The Democrats' 103rd Choice

It’s time to check in on the 1924 Democratic National Convention and find out whether the party Will Rodgers belonged to had figured out who its candidate for president was.

"Sea Sick" by William Hanny in Philadelphia Inquirer, July 2, 1924

When we left the 1924 Democratic National Convention, the leading contenders were William McAdoo lately of California, and Al Smith, Governor of New York; a host of other candidates hoped to capitalize when one of the leaders fell.

As the convention entered its second week, seven ballots cast on July 1, but the Democrats were no closer to agreeing on their standard bearer than when they had begun.

"As Berryman Views the Convention" by Clifford Berryman in Washington (DC) Evening Star, July 2, 1924

A tradition we are sadly losing these days is newspapers sending their editorial cartoonists to political convention to send back their sketches of the activity on the floor. Clifford Berryman's sketchbook entries included future president Franklin Delano Roosevelt, returning to politics after being sidelined by polio, and Woodrow Wilson's red-baiting Attorney General, A. Mitchell Palmer.

"Platform Carpenters Produce Plank Mentioning No Names" by Nelson Harding in Brooklyn Daily Eagle, July 1, 1924

Meanwhile, as the balloting for the party's nominee dragged on, cartoonists' work on editorial pages took on the issues bedeviling the platform committee.

"Forgot to Look Under the Bed" by O.P. Williams for Star Company, ca. July 2, 1924

A proposed plank to condemn the Ku Klux Klan drew strong opposition.

"Pandora" by Bill Sykes in Philadelphia Public Record, ca. July 1, 1924

Not could delegates agree on a party position on prohibition. Many of McAdoo’s delegates stood in defense of Prohibition and the Klan; Smith supporters were against both. 

"Where to Now, Sam" by J.N. "Ding" Darling in Des Moines Register, July 3, 1924

"Ding" Darling was another cartoonist attending the convention; and while several of his cohorts were sending rough sketches to their editors, Darling was sending home fully realized editorial cartoons. This is one of four Darling cartoons in the Register that day, and it highlights a significant issue overlooked by many other editorial cartoonists: Democrats' alienation of the labor vote in favor of Wall Street and the South.

"Why Not Something Permanent for the Future" by Nelson Harding in Brooklyn Daily Eagle, July 8, 1924

One consequence of the convention dragging on and on was that delegates were overstaying their hotel reservations, and, presumably in some cases, their funds.  

William McAdoo maintained a lead through the 77th ballot, but never attained a majority of the votes, let alone the required two-thirds supermajority required by party rules.

"Aw, Give a Feller a Chance" by William A. Rogers in New York WHAT, July, 1924

The Library of Congress dates this William Rogers cartoon August of 1925. I've checked, and the Democrats were not still trying to decide on their nominee ten months after the election. It's the date written in the lower left corner, but it must be the date when Rogers gave the original of the cartoon to F.R. Tyler (if I'm reading the script correctly).  

"Just Can't Understand It" by Albert T. Reid in Rutland Daily Herald, July 17, 1924

Seeing that the nomination would never be his, McAdoo withdrew from the race. Many of his supporters flocked to Indiana Senator Samuel Ralston. Ralston declined to disavow support of the Klan, and enjoyed what political writers of the day called a "boom"; but in the end, the 300-lb., 66-year-old Hoosier heeded his doctor's advice and dropped out of the race.

Alfred Smith led the pack in ballots 86 through 93, and again on ballots 99 and 100. But the candidate of the host of the convention couldn't win the support of one-third of the delegates, let alone two-thirds of them, and ultimately faced the music and pulled out of the race.

"Just as the Roof Fell In" by Edward Gale in Los Angeles Times, July 10, 1924

Finally, on the 103rd ballot, the nomination went to "dark horse" candidate John W. Davis, formerly a congressman from West Virginia and Ambassador to Great Britain, who had come in third on most of the earlier ballots.

"Started at Last" by Douglas Rodger in San Francisco Bulletin, July 11, 1924

To balance the ticket, the vice presidential nod went to Charles W. Bryan, the populist Governor of Nebraska and brother of perennial presidential candidate William Jennings Bryan.

"Those Cyclones Do Play the Queerest Tricks" by J.N. "Ding" Darling in Des Moines Register, July 11, 1924

I ran across quite a few tornado references in July, 1924 editorial cartoons. It's the season for such storms, after all.

"Trying to Take Out the Soreness" by J.N. Darling in Des Moines Register, July 14, 1924

The elder Bryan got over his earlier opposition to Davis and fell in with the new party line. 

These cartoons portraying a diminutive Charles Bryan remind me of R.C. Bowman's cartoons of William Bryan and his 1900 running mate, Adlai Stevenson.

"And Yet He Asks Your Votes" possibly by O.P. Williams for Star Company July 12, 1924

Not everyone was willing to become Davis fans. I'm guessing that the above cartoon was by O.P. Williams, even though I can't spot his typically tiny signature on it. The shading is in Williams's style, and he was a regular feature of the Washington Herald editorial page, which ran this cartoon.

"You Wait and See" by Rollin Kirby in New York World, July, 1924

One of the party defectors denouncing Davis was Senator Burton K. Wheeler of Montana, who may or may not be the object of Rollin Kirby's cartoon above. 

"Watch 'Battling Bob' Bust Up the Love Feast" by Harold Talburt for Newspaper Enterprise Assn., ca. July 21, 1924

Wheeler would accept the second spot on Robert LaFollette's Progressive Party ticket — the third party convention being held in Cleveland, Ohio during the second week of the Democrats' convention.

"Real Cause for Alarm" by O.P. Williams for Star Company, ca. July 7, 1924

Toon: Commitment Issues

My cartoon today is a parody of Kristen Welker's interview with GOP vice presidential hopeful Doug Burgum, the Governor of North Dakota. And some dozen or so other attempts by mainstream media to get veep wannabes to call the election already. It's a kabuki show put on by mainstream media and Trumplican politicians now that acceptance of election results is anathema to the leader of their party.

Once upon a time not so very long ago, the interviewer's question would have been a simple, "Yes, of course," spun around to "we expect to win" and all the policy reasons why.

But Trump expected to lose in 2016, which he could never square with having grown up believing that he deserves always to win. So he started blaming his anticipated loss on elections being unfair. He has continued that ever since, and considers it treasonous if anyone suggests that elections might be fair.

It's not a stretch for Republicans to accept the Trumpian position. The GOP has long accused Democrats of election shenanigans for letting urban people of color vote without having to pass a citizenship test. (Yes, that was the Dixiecrat tactic for decades after the Civil War. But those Dixiecrats have been Republicans ever since Reagan was president.)

Ironically, it's Republicans who have the baked-in advantage in presidential elections. Since the founding of the Republican Party, its candidate has been the winner four times in spite of coming in second in the popular vote. In that time, the Democrats' candidate never has. A majority of Americans now live in urban areas, but the electoral college skews rural.

But that's not good enough for the Trumplicans any more. Mr. Trump has demanded that only paper ballots cast in person at a polling place between 8:00 a.m. and 8:00 p.m. on the first Tuesday in November after the first day of November be counted, and that anybody still waiting in line at 8:00 p.m. be sent home so that election workers can report their complete tally by the time the TV news reports its exit polling. Or 8:05, whichever comes first.

Q Toon : Readin', Writin', and Religion

This week's cartoon does not deal, in a direct way at least, with LGBTQ+ issues. I still think it's relevant to point out Louisiana's new law mandating the posting of the Bible's Ten Commandments in each and every public school classroom, from kindergarten to science lab.

The LGBTQ+ community is a frequent target of the Christian Nationalists who are constantly seeking Establishment of their particular Religion in direct violation of the letter and spirit of the First Amendment. 44 years ago, the Supreme Court invalidated a similar Kentucky law on that very reasoning. But now, having stacked the Court with like-minded judicial activists, religious zealots are seizing the opportunity to cram their dogma down everyone else's throats.

Louisiana Governor Jeff Landry's mealy-mouthed platitudes about the Decalogue being the foundation of Western Law instead of a religious test are belied by the first three of the commandments. Many of us who revere the teachings of Jesus Christ do not share Mr. Landry's belief that the government has any business deciding who the Lord Thy God is. Or dictating how to spend the sabbath.

Nor did centuries upon centuries of religiously inspired war, torture, and bloodshed recommend itself to the Founding Fathers of this nation.

Tennessee was only the first to get its religious poster decree signed into law. West Virginia, Oklahoma and Mississippi are rarin' to follow suit. Oklahoma has gone ahead with requiring indoctrination teaching of the Bible in public schools. I patiently await reading about a teacher including the actual reason Y*w*h got pissed at King Saul in her lesson plan.

There is a meme going around proposing that teachers post the Ten Commandments in the original Hebrew. It's a clever thought, but the Tennessee legislature has already thought of that. They mandate what exact language must be used. The Required Tennessee Version of the Bible lists one commandment as "Thou shalt not kill," as opposed to the original Hebrew, which translates as "Thou shalt not murder." (OJB)

Distinctions like that do make a difference, and could very well be the basis for a lesson plan. That teacher might want the assign an essay on how to reconcile either translation of that commandment with Y*w*h's command that King Saul commit genocide. 

I patiently wait.

This Week's Sneak Peek

Allo, and happy Canada Day to tout les hosers, eh.

Crack open the Molson's, the back bacon and poutine.