The Pittsburgh Press (November 3, 1944)
Miners, wives line tracks, all curious about Dewey
By Charles T. Lucey, Scripps-Howard staff writer
Albany, New York –
For a hundred miles along the railroad tracks in Pennsylvania as Governor Dewey’s presidential campaign train rode through the hard coal country yesterday and into Scranton and Wilkes-Barre, the people stood in little groups of twos and threes and fours.
They were working men and their families, farmers and miners and small townsmen; men in overalls and rough jackets and caps, their women in house dresses and aprons, children in sweaters that knew much wear.
Most of them had never seen a President or a presidential candidate. Washington was a place in the headlines and for many, even in a modern way, the world ended beyond the second range of hills.
But the train was a symbol to them. It was a piece of their America and so they stopped a moment to watch.
Curious about Dewey
Some of these men stood quiet, hands in pockets. For years a large section of them, men whose dollars came by hard work, had counted Franklin Roosevelt their friend. Many still do. About Mr. Dewey they were curious.
In the towns, there were big crowds and generally they were good natured and friendly, yet in this hard coal country there was more booing and more cries of “We Want Roosevelt” than had been heard anywhere else in the campaign.
Makes many talks
It was hard, tough campaigning, six meetings in a day that did not end until nearly midnight. Most of the time heretofore the Republican candidate had done little back platform speaking, but, fighting now for Pennsylvania’s 35 electoral votes, he came out repeatedly to address thousands gathered around his train.
At York, Harrisburg, Sunbury, Wilkes-Barre and Scranton there were big crowds, and repeatedly Mr. Dewey lambasted the New Deal. He talked about the “1000 Club” which he said represented a sale of power and influence by the Democrats, of the Hillmans and the Browders who would be the real victors if President Roosevelt is reelected, of the President’s conflicts with Congress.
But always he came back to the jobs-and-employment theme, the one which, probably more than the others, interested these thousands of workers and their families.