Willkie’s campaign arouses the voters; draft causes concern
By Roland M. Jones
Omaha, Nebraska – (March 25)
Interest in the Midwest is focused quite sharply on national politics, particularly on the Republican situation. This stems from the imminence of the Wisconsin and Nebraska primaries, the presence of Wendell Willkie, making his campaign tout, and the approach of conventions in Minnesota, Iowa and Kansas. The issue, as voters see it, tends to crystallize into a question of Willkie or anti-Willkie.
Opinion is common that those Midwestern states which turned thumbs down on the third term four years ago will protest even more emphatically against a fourth term this year, with the expectation that they will be joined by many others. But Republican feeling is not so much that the party can win with any candidate as that it matters more than ever who the candidate is.
Increasing concern is felt over the prospect of further service drafts on the labor supply, emphasized by repeated warnings of State Selective Service directors to local draft boards. It is presumed that agriculture will be less affected than small industrial plants having war contracts, but there is an indication that it will feel some of the pinch by the time the harvest season arrives. Operating farmers are well enough protected, but it seems inevitable that hired labor will be harder than ever to get.
Notwithstanding the attention which has been given the soldier vote issue, there is little to indicate any deep popular feeling about the matter, one way or another. Some state absentee voter laws have already been liberalized and others will be, but there still remains considerable question about how many of the absent sons will ever receive their local ballots.