From the same giant platform, but before a slightly smaller crowd than had listened to Ike, Adlai Stevenson made a major bid for the farm vote at Newton. Gone were the Stevensonian subtleties, the sophisticated quips, the careful acknowledgment of social and economic complexities. Instead, Stevenson struck out harshly at the Administration and its farm policies, promised the farmers everything but the moon on behalf of the Democrats. For all this he was handsomely rewarded with 30 bursts of laughter and applause.
In 1952, said Stevenson, the President pledged himself and his party to...