Word: deverism
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...Dever and Herter are two extraordinarily dissimilar men. Born in Paris, Herter served as an attache in the U. S. Legation in Berlin during the first World War, and later became a personal assistant to Herbert Hoover in Belgium. In 1931, he ran for, and won, a seat in the Massachusetts House of Representatives, later became Speaker of the House, and finally was elected to Congress from a strong Republican district...
...seven children, Dever was born in Boston; almost his entire family, uncles and aunts, cousins and nephews were involved one way or another in politics. In 1934, at the age of 31, he was elected Attorney General--the youngest in the state's history. He scaled the political ladder by religiously following the party line. He ran for Governor in 1948 and was elected by almost 390,000 votes...
...Dever's record as Governor has not been the best. An easy-going person, he has tolerated much wastefulness, laziness, and at times outright corruption in the state administration. Much of the waste has come from the very act of building his machine; to make more voters happy, he must provide more jobs, and this is possible only by straining the budget...
...despite this, Herter has not been able to attack Dever effectively. For every charge Herter makes, Dever has a cancelling answer ready. Herter has managed to keep Dever on the defensive though, to the dismay of Dever's campaign managers who want Dever to take the initiative and attack Herter's own record. In the end, it probably will not make any difference because the Dever machine functions smoothest during a Presidential election year. Besides, Herter is a nonentity compared with the formidable opponent Dever is preparing to battle two years hence--Republican Senator Leverett Saltonstall...
...Senatorial election may well be as close as the Lodge-Kennedy voting records. Should Stevenson and Dever carry the state, which is quite likely, then Kennedy may well be swept in on the Democratic ticket. But even then, Lodge has incalculable strength. Indeed he was elected to the Senate in 1936 when Roosevelt carried Massachusetts by an overwhelming majority. This could easily happen again. PHILIP M. CRONIN