On election night, Philadelphia Democrats were all set for a happy celebration. They had rented a five-room suite in the Bellevue-Stratford Hotel, had set up 200 chairs and a tally board in one big room. At Republican headquarters, across the street from the City Hall, no one had organized a cheering section. The G.O.P. had taken two good lickings in Philadelphia in 1951 and 1952, and was more or less resigned to another.
As the returns on balloting for city offices came in, the astonished leaders of both parties kept rechecking to see if...
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