From Washington Straight

The 87th Congress is finally grinding to a halt. Its most memorable accomplishment appears to have been the establishment of a record for the longest continuous peacetime session in over a century. Aside from this, little worth while was accomplished. And, taken as a whole, it represented a sharp defeat for President Kennedy. Why did the session last so long? Most speculation centers around the belief that the Democratic leadership had got the word direct from the White House to keep the boys in town. The reasoning behind this strategy is the hope that a good number of the recalcitrant old-timers in the House, from both parties, will go down to defeat simply because they were prevented from getting home to campaign. The rest of the Administration strategy to elect Kennedy-Democrats to Congress, is beginning to reveal itself as November 6 approaches.

Here is a brief rundown: 1) Keep Congress in session as long as possible (done). 2) Pick and choose issues carefully and feed them to the New Frontier-type candidates for wide dissemination in their districts: Urban Affairs Department, School Aid, whatever, depending on local feeling. 3) Get the line established and hammer away at it mercilessly so that the incumbent, when he gets home, will find himself buried in a mass of charges that he will not be able to answer before election day. 4) Above all avoid any discussion of foreign policy. Cuba, a sore subject everywhere, is to be blamed on the Eisenhower Administration, and sympathy for JFK generated. Believe it or not, this is working.

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The 87th Congress is finally grinding to a halt. Its most memorable accomplishment appears to have been the establishment of a record for the longest continuous peacetime session in over a century. Aside from this, little worth while was accomplished. And, taken as a whole, it represented a sharp defeat for President Kennedy. Why did the session last so long? Most speculation centers around the belief that the Democratic leadership had got the word direct from the White House to keep the boys in town. The reasoning behind this strategy is the hope that a good number of the recalcitrant old-timers in the House, from both parties, will go down to defeat simply because they were prevented from getting home to campaign. The rest of the Administration strategy to elect Kennedy-Democrats to Congress, is beginning to reveal itself as November 6 approaches.

Here is a brief rundown: 1) Keep Congress in session as long as possible (done). 2) Pick and choose issues carefully and feed them to the New Frontier-type candidates for wide dissemination in their districts: Urban Affairs Department, School Aid, whatever, depending on local feeling. 3) Get the line established and hammer away at it mercilessly so that the incumbent, when he gets home, will find himself buried in a mass of charges that he will not be able to answer before election day. 4) Above all avoid any discussion of foreign policy. Cuba, a sore subject everywhere, is to be blamed on the Eisenhower Administration, and sympathy for JFK generated. Believe it or not, this is working.