single-handed and deserted by his party." Kelland intended to rally Republicans

against Dewey's leadership, saying "At this moment, the Republican Party is the

private property of the Albany group. The Party must be returned to the Party. The

Albany group has twice proven its genius for organizing defeat, and twice must be

enough."19 Kelland stopped just short of advocating Dewey's removal from the GOP.

 Kelland soon made his displeasure public. On November 16, the New York

Herald reported that Kelland had forwarded his comments asked the national

committee for a complete house-cleaning of the leadership and staff positions at

headquarters. He demanded the election of a new chairman through an open vote, not

factional wheeling-and-dealing. With his usual literary flair, Kelland claimed that the

time had come that "the national committee assert its position as the duly elected

governing body of the Republican Party and that it cease to be nothing but a chowder

and marching club whose only function is to jump through the hoops."20 Kelland's

criticisms had a degree of saliency. Brownell, after all, had used a separate campaign

structure in 1948 and had diminished the importance of the RNC. Kelland's

statements served as a rallying cry for conservative Republicans to challenge Dewey's

dominance in party affairs..

 Numerous other Republicans reached the same conclusion as Kelland, but did

so in a less vigorous manner. The research department of the RSPC issued an analysis

of the 1948 results that placed responsibility for the defeat at Brownell's doorstep.

The economic improvement from 1946 to 1948, coupled with a decline in labor

disputes, reduced the voter discontent with the Democrats that had bolstered the GOP



19 Clarence "Bud" Kelland, Letter to B. Carroll Reece, 5 November 1948. Copy in Folder (1948
Campaign Miscellany Convention Arrangements Election Results 1947-48), Box 277, Taft
Papers.

20 New York Herald, Clipping in Folder 7 (Arizona), Box 21, Series II, Dewey Papers.