At his first press conference after returning to Washington as President-elect, President Roosevelt last week read to newshawks the several electoral vote predictions he had written down and put away in his safe:
"Jan. 30: Democrats 325, Republicans 206
"June 5: Democrats 315, Republicans 216
"Aug. 2: F. D. R. 340, A. M. L. 191
"Nov. 1: F. D. R. 360, A. M. L. 171"
"Why did you guess so low?" asked a newshawk.
"Just my well-known conservative tendencies," beamed the President and President-elect.*
Two things made Franklin Roosevelt's guesses look much more conservative than they were. One...