Braucher Backs Ike as Most Able To Cut Down Military Expenses

General Eisenhower is the candidate best fitted to bring about effective civilian control of the military part of the budget which, according to Robert Braucher, professor of Law, is the major necessity of "grave importance to this country."

Braucher feels that the two candidates are pretty close on most of the major issues, but he is supporting Eisenhower because he believes that Ike will have the most incentive and the greatest ability to cut military expenses.

He likened our present "dangerous" attitude toward defense expenditures to the "man who buys so much insurance that he can not afford to eat."

Truman Can't Say "No"

Truman has proved himself unable to turn down armed forces demands and Stevenson will also fail, Braucher said, because they have no real knowledge of the military. "Truman did nothing but follow what the chiefs of staff told him. If a general came in and demanded 100,000 extra doilies for the officers' mess, he would have difficulty turning it down."

"Eisenhower, on the other hand, would have to accept responsibility for cutting the military budget, because people know he has the requisite knowledge and experience and thus can carry tremendous weight with the military."

Time for a Change

Breucher emphasized that if Eisenhower was running on the Democratic ticket, he would not vote for him. "If certainly is time for a change," he said. "If you are going to clean house, not only with regard to corruption, but also to raise the general level of government service. It is necessary to change the party, not merely the man."

Stevenson, he added, has recognized the "mess" in Washington and says he intends to clean it up. "I don't think he could, any more than Truman has been able to." Braucher said.

Replaying to the charge that Ike has "surrendered" to Traft, Braucher admitted that the Republican party is a "schizophrenic coalition," but he feels that this is a good thing. "The essence of the two party system," he said, "is that the burning, basic issues are fought out within each party before the nomination of a candidate. Once the candidate is nominated,--the incentive to win the election forces the factions of the parties to pull together."

Braucher emphasized that there was a "vigorous fight" in the Republican party, and as a result the candidate who came nearest to the central tendency of public opinion was nominated."

"After his nomination, Ike has admittedly tried to reconcile conflicting points of view within the party, but this is nothing to be ashamed of. It is precisely his ability to get people to work together that led to his nomination." Braucher added.

He denied that the "so-called isolationist" faction would control the party if Ike was elected. Braucher believes that the "isolationists" do not want to radically change our foreign policy, but simply want "things to be carried out in a sensible way." He feels that they will certainly support a foreign policy if they have confidence in the man who is going to carry out that policy. Ike, he thinks, can inspire this confidence.

Stevenson Too Learned

Braucher is not happy about Stevenson's tendency to talk as if "he were speaking before a bunch of Ph.D. candidates." He believes that it is "important for a president to talk in a way that is comprehensible to men without graduate degrees."

Braucher noted that both Sparkman and Nixon are in the "great tradition of vice-presidential candiates." He points out that they are simply "reassurances" to minority groups within the parties and could never be considered of presidential calibre.