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Best of all, the Democrats will be hiring their hall for almost nothing; most of the rental costs will be met by the promoters of a commercial exhibit called "American Showcase." Delegates can get free shaves at the Ronson booth, pick up free samples of Coca-Cola, Pepsi-Cola and, from the Norex division of Schenley Industries, Amitone, a relief for acid indigestion (common at conventions).
By the fourth night, Frank Sinatra will long since have warbled the Democrats' new campaign song (still a top secret, it goes under the code name of "Baby Shoes"). Seven Democratic Congresswomen will have orated on family and home and the political issues of the day. The state-by-state roll calls will be over. (To keep up the TV pace, delegations that ask to be polled will be temporarily bypassed on the roll call while the chairman's aide conducts an off-camera canvass.) The convention will have roared with cries of "The man who ..." Then, finally, will come Harry Truman's big moment.
Picked for the Job. Harry Truman's appearance has been carefully timed. His role will be vital because, in the era of moderation, a lot of steam has gone out of the Democratic Party. To the party of the common man, an Illinois squire and a New York millionaire have presented themselves as candidates, and the squire has won the lead. In the party that thrives on its never-say-die struggles for power, Estes Kefauver withdrew in the name of "unity." While they approve of moderation, most good Democrats hunger for that old spirit—for the man who, in the convention's last moments, can soar through and above the electronic gadgets, the political gimmicks and the leaden harmony. They need a man who can revive the party's fighting spirit and send the delegates away from the convention believing that their party will win against all of Dr. Gallup's odds.* They have picked Harry Truman to do the job.
A Place in the Party. Today Harry Truman stands higher in Democratic affections than he did when he left office on Jan. 20, 1953. Fondly remembered is the way he met international crises with sharp decision: the atomic bomb, the Berlin blockade, the Marshall Plan, Greek-Turkish aid, Korea. Fading into the mist of memory is the fact that his Administration not only failed to prevent domestic crisis but produced it wholesale: mink coats, Deep Freezes, red herrings, limited war, peacetime recession, agricultural waste, steel seizure. Since he left the White House, Democrats have come to look on Truman as a character, sometimes amusing, always indomitable, certainly admirable, almost always lovable.