Unblinking Candidate

As though trying to make the TV lens blink first, Ohio's five-term Democratic Governor Frank Lausche turned his massive head and stared squarely into the eye of the Meet the Press camera. Making a rare appearance on national television last week, Lausche's words were just as direct as his gaze.

Because he hardly ever wanders outside of Ohio and tends strictly to business within his state, Lausche is not well known to most politicians and pundits, who have only the general impression that he is conservative in his outlook, eccentric in his behavior and unbeatable in Ohio elections. But after his refreshingly candid Meet the Press performance, there was no longer any reason for ignorance about the political specifics of Frank Lausche, who is running for the U.S. Senate this year and is an announced favorite-son candidate for President.

Lausche was first asked* why he is not running again for governor. Said he: "My belief is that I could have been elected a sixth time. I want to tell you frankly, however, that I would have felt embarrassed to go to the voters and ask them to vote for me on six separate occasions.'' Does Lausche plan to seek presidential delegate votes outside Ohio? "I know my limitations, and I want to say to you that I am not going to look to the stars, grasping into the limitless space while my feet are stumbling in the pitfalls of the office which I now have to administer." Lausche's estimate of his presidential possibilities: "I will not have a chance."

Lausche explained that he is running in Ohio's presidential primary only "with the purpose of preventing political bosses of Ohio from gaining control of the Ohio delegaton and then using it as a pawn or a mess of pottage to trade for spoils and patronage at the national convention."

In reply to other specific questions, Lausche made other specific answers:

P: On tax cuts v. debt reduction. "I think one of the great dangers of our country lies in the fact that our debt is huge. Before we cut taxes, in my judgment, we ought to get our house in order and see that the debt is cut."

P: On the Taft-Hartley Act. "I think that the Taft-Hartley Act, far beyond the understanding of the general public, was intended to give protection to all workers, and I think that's the spirit in which our Government should run."

P: On rigid farm supports. "I understand that we now have $7 billion worth of surplus products in the storage bins of the country ... In my judgment, the rigid farm supports contributed toward the building up of that surplus. I do not feel that rigid farm supports are the answer to the problem. I do think that the soil bank which they are now advocating is one element in reaching a solution."

P: On whether Lausche's religion (Roman Catholic) is a liability in presidential politics : "I would want people to judge me in the same light that Thomas Jefferson asked that they judge him. He said, 'My religion with my God belongs to Him and me. It's a matter of private concern. Do not judge me by my religion; judge me by my deeds and my conduct. And if you think they have indicated a devotion to my community, my state and my nation, then the religion by which it has been guided undoubtedly must be good.' "*

P: On whether he voted for Republican Robert Taft against Democrat Joe Ferguson in Ohio's 1950 senatorial election. "I know Joe Ferguson. He is a good man: he's a decent man. I knew Bob Taft and I had profound respect for him because of his courage and devotion to duty . . . If I would say that I did not vote for Bob Taft I would not be telling the truth."

P: On whether he would vote for Dwight Eisenhower against a Democratic presidential candidate. "Everything else being equal. I would support the Democrat, although I want to say to you that in my judgment President Eisenhower has brought unity of thought to the nation. I think he has honestly and sincerely tried to evolve programs that would help the social, economic and governmental structure of my country."

* The questioners were regular Panel Member Lawrence Spivak, Jack Bell of the Associated Press, May Craig of the Portland (Me.) Press-Herald and Clyde Mann of the Akron Beacon Journal. * Lausche was obviously paraphrasing, quite probably from a Jefferson letter to John Adams: "Say nothing of my religion. It is known to my God and myself alone. Its evidence before the world is to be sought in my life; if that has been honest and dutiful to society, the religion which regulated it cannot be a bad one."

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