The Pittsburgh Press (October 24, 1944)
Bricker: Middle class ‘neglected’
Appeal is made for white-collar vote
Pueblo, Colorado (UP) –
“The Neglected Man” was substituted by Ohio Governor John W. Bricker today for the New Deal’s famous “Forgotten Man” in an appeal for the votes of the unorganized white-collar workers.
The GOP vice-presidential nominee, in a speech here, said that the greatest contribution of the New Deal to clerks, stenographers, bookkeepers, small manufacturers, small merchants, and professional men was “disillusionment.”
He said:
The present-day counterpart of the “Forgotten Man” is the Neglected Man… the great middle class who work for a salary or for an uncertain income.
‘Tragic development’
Governor Bricker said the New Deal had offered the country a “utopia” in which “wealth was to come from spending; plenty from scarcity.”
Mr. Bricker said:
What’s happened to him (the Neglected Man) is one of the most tragic developments of our times. He has been outraged by government extravagances, dictation, and the doubletalk of the New Deal.
‘Insincerity’ charged
Governor Bricker said that something must be done for the unorganized white-collar workers “for the sake of our economic and social stability.”
Calling his “Neglected Man” an “individualist,” the nominee said that was why he had not organized, and that because he was unorganized, he has “small influence with the New Deal.”
Last night in Denver, Governor Bricker accused Mr. Roosevelt of insincerity and cited the President’s “record” of statements which, he said, later were contradicted or repudiated altogether.
He called for “integrity” in the spirit as well as the letter of government.
Governor Bricker said:
We must judge Mr. Roosevelt’s sincerity on his attitude and method on the way he does things…
Washington needs Tom Dewey, who says what he means and means what he says.