Election 1944: CIO ‘free vote’ seen by Bricker (10-16-44)

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The Pittsburgh Press (October 16, 1944)

americavotes1944

CIO ‘free vote’ seen by Bricker

Members will refuse dictation, he says

Santa Barbara, California (UP) –
Ohio Governor John W. Bricker said today that on Election Day, many CIO members would “smite down” the “brazen effrontery” of their union’s Political Action Committee in trying to dictate how they should vote.

Governor Bricker’s speech here today reviewed what he said he had learned on the first 7,500 miles of his nationwide campaign.

He said:

Many members of the CIO have told me in no uncertain terms that they will show the PAC on Nov. 7 that they have not given up their right to exercise a free choice when they cast their ballots…

The laboring man, “regardless of union affiliations,” Governor Bricker added, “deeply resents” being told whom to vote for and “rebels at being forced to contribute to a campaign for candidates of whom many of them do not approve.”

Governor Bricker speaks tonight at San Bernardino.

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The Pittsburgh Press (October 17, 1944)

americavotes1944

Bricker woos CIO, assails PAC –
U.S. ‘invasion’ of schools denounced by Bricker

Attempt to override state responsibility charged by vice-presidential nominee

With Bricker in California (UP) –
Ohio Governor John W. Bricker said at San Bernardino last night that federal “invasion” of state public schools was part of the national government’s attempt to override state responsibility.

Governor Bricker will speak tonight at San Diego.

The address will be on KQV at 11:00 p.m. ET.

The GOP vice-presidential nominee, decried the federal government’s failure to confine itself to “national interests.”

Earlier, Mr. Bricker told a Santa Barbara crowd that on Election Day many members of the Congress of Industrial Organizations would “smite down the brazen effrontery” of the Political Action Committee in trying to dictate how labor should vote. He drew a marked distinction between the CIO and the PAC and said he would welcome CIO support of Republican candidates.

PAC assailed

The CIO, he said, is “not a political organization at all.”

He said:

The PAC has tried to force into its ranks many members of the CIO. It has tried to force members to contribute to the fund that is being raised to finance the Democratic campaign.

In a direct bid for Western support, Governor Bricker said at Santa Ana, California, today that East Coast industry should not be permitted to “get the jump” on the West in post-war reconversion. He said, that reconversion, like the war itself, is the responsibility of the whole nation and must be undertaken on a coast-to-coast basis.

States’ rights

Reviewing the growth of the federal structure in his speech last night, Governor Bricker cited fields in which he said it had expanded “to an unprecedented extent.”

He said:

There has been a steady trend toward relaxing the principle that the federal government shall confine its activities to national interests, leaving to the states the conduct of local activities.

He added:

This expansion of federal activity into local affairs threatens the financial independence of local government and opens the door to political domination of them.