Election 1944: Truman, Bricker trade blows in West Coast talks (10-19-44)

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The Pittsburgh Press (October 19, 1944)

americavotes1944

GOP candidate hits ‘New Deal cynicism’

En route to Fresno, California (UP) –
Ohio Governor John W. Bricker winds up his five-day campaign for California’s 25 electoral votes tonight at Fresno where he delivers his 19th speech since entering the state.

The GOP vice-presidential nominee carries his drive into Nevada tomorrow with speeches at Reno, Sparks and Lovelock.

Bricker opened his final day in California with a speech at Bakersfield today. He also made rear-platform talks at Tulare and Selma.

He told a Los Angeles audience last night that Senator Harry S. Truman, his Democratic opponent for the Vice Presidency, bespoke “New Deal cynicism” when he admitted he had Pendergast machine support. He also said that Mr. Truman, in his speech two days prior in the same auditorium, “insulted” industry, labor and armed service personnel when he “accredited” the Roosevelt administration with “the miracle of war production – indeed for winning the war itself.”

Mr. Bricker asserted:

I want to say to you, right at the outset that these historic results have been achieved not because of the New Deal, but often in spite of the New Deal.

Citing the fact that Mr. Truman could become President, Governor Bricker condemned the Missourian for his statement that “a statesman is only a dead politician” and Mr. Truman’s disclaimer that he wanted to be “a statesman.”

The time has come to eliminate such cynicism from our political life and restore the Presidency of the United States to its rightful place of dignity and honesty.

Following his three Nevada speeches tomorrow, Governor Bricker will campaign in Utah Friday.

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americavotes1944

Dewey’s ‘straddling’ of issues attacked

En route to Seattle, Washington (UP) –
Senator Harry S. Truman completes the West Coast leg of his campaign trip today in Washington, which is acutely conscious of post-war reconversion problems.

Mr. Truman, Democratic nominee for the Vice Presidency, will appear at a Democratic rally tonight in Seattle to deliver a radio address pointed at those problems. He also expects to reiterate the administration view toward the giant Grand Coulee and Bonneville power projects which have been closely linked to industrial expansion in the Northwest.

The nominee told a Democratic rally at Portland, Oregon, last night that the projects were partly responsible for the tremendous wartime expansion of aluminum production and that they had been “bitterly opposed” by Republicans in Congress.

Mr. Truman also charged that the Republican platform and presidential candidate “straddle every issue” and asserted again that the nation needed experienced leadership to win the war and the peace.

He said:

The same old gang that tried to turn the clock back in 1920 is standing at the door waiting for a chance to come in and turn the clock back.

Mr. Truman asserted that Governor Thomas E. Dewey had embraced New Deal reforms on a tour of the West Coast but had gone to Charleston, West Virginia, and told “the Old Guard he didn’t mean it at all.”

Moving into Washington today, Mr. Truman was accompanied by Senator Mon C. Wallgren, Democratic gubernatorial nominee for that state, on a motor trip to Seattle. They planned stops at Centralia, Olympia and Tacoma.