poked fun at Dewey's vague campaign by joking that G.O.P. actually stood for "grand old platitudes." Dewey's frequent refusal to discuss specific issues and proposals in his campaigns was based partly on his belief in public opinion polls; one biographer claimed that he "had an almost religious belief in the revolutionary science of public-opinion sampling." He was the first presidential candidate to employ his own team of pollsters, and when a worried businessman told Dewey in the 1948 presidential campaign that he was losing ground to Truman and urged him to "talk specifics in his closing speeches", Dewey and his aide Paul Lockwood displayed polling data that showed Dewey still well ahead of Truman, and Dewey told the businessman "when you're leading, don't talk." Walter Lippman regarded Dewey as an opportunist, who "changes his views from hour to hour… always more concerned with taking the popular position than he is in dealing with the real issues." The journalist John Gunther wrote that "There are plenty of vain and ambitious and uncharming politicians. This would not be enough to cause Dewey's lack of popularity. What counts more is that so many people think of him as opportunistic. Dewey seldom goes out on a limb by taking a personal position which may be unpopular... every step is carefully calculated and prepared." Relationship with legislators As governor, Dewey had a reputation for ruthless treatment of New York legislators and political opponents. "[Dewey] cracked the whip ruthlessly on [Republican] legislators who strayed from the party fold. Assemblymen have found themselves under investigation by the State Tax Department after opposing the Governor over an insurance regulation bill. Others discover job-rich construction projects, state buildings, even highways, directed to friendlier [legislators]... [He] forced the legislature his own party dominates to reform its comfortable ways of payroll padding. Now legislative workers must verify in writing every two weeks what they have been doing to earn their salary; every state senator and assemblyman must verify that [they] are telling the truth. All this has occasioned more than grumbling. Some Assemblymen have quit in protest. Others have been denied renomination by Dewey's formidable political organization. Reporters mutter among themselves about government by blackmail." Honesty and integrity Dewey received positive publicity for his reputation for honesty and integrity. The newspaper editor William Allen White praised Dewey as "an honest cop with the mind of an honest cop." An October 1953