The Potters Herald

Labor Gets Credit
For Election Of
President Truman

New York (LPA)—Along with the pollsters, many ace political reporters predicted a defeat for President Truman in last Tuesday's elections. Now they're "eating crow."

One of the most graceful jobs of crow-eating was done by NY Times pundit James Reston. And he concedes labor the credit for Nov. 2.

In a by-line article late last week Reston wrote that one of the "principal elements" in the President's victory was "the organization of a labor movement which acquired strength from the middle and the right by shedding the support of the ideological left."

He added, in a letter to his paper "the small towns of the country had, during the war, become more industrialized and therefore more sensitive to the influences of organized labor."

Describing the campaign routine of the political reporter, Reston wrote: "He spends his time interviewing the political managers, or the other reporters, all of whom usually get their information from somebody else and place enormous confidence on the so-called scientific polls."

"In short," Reston confessed "we didn't spend much time wandering around talking to people."

Just before the election the Times analyst opined that altho Truman was impressing his audiences with his own sincerity he "did not convey to them the conviction that something really fundamental is at stake in this campaign."