requesting the convention to invite “all persons whose names are to be presented in nomination” to address the convention.
Such action would be a new departure in convention procedure. There was no immediate indication as to the response the suggestion would receive if made tomorrow, as scheduled, by Ed D. Scharr, chairman of the Ohio delegation.
In actual effect, adoption by the convention of a resolution incorporating the request would benefit principally Governor Bricker among the so-called general candidates, together with a few favorite sons. Other leading candidates, such as Governor Thomas E. Dewey and LtCdr. Harold E. Stassen, are not in Chicago. Governor Dewey probably would not accept such an invitation. Cdr. Stassen did not.
Bricker’s fight unabated
The principal effect of the delegation’s action was to demonstrate the determination with which the Bricker nomination advocates are pressing their fight, despite growing indications of the pre-convention strength of Governor Dewey.
Governor Bricker made no public statement today, but Senator Taft of Ohio firmly contested claims that other candidates, which could mean only Governor Dewey, “control large blocs of delegates.” He questioned this control in a speech before the meeting, preliminary to renewed activity in which the Bricker adherents set out to canvas personally today, and in the next two days, all of the more than 800 among the 1,057 delegates who are not formally pledged elsewhere.
Senator Taft said:
A lot has been said about certain individuals reported to have control of large blocs of delegates. There are no individuals who have such power.
A great majority of the delegates to this convention want John Bricker nominated for President. He can carry New York States just as well as Dewey, and Minnesota just as well as Stassen. The American people want a direct fight on the New Deal and on President Roosevelt. There is no one who will carry that fight so directly and so definitely as John Bricker.
Rep. Bender of Ohio, who is also a delegate from that state, entered the motion fo the delegation to open the platform to aspirants for the nomination.
Demands Bricker be heard
He said:
If John Bricker appears before the convention, his nomination and election will be assured. He has been carrying the fight against the New Deal for months. We should demand that John Bricker be heard. He would make a speech that would sweep the convention. We are tired of pussyfooting around. Let’s get these names and these men before the convention. And we want a man of courage to carry the Republican banner, a man whose views are known.
The meeting of delegates from Ohio attracted a gathering of about 500 persons who call themselves the “Bricker Battalion.” They also heard Rep. Clarence J. Brown of Ohio and Mrs. Katherine K. Brown, Ohio committeewoman, declare emphatically that the nomination for President was still wide open.
Governor Bricker spent today as quietly as was possible for the leading contender on the scene. His only engagement was a brief visit to the Ohio delegation to thank them for their continued work.
Otherwise, he was at his headquarters in the foyer of the Stevens Hotel ballroom or in the lobby of the hotel talking to delegates individually or in small groups.
Regardless of the size of his following in actual votes, he continues to attract the active interest of most of the persons attending this convention.