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Stevenson has defended his testimony by saying that it would be "a sad day for Anglo-Saxon justice when any man, especially a lawyer, will refuse to give honest evidence in criminal trial for fear the defendant may eventually be found guilty." Last week 22 lawyers, some of them Republicans and Eisenhower supporters, came to his defense. So did the pro-Eisenhower New York Times. Said the lawyers: "The governor . . . did what any good citizen should have done . . ." The Democrats pointed out that Republican John Foster Dulles had endorsed Hiss for the presidency of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.
As the campaign's flame waxed and tempers shortened, Stevenson's tongue grew sharper. In the early days of the campaign, he often referred to Eisenhower as his "great" and "esteemed" opponent. But he tried to give the impression that Ike wasn't very definitely there at all, that his real opponents were Senators Taft, McCarthy and Jenner.
But of late, Stevenson's tactics have changed. Both reluctant candidates now want very much to win. Stevenson has begun to hammer Ike. The phrases used for this at Democratic headquarters are that Ike "must be cut down to size" and that Stevenson must "destroy the Eisenhower symbol."
He began to refer to Eisenhower as the "honorary Republican candidate" and the "Eager General." He said that Eisenhower was conducting a campaign of "ugly, twisted, demagogic distortion." And he implied that Eisenhower's election would lead not only to isolationism but to World War III.
Other Stevenson cracks:
¶ "You can have the Old Guard Republicans who have said no to everything for 20 years—and to whom the General of the Army has now said yes."
¶ "There are some who say that the general intends to doublecross his new friends after the election. I do not believe either that the general is so unscrupulous or that they are so stupid."
This was the tenor of his campaign last week and will apparently be his line of attack during the last ten days of the campaign, when Stevenson, who has already traveled almost 30,000 miles and made about 100 speeches,* will make his final swing through the industrial East. Some time ago, Stevenson was asked just what kind of Democrat he was. His reply: " 'What kind of Democrat I am' makes me feel a little like the old lady who said she didn't know what she thought until she heard what she said. I'm not sure what kind of Democrat I am, but I am sure what kind of Democrat I'm not. I'm not one of those who believe we should have a Democratic regime because it is good for the Democratic Party. If the Democratic Party is not good for the nation, it is not good for me or for Democrats."
Does Adlai Stevenson, and what he stands for, make sense to the American people? The people, who know but aren't saying yet, will answer on Nov. 4.
* To Ike's 40,000 miles and about 125 speeches.