Word: coonskin
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Senator Estes Kefauver is doubtless a worthy man. But when, on your cover of March 24, I saw that grin, under those horn rimmed specs, under that coonskin cap, with the coon's little tail adangling, I thought: heaven help us, is that a potential President of these United States? . . . Look at pictures of Washington, Jefferson, Lincoln, Jackson, Webster-any really great American. You don't see those men grinning as if life were a big haha...
...front of them all last week was the man in the coonskin cap. Tennessee's Senator Estes Kefauver, the only prospect who had dared to go after the nomination before Truman stepped out, had demonstrated his popularity at the polls and already had a considerable group of delegates. Now, any other candidate, with or without Harry Truman's endorsement, faced the problem of catching up with Kefauver...
Last week, after Estes Kefauver knocked him down in New Hampshire, Harry Truman abruptly pulled out of the California race, where he would have faced Coonskin Estes again. The orphaned Truman delegation began looking for another candidate. Illinois' Governor Adlai Stevenson seemed a good possibility, but he wouldn't step in. Former Representative Helen Gahagan Douglas offered to run as a favorite daughter, but Luckey's conservative element wouldn't accept her-too leftwing. The motley 76 finally agreed that they couldn't agree on any candidate. Sadly, they wandered off in different directions, looking...
Kefauver's retort was mild: "I may be a pet coon but I'll never be Mr. Crump's pet coon." A more imaginative friend clapped a coonskin cap on Kefauver's head at a luncheon rally. The gag grew until Kefauver eventually blossomed out in a coonskin cap haloed with electric lights. In the primary he polled 42,000 votes more than his nearest opponent...
...prod Kefauver into a fight. Perhaps New Hampshire proves that Truman is already treed on Kefauver's television antenna. If the Chicago delegates have proof positive that the Legend is a better vote-getter than the Liability, they might-just possibly-rebel and nominate the man in the coonskin...