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    "label": "Ohio Republican Finance Committee Dinner, Columbus, OH, June 14, 1966",
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    "title": "Ohio Republican Finance Committee Dinner, Columbus, OH, June 14, 1966",
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    "ocrText": "The original documents are located in Box D20, folder \"Ohio Republican Finance\nCommittee Dinner, Columbus, OH, June 14, 1966\" of the Ford Congressional Papers:\nPress Secretary and Speech File at the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Library.\nCopyright Notice\nThe copyright law of the United States (Title 17, United States Code) governs the making of\nphotocopies or other reproductions of copyrighted material. The Council donated to the United\nStates of America his copyrights in all of his unpublished writings in National Archives collections.\nWorks prepared by U.S. Government employees as part of their official duties are in the public\ndomain. The copyrights to materials written by other individuals or organizations are presumed to\nremain with them. If you think any of the information displayed in the PDF is subject to a valid\ncopyright claim, please contact the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Library.\nDigitized from Box D20 of The Ford Congressional Papers: Press Secretary and Speech File at the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Library\nCONGRESSMAN\nNEWS\nGERALD R. FORD\nHOUSE REPUBLICAN LEADER\nRELEASE\nFOR RELEASE AT 6:30 P.M.\nTUESDAY, JUNE 14, 1966\nSPEECH EXCERPTS--OHIO REPUBLICAN FINANCE COMMITTEE DINNER, COLUMBUS, OHIO.\nI have discovered my good friend, House Majority Leader Carl Albert of\nOklahoma, in the act of whistling in the dark.\nMr. Albert last week said Republican leaders are engaging in wishful thinking\nin talking about sizable gains in the House this fall. After hearing about\nMr. Albert's remarks, I took a fresh look at the overall situation and what I saw\ntempted me to take the bottom off my earlier prediction of \"40 to 50 more seats\"\nand just call it 50.\nWhat I saw in my reassessment was the tremendous vote rolled up by Ronald\nReagan and the unimpressive showing by Gov. Pat Brown in the governorship primary\nin California and the drop in President Johnson's popularity rating to 46 per cent.\nThese two developments indicate to me that Republicans will recapture most\nof the 51 seats lost to Democratic newcomers in 1964--seats we never should have\nlost in the first place--and maybe some others.\nMany of the Democratic freshmen rode into the House on the coattails of\nLyndon Johnson and by paper-thin margins.\nWhat has happened to the vaunted popularity of the President? It has\nplummeted to its lowest point in the 2½ years he has been in office, as shown by\nthe latest Gallup Poll. Small wonder Mr. Johnson has become the No. 1 Nervous\nNellie in the country!\nThe June Gallup Poll reveals that less than half of the American people have\nconfidence in the way Mr. Johnson is handling his job. This is not at all\nsurprising.\nFor one thing, the American people cannot understand why the mightiest nation\non earth cannot win the struggle in South Vietnam while combining forces with the\nSouth Vietnamese to thwart Communist aggression.\nFor another, the American people are hurting over the cost of living, which\nhas registered its sharpest increase in 15 years for the four-month period,\nJanuary through April.\n* *\n(MORE)\n-2-\nSPEECH EXCERPTS\nIf this country had a parliamentary form of government, the Democrats would\nbe afraid to call an election at this time. They are afraid of all of the no-\nconfidence votes that would be cast against the Johnson-Humphrey Administration.\nThe Democrats are hoping to blunder through the six months between now and\nNovember 8, but I predict that this summer of our discontent will see a continued\ndrop in Mr. Johnson's popularity, a growing vote of no-confidence in his\nadministration.\nWhy is this? It is because the Johnson-Humphrey Administration is failing\nthe people in four major areas.\n1. The Johnson-Humphrey Administration has failed to tell the people\nthe truth.\n2. The Johnson-Humphrey Administration has failed to maintain price\nstability.\n3. The Johnson-Humphrey Administration has failed to properly manage\nour military and foreign affairs.\n4. The Johnson-Humphrey Administration is losing the war on poverty.\nTo cover up bad news, blunders or even minor missteps, this Administration\nfrom the President on down engages in a policy of public misinformation. This\nranges from half-truths to a dodging of the facts to diversionary tactics aimed\nat putting the best possible face on a bad situation. I can only conclude that\nthe Johnson-Humphrey Administration is afraid of the people.\nOne of the best examples of diversionary tactics is that employed by the\nPresident himself at a recent news conference. He cited the fact that five\nforeign countries had suffered a higher rise in the cost of living than the\nUnited States in recent years. The implication was clear. The President in effect\nwas saying Americans had no right to gripe because others were in worse shape.\nThis is ridiculous.\nAnother example of such ridiculous attempts to fool the American people is\nthe attitude taken by Vice-President Hubert H. Humphrey and other Administration\nofficials toward the withdrawal of France from NATO. These Pollyannas actually\nhave the gall to claim that NATO will benefit from the French withdrawal because\nit will force long-needed NATO reforms. This is like saying a house will be\nstronger if one of the foundation stones is pulled out from under it.\n# # #\nCONGRESSMAN\nNEWS\nGERALD R. FORD\nHOUSE REPUBLICAN LEADER\nRELEASE\nFOR RELEASE AT 6:30 P.M.\nTUESDAY, JUNE 14, 1966\nSPEECH EXCERPTS--OHIO REPUBLICAN FINANCE COMMITTEE DINNER, COLUMBUS, OHIO.\nI have discovered my good friend, House Majority Leader Carl Albert of\nOklahoma, in the act of whistling in the dark.\nMr. Albert last week said Republican leaders are engaging in wishful thinking\nin talking about sizable gains in the House this fall. After hearing about\nMr. Albert's remarks, I took a fresh look at the overall situation and what I saw\ntempted me to take the bottom off my earlier prediction of \"40 to 50 more seats\"\nand just call it 50.\nWhat I saw in my reassessment was the tremendous vote rolled up by Ronald\nReagan and the unimpressive showing by Gov. Pat Brown in the governorship primary\nin California and the drop in President Johnson's popularity rating to 46 per cent.\nThese two developments indicate to me that Republicans will recapture most\nof the 51 seats lost to Democratic newcomers in 1964-seats we never should have\nlost in the first place--and maybe some others.\nMany of the Democratic freshmen rode into the House on the coattails of\nLyndon Johnson and by paper-thin margins.\nWhat has happened to the vaunted popularity of the President? It has\nplummeted to its lowest point in the 2½ years he has been in office, as shown by\nthe latest Gallup Poll. Small wonder Mr. Johnson has become the No. 1 Nervous\nNellie in the country!\nThe June Gallup Poll reveals that less than half of the American people have\nconfidence in the way Mr. Johnson is handling his job. This is not at all\nsurprising.\nFor one thing, the American people cannot understand why the mightiest nation\non earth cannot win the struggle in South Vietnam while combining forces with the\nSouth Vietnamese to thwart Communist aggression.\nFor another, the American people are hurting over the cost of living, which\nhas registered its sharpest increase in 15 years for the four-month period,\nJanuary through April.\n* * *\n(MORE)\n-2-\nSPEECH EXCERPTS\nIf this country had a parliamentary form of government, the Democrats would\nbe afraid to call an election at this time. They are afraid of all of the no-\nconfidence votes that would be cast against the Johnson-Humphrey Administration.\nThe Democrats are hoping to blunder through the six months between now and\nNovember 8, but I predict that this summer of our discontent will see a continued\ndrop in Mr. Johnson's popularity, a growing vote of no-confidence in his\nadministration.\nWhy is this? It is because the Johnson-Humphrey Administration is failing\nthe people in four major areas.\n1. The Johnson-Humphrey Administration has failed to tell the people\nthe truth.\n2. The Johnson-Humphrey Administration has failed to maintain price\nstability.\n3. The Johnson-Humphrey Administration has failed to properly manage\nour military and foreign affairs.\n4. The Johnson-Humphrey Administration is losing the war on poverty.\nTo cover up bad news, blunders or even minor missteps, this Administration\nfrom the President on down engages in a policy of public misinformation. This\nranges from half-truths to a dodging of the facts to diversionary tactics aimed\nat putting the best possible face on a bad situation. I can only conclude that\nthe Johnson-Humphrey Administration is afraid of the people.\nOne of the best examples of diversionary tactics is that employed by the\nPresident himself at a recent news conference. He cited the fact that five\nforeign countries had suffered a higher rise in the cost of living than the\nUnited States in recent years. The implication was clear. The President in effect\nwas saying Americans had no right to gripe because others were in worse shape.\nThis is ridiculous.\nAnother example of such ridiculous attempts to fool the American people is\nthe attitude taken by Vice-President Hubert H. Humphrey and other Administration\nofficials toward the withdrawal of France from NATO. These Pollyannas actually\nhave the gall to claim that NATO will benefit from the French withdrawal because\nit will force long-needed NATO reforms. This is like saying a house will be\nstronger if one of the foundation stones is pulled out from under it.\n# # #"
}