Oct. 28, 1962 - President Kennedy and the Democratic party have probably gained a political windfall as a result of Premier Khrushchev’s proposals for a Cuban settlement. The full realization of the benefits may not come until President Kennedy’s 1964 campaign for reelection, but there are advantages that should be applicable to the elections coming Nov. 6. Ever since 1952, when the frustration of the Korean War stalemate gave the Republicans the opening to attack the Democrats as not tough enough on Communism, they have persistently pictured themselves as the party that knew best how to deal with the Communists. Now, having gone as near to the brink of war as the Republican Administration of Dwight D. Eisenhower ever did, with dramatic results, Mr. Kennedy and his party have gone a long way toward expunging this recurrent issue against them. Moreover, the Cuban developments of 1962 will likely transcend in the public mind the Cuban “fiasco” of 1961 — the botched Bay of Pigs invasion. The latter would surely have been a powerful talking point against Mr. Kennedy in the next presidential campaign.
