Douglas adopted Boddy's "Tricky Dick" nickname for Nixon, and also referred to him as "pee wee".
Her name-calling had an effect on Nixon: when told she had called him "a young man with a dark shirt" in an allusion to Nazism, he inquired, "Did she say that?
Why, I'll castrate her."
Campaign official Bill Arnold joked that it would be difficult to do, and Nixon replied that he would do it anyway.
Nixon returned the attacks; at friendly gatherings and especially at all-male events, he stated that Douglas was "pink right down to her underwear".

Douglas's last large-scale advertisement blitz contained another Nazi allusion.
Citing five votes in which Nixon and Marcantonio had voted together and in opposition to Douglas, it accused Nixon of using "the big lie" and stated: "HITLER invented it/STALIN perfected it/NIXON uses it".
Nixon responded, "Truth is not smear.
She made the record.
She has not denied a single vote.
The iron curtain of silence has closed around the opposition camp."
Through the final days of the campaign, he struck a constant drumbeat: Douglas was soft on communism.

Though polls showed Nixon well ahead, his campaign did not let up.
A fundraising solicitation warned, "Right Now Nixon Is Losing ... Not Enough Money".
Skywriting urged voters to cast their ballots for him.
Borrowing an idea from Nixon's 1946 campaign, the campaign announced that people should answer their phones, "Vote for Nixon"; random calls would be made from campaign headquarters and households that answered their phones that way would receive scarce consumer appliances.
Chotiner even instructed that 18-month-old copies of The Saturday Evening Post, containing a flattering story about Nixon, be left in doctor's offices, barber shops, and other places where people wait across the state.

In the last days of the campaign, Douglas finally began to receive some of the support she had hoped for.
Boddy's paper endorsed her, while Truman praised her.
Douglas's actor husband, Melvyn Douglas, on tour with the play Two Blind Mice throughout the campaign, spoke out on behalf of his wife, as did movie stars Myrna Loy and Eddie Cantor.
Nixon had several Hollywood personalities supporting him, including Howard Hughes, Cecil B. DeMille and John Wayne.
Another actor, Ronald Reagan, was among Douglas's supporters, but when his girlfriend and future wife Nancy Davis took him to a pro-Nixon rally led by actress ZaSu Pitts, he was converted to Nixon's cause and led quiet fundraising for him.
Douglas was apparently unaware of this—30 years later she mentioned Reagan in her memoirs as someone who worked hard for her.

Chotiner had worked on Warren's 1942 campaign, but had parted ways from him, and the popular governor did not want to be connected to the Nixon campaign.
Nonetheless, Chotiner sought to maneuver him into an endorsement.
Chotiner instructed Young Republicans head and future congressman Joseph F. Holt to follow Douglas from appearance to appearance and demand to know who she was supporting for governor, as other Young Republicans handed out copies of the Pink Sheet.
Douglas repeatedly avoided the question, but with four days to go before the election and the Democratic candidate near exhaustion from the bitter campaign, she responded that she hoped and prayed that Roosevelt would be elected.
Holt contacted a delighted Chotiner, who had a reporter ask Warren about Douglas's comments, and the governor responded, "In view of her statement, I might ask her how she expects I will vote when I mark my ballot for United States senator on Tuesday."
Chotiner publicized this response as an endorsement of Nixon, and the campaign assured voters that Nixon would be voting for Warren as well.

Despite the polls, Douglas was confident that the Democratic registration edge would lead her to victory, so much so that she offered a Roosevelt staffer a job in her senatorial office.
On election day, November 7, 1950, Nixon defeated Douglas by 59 percent to 41.
Of California's 58 counties, Douglas won only five, all in Northern California and with relatively small populations;
Douglas adopted Boddy's "Tricky Dick" nickname for Nixon, and also referred to him as "pee wee". Her name-calling had an effect on Nixon: when told she had called him "a young man with a dark shirt" in an allusion to Nazism, he inquired, "Did she say that? Why, I'll castrate her." Campaign official Bill Arnold joked that it would be difficult to do, and Nixon replied that he would do it anyway. Nixon returned the attacks; at friendly gatherings and especially at all-male events, he stated that Douglas was "pink right down to her underwear".
Douglas's last large-scale advertisement blitz contained another Nazi allusion. Citing five votes in which Nixon and Marcantonio had voted together and in opposition to Douglas, it accused Nixon of using "the big lie" and stated: "HITLER invented it/STALIN perfected it/NIXON uses it". Nixon responded, "Truth is not smear. She made the record. She has not denied a single vote. The iron curtain of silence has closed around the opposition camp." Through the final days of the campaign, he struck a constant drumbeat: Douglas was soft on communism.
Though polls showed Nixon well ahead, his campaign did not let up. A fundraising solicitation warned, "Right Now Nixon Is Losing ... Not Enough Money". Skywriting urged voters to cast their ballots for him. Borrowing an idea from Nixon's 1946 campaign, the campaign announced that people should answer their phones, "Vote for Nixon"; random calls would be made from campaign headquarters and households that answered their phones that way would receive scarce consumer appliances. Chotiner even instructed that 18-month-old copies of The Saturday Evening Post, containing a flattering story about Nixon, be left in doctor's offices, barber shops, and other places where people wait across the state.
In the last days of the campaign, Douglas finally began to receive some of the support she had hoped for. Boddy's paper endorsed her, while Truman praised her. Douglas's actor husband, Melvyn Douglas, on tour with the play Two Blind Mice throughout the campaign, spoke out on behalf of his wife, as did movie stars Myrna Loy and Eddie Cantor. Nixon had several Hollywood personalities supporting him, including Howard Hughes, Cecil B. DeMille and John Wayne. Another actor, Ronald Reagan, was among Douglas's supporters, but when his girlfriend and future wife Nancy Davis took him to a pro-Nixon rally led by actress ZaSu Pitts, he was converted to Nixon's cause and led quiet fundraising for him. Douglas was apparently unaware of this—30 years later she mentioned Reagan in her memoirs as someone who worked hard for her.
Chotiner had worked on Warren's 1942 campaign, but had parted ways from him, and the popular governor did not want to be connected to the Nixon campaign. Nonetheless, Chotiner sought to maneuver him into an endorsement. Chotiner instructed Young Republicans head and future congressman Joseph F. Holt to follow Douglas from appearance to appearance and demand to know who she was supporting for governor, as other Young Republicans handed out copies of the Pink Sheet. Douglas repeatedly avoided the question, but with four days to go before the election and the Democratic candidate near exhaustion from the bitter campaign, she responded that she hoped and prayed that Roosevelt would be elected. Holt contacted a delighted Chotiner, who had a reporter ask Warren about Douglas's comments, and the governor responded, "In view of her statement, I might ask her how she expects I will vote when I mark my ballot for United States senator on Tuesday." Chotiner publicized this response as an endorsement of Nixon, and the campaign assured voters that Nixon would be voting for Warren as well.
Despite the polls, Douglas was confident that the Democratic registration edge would lead her to victory, so much so that she offered a Roosevelt staffer a job in her senatorial office. On election day, November 7, 1950, Nixon defeated Douglas by 59 percent to 41. Of California's 58 counties, Douglas won only five, all in Northern California and with relatively small populations;
1950 United States Senate election in California