Newspaper Page Text
Griffin Daily News
BRUCE BIOBBAT
WASHINGTON (NEA)
President Johnson’s lightning-stroke announcement of his
Intent not to run in 1968 gives the supreme advantage to Sen.
Robert F. Kennedy for the Democratic nomination. This does
not presage a wholly new fight with Vice President Hum
phrey as the President’s stand-in.
A quick check of key Democratic sources discloses little
serious talk of Humphrey as a 1968 prospect.
His once-broad support in the party’s potent liberal wing
has been heavily eroded during his years as faithful spokes
man for the President.
Humphrey is a vivid symbol of the very Johnson policies on
the Vietnam war which the President himself acknowledges
have been gravely divisive. At the heart of his decision not
to run was the expressed wish to see this divisiveness ended.
To promote and advocate Humphrey would be to continue it.
As he made his historic declaration, the President had a
clear reading from his advisers on how serious a threat Ken
nedy’s candidacy represented to his renomination.
That threat was large from the outset of Kennedy’s entry
Into the race on March 16. Kennedy’s impressive campaign
swath through 15 states in 2Vz weeks magnified the threat.
Thus the President could have had no illusions, upon the
occasion of his announcement, that he was doing anything but
clearing the road for Kennedy.
Not only does his announced posture make an effort for
Humphrey unlikely, but had he wanted to aid Kennedy’s chief
active rival, Sen. Eugene McCarthy of Minnesota, the Presi
dent obviously would have waited until after the Wisconsin
primary results. McCarthy’s showing against noncandidate
Johnson will now be discounted.
Key Democratic figures in the big states with huge delegate
votes have shown slight Interest In McCarthy’s candidacy.
Many, in Pennsylvania, Ohio, Illinois and elsewhere, have
stayed firmly loyal to the President. They are now released
from that bond, and all signs suggest that—with varying de
grees of speed—they will move toward Kennedy as the candi
date most likely to move the electorate and win the Novem
ber election.
A top Republican politician, whose judgments are highly re
garded, greeted the Johnson pull-out with his own flat declar
ation:
“The choice will now be Kennedy.’’
With the President confiding in so few persons, it may be
a considerable time before anyone will know with full author
ity what processes of reasoning and feeling took him to his
dramatic decision. Until then, only speculation can fill the
8 Whatever weariness and trauma he may have felt as the
result of the pounding given him by clamoring critics of his
Vietnam policies, it is also plain that he has never felt at
home in the politics of the presidency, did little to master it,
and was discovering in these last weeks that the cost of this
neglect was immense even among such committed sup
porters as those he had in large number in the ranks of labor.
At his moment of greatest personal trial, he was getting
lip service loyalty from many quarters, but heartfelt back
ing almost nowhere in the nation.
COLD FEET
PHILADELPHIA (UPD—Sen.
Robert F. Kennedy was ad
dressing 15,000 persons at a
rally on a downtown street
Tuesday when he remarked,
“I’d like to announce that
someone Is taking off my shoe.”
A young woman tugging at
the laces on the New York
Democrat’s shoe was pulled
away by police.
SPECIAL SERVICES FOR
EDUCATIONAL and SPIRITUAL
ENRICHMENT
Rev. Samuel Southard
Guest Minister
EVENING SERVICES
THURSDAY, 7:30 P. M.
“The Problem of Selective Inattention”
FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH
Taylor at Eighth — Griffin, Georgia
JI
I IM FASHION
I 1118 EXCITEMENT
1 I s ALL YOURS •• • and
•Ir. Petites ri"***
• / / 1 then some in the fine selec-
Missea / tion of the soft look,
\ the good looks,
I \ I the new look, the you look !
Ik So many wonderful ideas
to make this Easter best!
For Your Best Easter Ever — Open a Marsh’s Charge Account!
e .MAMJ/
20
Thursday, April 4, 1968
Bob Kennedy Appears 'in';
Humphrey Bid Not Likely
By BRUCE BIOSSAT
NEA Washington Correspondent
FIRST ASCENT
The first successful ascent of
Pike’s Peak was not made un
til 1820, 14 years after Zebulon
Pike first saw it. Pike himself
never climbed the mountain.
SOLE SURVIVOR
Gen. George Armstrong Cus
ter and his whole command
were massacred at the Battle
of the Little Big Horn. A horse
named Comanche was the on
ly survivor of the disaster.
Backstairs
Prognosticators
Didn’t Get Hint
By MERRIMAN SMITH
UPI White House Reporter
WASHINGTON (UPI) —Back
stairs at the White House:
Without doubt, no world
capital has as many prognosti
cators, seers and political
prophets per square block as
Washington. And they develop
in abnormal profusion during
the early stages of an election
year.
This year Is no exception, but
there Is this difference—the
prophets, for the most part, are
angrier than ever at President
Johnson for having what they
regard as overbearing temerity
to give up his political career
without the slightest hint to
them.
These far - seeing experts
would be even more aroused if
they knew the extent to which
Johnson and some of his
insiders had dropped hints all
over the lot—and for months.
The trouble was that almost no
one believed this sort of
nonsense.
One Exception
With one notable exception,
few if any nationally known
columnists or commentators
came out in advance with a flat
prediction that Johnson would
not seek re-election.
This exception was William H.
Lawrence, veteran political
analyst of the American Broad
casting Company who in Janua
ry, 1967 made Johnson’s with
drawal in 1968 as his best
political bet. Furthermore, La
wrence repeated the same
forecast a year later and both
times, before a nationwide
audience.
Why were most of the experts
caught more or less flat-footed
by Johnson’s dramatic an
nouncement Sunday night? The
best answer seems to lie in
Johnson’s own political perfor
mance record.
For many years, he earned
*
MUSSOLINI —Actress Sophia
Loren hugs her mugging
niece, Alessandra Mussolini,
6, in Rome. She is grand
daughter of Benito Musso
lini, Italy’s *TI Duce” dicta
tor of the 1930 s and 19405.
Sophia’s sister Maria is wed
to Mussolini’s son Romano.
the deserved reputation for
being a close-to-the-vest politi
cian who did not disclose his
next move until the last possible
moment.
Political Legend
During his time on Capitol
Hill, he was known as a man
who much preferred to work
behind the political scenes
rather than out In the open.
This led to a legend in his own
time—that Johnson was a
consummate politician who nev
er stopped running for office.
If Johnson in this week's
amazing instance discussed his
possible future with as many
‘people as evidence now indi
cates, how was it that the
secret held? One of his closest
friends explained it this way.
"This was the sort of thing,
strangely enough, that the
President could discuss without
it getting away from him. A
great many of those to whom
he talked about stepping out,
and this was months and weeks
ago, simply did not believe
him."
Concerning such suffering
souls, Johnson could not help
bep be amused. If there is
anything he enjoys, it is the
sight of one of his erstwhile
tormentors having trouble with
his own credibility gap.
' ' • < ' w ' • - ' '>7 < v < '
* .■ ■ :
. K » •
A
Our One-For-AII Charge Card is for everything
where honored.
Bh.
I
J m d
IB I|B
wz & mb
i F ki & ■
M J •hl • r A MMMMM
MMMBmBhhHB EmmUk
■hk. ~ ~
Our Regular or Special Checking Account is for
everything where our Charge Card isn’t honored.
>• ’ ' • x : \ X 'x 'V''' b ' ' x \ § ' V’i. '' ' '•x s \ ’< <'/ V< * ' j ' * '*s4-
And much, much more. With our checking account
you can pay your bills by mail when you’d hate to go out.
Or charge your light, water and telephone bills to your
account. Our charge card enables you to take advantage
of unusual good buys. And unexpected expenses.
You can even borrow up to S2OO on it to build up your
checking account balance. One or the other account is
O.K. If you have both, you won’t need much cash.
FIRST NATIONAL
OF GRIFFIN, GEORGIA MEMBER F.D.I.C.
■B
B
H
hk A—J| Fl •
wr |
---ffi
.. Bmwt
“REMNANTS of an American bomber downed in Hanoi,’’
is the caption accompanying this picture received from
an official Communist source in North Vietnam.
Czech Liberals
Alarm Communists
By PHIL NEWSOM
UPI Foreign News Analyst
The liberalizing trend In
Czecbslovakla clearly is causing
alarm in Communist East
Germany.
It is indicated in the haste
with which the regime under
party leader Walter Ulbricht
Commentary
announced a plebescite to
approve a new East German
constitution would be held April
6, permitting only n days for
preparation.
It further was indicated in the
violence of an attack on the new
Czech regime by Prof. Kurt
Hager, East Germany’s chief
ideologist, accusing the Czechs
of betraying East germany by
encouraging West German at
tempts to isolate her from her
Communist allies.
Contrary to Czech moves
away from centralization of
controls, the new East German
constituion is designed to give
increased control to the Com
munist party leadership.
A number of elements enter
into Ulbricht’s obvious growing
concern.
Only a dozen or so nations
recognize the Ulbricht regime
even after 19 years, compared
with more than 90 that
recognize West Germany.
Under former President Anto
nin Novotny, Czechoslovakia
had been considered, along with
Poland, a loyal ally against a
“revenge seeking" West Germa
ny. Should a liberalized Czecho
slovakia follow Romania and
Yugosliava by establishing di
plomatic relations with West
Germany, Ulbricht’s regime
would be further isolated.
That Isolation would be
virtually complete should the
West Germans succeed in their
present campaign to convince
the Poles that they have no
aggressive intent against the
Polish Oder-Neisse border and
the Poles then also succumb to
the lure of West German trade
and gold.
Borne improvement in their
economic well-being has induced
a certain lassitude among East
Germans toward their regime.
But they are not immune to
revolt. They proved it in 1953,
and the knowledge must also
weigh heavily upon old-Stalinlst
Ulbricht.
AUTHORED EPITAPH
Henry (Light-Horse Harry)
Lee was the author of the fa
mous epitaph of George Wash
ington: “First in war, first in
peace, first in the hearts of his
countrymen." He used this
phrase in an oration which he
delivered to Congress after
Washington’s death.