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So then “Honey Fitz” staggered back on the platform. I introduced him and he spoke for about ten minutes. Then he said, “the little lady has something else to say.” I spoke some more. We passed the buck back and forth to each other two or three times. In the meanwhile the cheerleaders were keeping the audience alert.

I learned out of all this what a real Democratic rally is. It seemed ridiculous to do all this, but I remember Al Smith's instruction to me that you must always keep the Democratic party happy, because they are the ones who, after all, provide the solid core of the votes. All the Independents that you win have to be worked for, but you can rely on this solid core and should keep them happy.

At any rate, we passed the buck back and forth three times. Eventually the candidate for Governor appeared. By this time it was half past eleven and my train left at twelve. So after shaking everybody by the hand I got out and got on the train, only hearing the first two or three paragraphs of the candidate for Governor's speech, which were pure spread-eagle, but were received with wild applause.

I describe this meeting because it was so characteristic of the typical Democratic rally. The faithful were prepared to stimulate themselves to go out and get out the vote, but they didn't absorb or learn any new ideas or new tricks.