The Bay State's senatorial fight looks like a clear-cut party choice this year. In one corner stands John F. Kennedy, a solid Democrat and one of Governor Stevenson's supporters at Chicago. His opponent is Republican incumbent Henry Cabot Lodge Jr. who touched off the original Eisenhower boom. But this is one case where party labels are deceptive; and although the CRIMSON supports Governor Stevenson for the Presidency, we endorse Henry Cabot Lodge for the Senate.

The CRIMSON believes that foreign policy is still the crucial national problem, and Senator Lodge has made a unique contribution in this area. Inheriting Arthur Vandenberg's role of reconciling Republicans to the outside world, Lodge has become a clear and consistent spokesman for internationalism within his party. His leadership in supporting such vital legislation as the Marshall Plan, E.C.A., Point IV, NATO, and appropriations for air force expansion--and his opposition to Taft-sponsored assaults on foreign aid money--have made him an invaluable member of the Senate.

His record on domestic policy is not such a happy one. When the Republicans stampeded behind malevolent bills like Taft-Hartley and the McCarran Acts, the junior Senator from Massachusetts voted with them. When candidate Eisenhower took an ambivalent and recreant stand on McCarthyism, Lodge announced his support of the Wisconsin Senator and declared he would be glad to have him come to Massachusetts to help him in the campaign. Yet he has sponsored sound legislation creating the Hoover Commission, providing Federal aid for schools and health purposes, liberalizing immigration laws, and attempting to end the filibuster. This is the record of a low pressure conservative. It does not detract from Lodge's contributions to a sane American foreign policy.

Reversing the picture, John F. Kennedy's strong point is on domestic policy. Kennedy voted down the line for Democratic social welfare bills, public housing, rent and price controls, and civil rights enforcement; he voted against Taft-Hartley and both McCarran Acts. While this is a creditable box score, it is a stock party-line vote which includes absurdities like the Brannan Plan. The most unusual thing about Congressman Kennedy has been his incredible absentee record which has averaged 29% over the last six years.

While Kennedy usually votes for programs of foreign aid, he also votes to slash their appropriations. He decided to slash E.C.A. aid by 350 million dollars, helped to cut vital Near East aid by 35 million, and blustered on such topics as Teheran and China policy. The Mutual Security Act amendment to donate military equipment to Spanish dictator Franco was sponsored by Congressman Kennedy.

This represents a flirtation with the new isolationism that could easily blossom into romance. Glowing words of praise from GOP super-nationalist Clare Hoffman appear in Kennedy's campaign handouts. The Chicago Tribune and even Basil Brewer, New Bedford's naevus, have endorsed him. John F. Kennedy might be bright-eyed and bushy-tailed, but he has contributed little while in Congress and raises the unsettling possibility of Democratic isolationism.

Compared to Kennedy, then, Senator Lodge stands out in terms of legislative leadership, originality of sponsored acts, and the realism and consistency of his foreign policy votes. Since Governor Stevenson is insisting on a bi-partisan foreign policy, Lodge is vital, for only he can dampen the wild cries of the nco-isolationist Republicans and assume the role that Vandenberg so ably carried out. It would be folly for Massachusetts to replace Lodge's seniority, ability, and usefulness with the freshman mediocrity of Kennedy.