Isolated Grandeur

Senator Borah opened his campaign for reelection. The Republicans had been praying him to give them strong support. LaFollette had asked him to follow Brookhart into the Progressive fold. The reason both wanted Borah was because, with the possible exception of LaFollette, politically he is the strongest man west of the Mississippi. And it is a good guess that the reason for his strength is that he does not do the kind of thing they asked him to do.

Borah has the strength of isolation. In ordinary men, isolation is a weakness. It is always a limitation. But coupled with a certain moral grandeur it is also a power. Senator Borah has that power. It is that rather than rhetoric which makes him the only orator of the Senate who can pack the galleries with people who come for the sheer glory of hearing him. Washington --cynical, politically overfed Capital --hangs, not on his words, but on the power of his convictions. In the Senate, Borah weighs, not because he is the leader of an insurgent group lake LaFollette, not because he is part of a powerful machine, not because he is witty, not because he is shrewd, but because he is Borah. He has neither followers nor leaders and he needs none.

The opening speech of his campaign at Idaho Falls was typical of his attitude--prepared to give everyone (devil, fool or solon) his due, and to take his constitutents' votes--for Borah.

His Supporters. "I have been nominated by two parties. My nomination at the hands of the Progressive Party was generous, unanimous and free from pledges. I have no words adequate to express my appreciation, my deep sense of obligation, for their expression of commendation and confidence.

"The Progressive Party in this state is made up very largely of farmers and workingmen from whom, for 20 years, I have had the most constant and unselfish support . . . I am greatly honored by their gracious approval. I offer no apology for their endorsement; on the other hand, I point to it with the utmost satisfaction."

His Policies. "I am not unmindful of the feeling upon the part of many of my political associates that I am indifferent to party ties.

"It is claimed by many that I am not a party man. This feeling arises, I presume, out of the fact that there are times when I vote and express views out of harmony with supposed, or temporary, party policies. It would be insincere upon my part to apologize for the past. It would be sheer deception to lead you to expect anything different in the future.

"I claim the right as your Senator to oppose any measure by whomsoever proposed which I believe to be injurious to the public interest or unwise in Government. I claim the right to support any measure by whomsoever proposed which I believe to be in the public good and in the interest of sound government. This states the whole thing. "This is the sum total of my of fending, if I have offended. I wish my position understood, as I wish to leave no voter in doubt. I do not take positions thoughtlessly or in differently."

Coolidge. "It was not long after Calvin Coolidge was made President of the United States until he announced he must have economy and then more economy.

"It was not long until he announced that, so far as the building of bureaus was concerned, his opinion was that it ought to cease. To my mind it made one of the great issues of the 20th Century and it presented a problem of government that no other President--and I do not wish to speak disparagingly of those who have gone before--had the courage to rise and stand upon. He vetoed bill after bill, popular bills, bills which might have drawn to him hundreds of thousands of votes, bills which, as a mere politician, he would have signed. He vetoed them because he proposed to stand between the people of the country and those who were attempting to make unjust and unnecessary demands upon the people.

"And whatever you may do in this campaign you cannot take that issue away from Calvin Coolidge."

LaFollette. "In 1912, one in whose leadership I had great confidence, one for whom I had almost unbounded admiration and whose friendship I enjoyed, left the party and sought to organize a third party. I declined to follow. I thought it would prove a mistake and that we could accomplish far more for liberal principles by remaining within the party.

"Now another man, whose friendship I have also enjoyed and for whose sincerity of purpose and ability I have great admiration, heads a third party. I entertain no doubt as to where I can be of the most service if I am to remain in public life. I propose to fight for clean economic government, for progressive principles inside the party. I believe I can be of vastly greater service to the people of the state--if I am to serve them at all--by remaining in the party. I would rather have you believe that I will stand by the Constitution against its hordes of wreckers (often in the name of party), that I will be loyal to the underlying principles of our Government, than to have you honor me again by your suffrage. If I can justly win that opinion from the people of my state, my years of public service will be gloriously compensated. If such were not true, I would have betrayed you and cheated myself."