Reading Eagle (August 23, 1944)
Dewey plans talking tour
Two-month drive may take him into most states in union
Albany, New York (AP) –
Governor Thomas E. Dewey’s aides went ahead today with plans for a two-month drive that may take him into a majority of the states of the Union.
The Republican presidential nominee has already announced he will speak in Philadelphia Sept. 7 and Louisville, Kentucky, the following day on what has come to be regarded here as the beginning of a full-fledged campaign swing that may carry him westward to the Pacific Coast later in the month.
Senator Ed H. Moore (R-OK) said after a conference with Dewey yesterday that the GOP nominee would fill a date in Oklahoma City about Sept. 25. Moore added it was his understanding this stop would be made on the return from a West Coast tour.
Thus, the beginning of the active phase of the first wartime campaign since 1864 may find Dewey and his running mate, Governor John W. Bricker of Ohio, in full stride while President Roosevelt bides his time. Mr. Roosevelt said when accepting a fourth-term nomination he would not campaign in the usual way, but would be ready to answer any “misstatements” the Republican nominee might make.
Senator Harry S. Truman (D-MO), the Democratic vice-presidential nominee, has complained that Republicans “have nothing to do but throw bricks,” asserting that all of the campaign speechmaking would probably be done by the GOP.
Roosevelt too busy
Truman, who was to address the national convention of the Veterans of Foreign Wars in Chicago today and who has arranged to speak in Detroit on Labor Day, said President Roosevelt is too busy running the war to campaign and that he himself has a job to do in the Senate. Truman will accept his nomination and speak in Lamar, Missouri, Aug. 31.
If this made any impression on Dewey’s aides, they gave no sign and Herbert Brownell Jr., Republican National Chairman, went ahead with detailed arrangements which are expected to produce a lengthy itinerary soon for both Dewey and Bricker.
The New York Governor has said he would be in Massachusetts before the campaign is over and has been invited to Maine with some indications he might accept. In the Midwest, he has been invited to Indiana, where Bricker will speak at French Lick, on Sept. 9, Ohio, Illinois and Michigan. Governor Harry F. Kelly of Michigan said he was assured Dewey would talk there.
A West Coast trip will take Dewey into an important political battleground, for both sides admit that California is in the doubtful class and neither is sure of winning the Pacific Northwest.