European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - July 30, 1968, Darmstadt, Hesse                              The stars and stripes Max Lerner As gop goes so go the democrats the two presidential Donven Tion a. Locked with a mortal embrace. What the publicans do at Miami will obviously influence the democrats Kun also what the democrats May do it bound to cast its Shadow ahead on i republicans. Have been saying right along that the democratic Choice it anything but a closed Book and that a Mccarthy Nomina Tion cannot be written off. There Are signs in the Straw polls that sen. Eugene Mccarthy is on an incoming tide and that if it continues it May Roll him onto the Shore of Victory. It won t be a repeat of he Wendell Willkie nomination of 1940 if anyone is the heir to Willkie s Mantle with a comparable style it is not Mccarthy but new York mayor John Lindsay. It will be More like Woodrow Wilson s nomination in 1912 a fresh face against worn ones an intellectual with courage As against the political establishment. But whatever the reasons Mccarthy today in my books has More than a fighting Chance for the nomination. That should make the pro Nixon forces do some reassess ing. For Richard Nixon s for tunes As candidate have All along been tied to Hubert Humphrey a and Humphrey s to Nix on s. Each regards the other As the Man he stands the Best Chance of beating. Each is an old familiar face each a pro. Each regards. The other As his poli tical destiny. But break one linked partner and the other Breaks too. If by some wild Chance either gov. Nelson Rockefeller or Lindsay should be the nominee and not Nixon then Humphrey s chances fall and Mccarthy s Rise. For either of the More Liberal re publicans would be Able to get a negro vote a Young vote and an Antiwar vote that Nixon could t get against Humphrey. Turn it around and it still works that Way. Suppose you were a Republican Delegate and you thought there was a real Chance that Mccarthy would get the democratic nomination. Some of the Straw polls now show both Humphrey and Mccarthy beating Nixon but they show Mccarthy running far ahead of him. I think you would be worried about nominating a Man who would t just be squeezed out but be pretty definitely beaten. In that sense each convention casts a Shadow on the other one before one after. I Don t write this As a partisan but out of a desire to see each party nominate its Best Candi Date so that whoever wins or loses the nation will not lose. So i give my unsolicited advice and suffrage before each convention. The republicans Are Lucky in having two potential candidates who would give a very Good account of themselves in the elec Tion itself. I Don t mean to under estimate Nixon who is a formidable antagonist repeatedly bloodied Ever resilient. But whatever Nixon s Virtues As an old trooper no one can accuse him of stirring the blood whether of foe or Friend that was Long ago. He says that politics is poetry to him but to most of us Nixon is the Deariest prose. I assume the republicans will nominate him unless they Are stirred by that prime mover among fears the fear of los ing. I assume also that gov. Ronald Reagan is unlikely to storm the convention although i do not exclude it. This is the wrong time for an out and out Hawk As candidate. And the Black fearing safety on the streets Issue has been preempted by George Wallace. Whom does that leave Rockefeller if he can recapture the momentum he lost last March. The Odds Are heavily against his being Able to do it mainly because he neglected the tide in the affairs of politicians when it was at the flood and has got himself caught in Shal lows and miseries. And Lindsay if Rockefeller were not where he is As Nixon s chief opponent Lindsay would be there and the tide might Well be his. But history has placed Rocke Feller there and Lindsay will have to wait to see what Hap pens on the first ballot. If Nixon can be stopped by the combined Rockefeller Reagan forces and held for several ballots then the 1940 Wilkie convention might repeat itself and the Lindsay tide could be a mighty one. Nixon could of course Antici Pate All this by agreeing before the Start of the balloting to take Lindsay As his running mate. The question is whether Lindsay would risk the Absurdity of it. He has made sceptical noises about it saying that the marbles Are in the presidency alone. The picture May be different when the offer is finally made. But i doubt whether Nixon will make it unless he thinks there is a Good Chance that Mccarthy will be the democratic nominee. C 1968, los Angeles times Edward j. Michelson of course Don t Lef that influence your decision propeller Battle waged Washington the . Navy suddenly finds it can t go on importing key propulsion equipment from French and West German producers for new fight ing ships and expect Quick con Gressional Blessing on a $2 Bil lion Start toward procurement of big fast new destroyers. They and other Craft Are on order to replace up to 100 world War ii Vintage ships. The White House and Penta gon have had a flood of com plaints from Capitol Hill about bargain propellers sold by overseas producers for ships under construction at Mobile ala., san Diego calif., the Philadelphia pa., naval Yard and other facilities. Chief complainants at least initially Are two Pennsylvania republicans sen. Hugh Scott and rep Richard s. Schweiker. Both Are from the Philadelphia area where the leading american maker of Marine propellers Baldwin Lima Hamilton inc., is located. Scott has won part of his bad a wartime Navy officer he wrote president Johnson in mid a complaining that the pen Jagon s policy of buying Cut rate critical and essential elements of fighting ships overseas under presidential executive order om954 Cou a Lead to an Ero Sion of Domestic  moreover Scott added such a endure put the defense  men at the m f be e 9n suppliers this month the Navy belated abroad assuming the Price was lower than the Domestic item. The new ruling for the $75 million do Type destroyer insures that the propellers the propulsion system will amount to 15 per cent of Over All Cost of every ship will be made in this coun try. Schweiker gop candidate for the . Senate against incumbent Democrat Joseph s. Clark insists that All ship propellers for the Fleet be classified As end products and therefore produced domestically. In a letter to rear adm. Edward j. Fohy chief of the Navy s ship systems command dated june 25, Schweiker noted that three ships being built at the Philadelphia Navy Yard Are de pendent on propeller Blades com ing from France under a sub contract from the swedish con tractor. Recent events in France have made one wonder about such a policy for one need Only read the newspapers to have increased concern about Avail  the congressman noted that he was writing on the eve of consideration by Congress of the Navy department s proposals for procurement of a number of  he also pointed out that he had first inquired about the propeller matter May 10. As of last week he had not heard definitely from Fahy As to any change in policy. There were however indications that a final word from the Pentagon would arrive in two weeks by which time Congress of course will have recessed or adjourned for the Republican convention in Miami. The Long Range plans of tha Navy Call for As Many As 100 new auxiliary or multipurpose ships for escort and other duties. The emergence of the rus sians As a formidable Power in the Mediterranean since last year and the appearance of so Viet naval units East of Suez As the British prepare to withdraw from their defense commitments by the Early 1970s, have Given fresh impetus to the United states to modernize its surface ships. Soviets bullying tactics Hurt . Reds destroyers y 9as-Furbine engines the fire a a lived con puch up or Abil a razor i a Man Euver he Nav ruled  Mere com buy american exec Toni per cent ofi0ta l components of an " could be new York the . Communist party May soon lose a Large share of the thousands of members it claims to have recently recruited because of the soviet Union s bullying of Czechoslovakia. American communist Boss Gus Hall and his top henchmen Are in deep trouble with the Young outs Okenly democratic rank and file because of their hard line defense of the russians attempt to crush czech efforts to liberalize their party and government a source within the younger. Demo cratic element said. Kremlin bureaucrats seem to be trying to revert to stalinism. At least it looks like they Are. And we want none of that the source said. A spokesman at the party s National Headquarters declared party officials would have no comment on such a silly report and slammed his phone. At its convention Over the july 4 weekend the . Party claimed a membership of 13,000, boasting that 60 per cent of it was under 30. A few years ago the party conceded it had Only about 5,000 dues payers most of them then Well Over 50. What gripes us the Young communist source said is that Hall and his cronies in the nation Al secretariat the party s five Man ruling body just took it on themselves to defend Brezhnev and Kosygin in the Kremlin show of Force against the czechs and then do so in the name of our american party. Well they know that our Bunch feels the russian bureaucrats Are As prone to mistakes As anybody else and they the soviets have made plenty of them in the  the red youth Leader did t know whether there will be a Public split in the party or what. Probably most of us will just take a walk and leave the party to Hall and his  Hall and his comrades in the secretariat All Well up in their the opinions expressed in the columns and cartoons on this Paga represent those of the authors and Are in no Way to to considered As representing the views of the Star and stripes itself or of the United states a Veroa finc 50s, have been vigorously de fending the russians attacks on the Liberal regime of Alexander Dubcek new czech communist Leader since the soviet czech crisis broke into the open last january when the czech liberals deposed hard line red Boss an tonin Nowofny As head of state and party. The last open split in the . Party came in Early 1957 As an aftermath of the crushing of the 1956 hungarian revolution by Khrushchev. Hall was then in prison serving time for conspiring to advocate overthrow of the . Government by Force and violence. But when he got out he sided with the party fac Tion that had defended Khrushchev s moves to crush the Buda pest uprising