This speech, delivered almost a year before election day in the small farming town of Ontario located right on the Idaho border, allowed Morse the change to expound passionately on his views on agriculture and the place of the farmer within the US economy.
Not that Morse simplified his talk to accommodate this farmer audience. His opening anecdote recounted the procedural routine on the Senate floor, and his own unique approach to influencing this behind-the-scenes process. Dubbed the Morse Formula, these actions to curb wasteful spending and push through public welfare programs formed the cornerstone of his campaign pitch:
Morse grew up on a farm in Minnesota, a fact he often alluded to when fighting accusations that he was an elitist professor who lacked common touch. He didn’t miss a chance to put this card on the table for the crowd in Ontario:
Though he provided a host of reasons for his decision to leave the Republican Party, support for farmers was perhaps his most cited justification. Fearing the growing power of corporate interests, Morse championed the cause of private ownership, citing it as the most important “bulwark” against communism and other anti-American forces:
Morse became more forward in his conservationist efforts later in his career, but even in the ’56 Campaign, he made sure to balance his support for the development of Oregon’s natural resources with the understanding that those resources must be developed responsibility, with attention paid to their preservation:
In closing, Morse again addressed the criticism that he was no more than an idealistic professor in politics. He makes no effort to refute the claim, however, opting instead for the need for idealism within politics. Here he delivers one of his favorite refrains: “You’ll never experience a practicality except in terms of an ideal put to work.” The ideal (in this case, economic freedom of choice for the individual), often changed, but his belief in idealism as a central tenet of effective government never did:
Wayne Morse in Ontario, Oregon
November, 12 1955
Text and Digitized Audio by J.D. Swerzenski
