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As early as 1930 Publisher Vann sensed the changing political wind, shifted from Republican to Democrat. His subsequent rise under the wing of Senator Guffey lasted until two years ago when, at the Philadelphia national convention, Jim Farley learned that many a Negro preacher disapproved of Publisher Vann. Named in his place to lead the campaign of 1936 among Negroes was his distinguished friend, Lawyer Julian D. Rainey of Boston.
This affront rankled, but this year Publisher Vann's chance to get even is none too good. Half of Pennsylvania's Negro vote is in Philadelphia—out of his immediate bailiwick—and in Pittsburgh much of the Negro vote is on WPA where it cannot easily be weaned from the New Deal. One acute Pennsylvania observer last week declared: "If I had a penny for every vote Vann can swing without Guffey pressure on the WPA, I could go to the movies."