The Pittsburgh Press (September 11, 1944)
Editorial: The Ozarks can have him
No candidate for such a high office as President of the United States can be responsible for the conduct of all of his camp followers.
President Roosevelt has been handicapped by zealots, crackpots and political phonies and demagogues.
Governor Thomas E. Dewey, as the Republican nominee for President, is “blessed” with some of the same stripe.
One of these is Congressmen Dewey Short of Missouri, who calls himself the “hillbilly from the Ozarks.”
Mr. Short last Saturday delivered a speech here to inaugurate the Republican campaign in Pennsylvania. The speech was utterly devoid of persuasive and logical arguments on behalf of the Republican ticket. It was an abusive, offensive diatribe, replete with invective and vicious innuendo.
This election will be determined by public judgment of the personal abilities of the rival candidates and their basic politics and intentions, as revealed by their own words and records.
There are ample issues to be debated. They can be defeated logically and clearly.
The Republican State Committee conferred no favor on the voters of Pittsburgh – and won no votes for its cause – when it brought Mr. Short here Saturday.
Both camps have their Dewey Shorts. The less we hear of them, the better it will be for the candidates, for the parties, for the country.