The Pittsburgh Press (October 22, 1944)
Writers, leaders agree –
Pennsylvania is THE pivot in election
‘Heat’ is turned on Keystone State
By Kermit McFarland
Pennsylvania, in the opinion of nearly all the top political writers of the country, as well as most of the national leaders, has become “the” pivotal state in the presidential election.
Reports from the national headquarters of the two major parties indicate that many of the strategists and pulse-feelers believe the election may hang on the outcome in this state.
Political reporters from the major newspapers and news services have been pouring into the state the last couple of weeks. Some 40 who were assigned to cover Governor Thomas E. Dewey’s speech here Friday night devoted their day Friday to hunting down information on trends in this area.
Nominees visit state
Mr. Dewey’s second appearance in the state and the fact that President Roosevelt will make one of his few campaign speeches in Philadelphia next Friday add to evidence of the concern with which Pennsylvania’s big bloc of 35 electoral votes is regarded.
The Republican candidate’s extraordinary efforts to dent the so-called “labor vote,” which generally has been regarded as mainly in Mr. Roosevelt’s corner, provides additional evidence.
In his speech at Hunt Armory Friday night, the New York Governor’s principal purpose, it was plain, was to persuade labor groups that his administration not only would be as friendly to labor as the New Deal, but would be more competent to handle labor issues on an equitable and efficient basis.
Appeals to ‘white collars’
He also made an all-out appeal to the “white-collar” groups, in which lie the bulk of the “independent” vote and which the politicians are just coming to recognize as a potent voting bloc capable of providing the balance in an election.
Mr. Dewey’s white-collar speech drew an immediate response from Leo F. Bollens, president of the National Federation of Salaried Unions.
Adopting Mr. Dewey’s term “forgotten Americans,” Mr. Bollens said “these people are little better off than they were four years ago.”
He said inflationary rises in the cost of living have left the white-collar workers far out of line in comparison to highly-paid workers in war plants.
Views in letter to Dewey
He said:
Certainly, these people are not responsible for inflation. Probably, if an analysis were possible, it would be found that they are contributing a far greater proportion of their income to war funds and charitable work than most of those who are receiving inflated incomes. This group forms the backbone of our financial structure.
Mr. Bollens set out his views in a letter to Governor Dewey.
The drive to sway Pennsylvania into the Republican or Democratic columns will be intensified in the remaining two weeks of the campaign.
The Democrats are making a special effort to impress on voters believed to be friendly to Mr. Roosevelt the necessity for voting. They report many war plant workers, reluctant to take off time to vote seem to be indifferent to the election on the theory that Mr. Roosevelt will win anyway, whether or not they vote. Democratic and Political Action Committee workers are turning on the heat to break up this notion.
La Guardia to speak
Two Republican mayors will occupy the speaking platform at North Side Carnegie Music Hall Tuesday night when the Independents for Roosevelt. a special committee, stages its second rally.
Mayor Fiorella H. La Guardia of New York and Mayor George W. Welsh of Grand Rapids, Michigan, former Michigan Lieutenant Governor, will be the speakers.
The Democratic County Committee has also scheduled a major rally at Syria Mosque for Nov. 2 at which Senator Harry S. Truman, Democratic candidate for Vice President will be the principal speaker. Democratic headquarters also announced former Pennsylvania Governor Gifford Pinchot and Orson Welles, movie and radio luminary, will speak on the same program.