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Good Job. That his campaign, unlike Mr. Raskob's, was really going to win. Chairman Farley had no doubt at all. That victory he expected to crown two years of the most intensive work he had done in his 44 active years. Observers were agreed that, to date, he had done a bang-up, an amazing job. Starting out as an unknown quantity he had developed into an alert, shrewd, aggressive national politician. His genial personality had colored the entire Democratic campaign, his boundless vitality had supplied most of its motive power.
After the Chicago conventions Chairman Farley started his drive toward the White House with a rush, got a running head start on the Republicans. President Hoover had hardly accepted his renomination in mid-August before Governor Roosevelt was militantly stumping Ohio. While Everett Sanders, the G. O. P. National Chairman, was still muddling around with organization plans in Chicago, Democrats were sweeping the September elections in Maine. By the time President Hoover had made his first campaign speech in Des Moines, Governor Roosevelt was back in Albany from an 8,000-mi. swing to the Pacific Coast.
"Aren't We All?" Party peace was the only thought in Chairman Farley's mind as he stepped off his Chicago train in Manhattan July 4. He went straight to Tammany Hall (of which he is a member) for its Independence Day celebration. Friends warned him the Tiger was still in a fury at Al Smith's convention defeat but Jim Farley barged boldly in. At sight of him the crowd booed angrily. He marched to the rostrum, seized Al Smith's hand, pumped it hard. Asked he: "Aren't we all Democrats?" Boos changed to assenting cheers.
Thereafter Jim Farley visited Frank Hague, New Jersey's boss and the Smith floor leader at Chicago, coaxed him into line. The warm Farley smile also thawed out Massachusetts' icy Governor Ely, Smith's nominator at the convention. Between times the industrious national chairman set up party headquarters in Manhattan, turned local campaign control over to individual States, wheedled money out of balky contributors, collected a sturdy force of leather-lung stumpsters and deployed them about the country, made speeches himself, accompanied Governor Roosevelt on part of his Western trip, lined up the support of Republican insurgents like Senators Norris, La Follette, Johnson and Cutting, and otherwise greased, gassed, sparked and sped the Roosevelt bandwagon.
For the biggest factors in the Democratic campaign, however, Chairman Farley neither deserved nor took credit. Hard times and desire for a change, of administration as well as Prohibition, were Acts of God working through unreachable millions of men. It took no towering genius, only energy and patience, to harness a national grouch and let it pull the candidate's cause toward victory.