Persistent Loser Harold Stassen Launches 10th Bid for Presidency

For the 10th time, Republican Harold Stassen is running for President, not so much to win as to make sure that the next person who does talks about important issues during the campaign.

To many, Stassen’s name is synonymous with losing, but the 84-year-old former Minnesota governor said he does not see it that way.

“I feel it’s really been a winning life,” he said Wednesday after he filed papers to run in New Hampshire’s Feb. 18 primary.

“Every one of the nine times, there has been some solid result,” he said. “One of the most significant in New Hampshire, I played a part in preparing the way for Dwight Eisenhower’s nomination in 1952.”

Stassen crisscrossed the state that year, the first year of the modern primary. He tore into the front-runner, Sen. Robert Taft, on foreign policy and NATO, and his attacks were credited with playing a part in Eisenhower’s victory in the primary, followed later by the party nomination and the presidency.

Wednesday’s filings brought to 31 the number of candidates registered for the New Hampshire primary.

The filing deadline is Friday, and the only major potential candidate who has not entered is New York Gov. Mario M. Cuomo, who is still undecided about entering the race.