Livingston prophesied victory.
Livingston had been a wheel-horse in the party of Jefferson. He had
served in the Senate with Van Buren; he had taken a leading part in
the convention of 1821, and he had held, with distinction, the
speakership of the Assembly and the presidency of the Senate. His
creed was love of republicanism and hatred of Clinton. At one time he
was the faithful follower, the enthusiastic admirer, almost the
devotee of Van Buren; and, so long as the Kinderhook statesman opposed
Clinton, he needed Livingston. But, when the time came that Van Buren
must conciliate Clinton, Livingston was dropped from the Senate. The
consequences were far more serious than Van Buren intended. Livingston
was as able as he was eloquent, and Van Buren's coalition with
Clinton quickly turned Livingston's ability and eloquence to the
support of Clay. Then he openly joined the Whigs; and to catch his
influence, and the thrill of his remarkable voice, they made him
chairman of their first state convention. As an evidence of their
enthusiasm, the whole body of delegates, with music and flags, drove
from Syracuse to Auburn, twenty-six miles, to visit their young
candidate for governor.

In the same month the Democrats renominated Marcy and John Tracy,
strong in prestige of past success and present power. Instantly, the
two leading candidates were contrasted--Marcy, the mature and
experienced statesman; Seward, a "red-haired young man," without a
record and unknown to fame. Stilwell was told to "stick to his boots
and shoes;" and, in resentment, tailors, printers, shoemakers, and men
of other handicraft, organised in support of "the working man" against
the "Jackson Aristocrats." In answer to the _Commercial Advertiser's_
sneer that Seward was "red-haired," William L. Stone, with felicitous
humour, told how Esau, and Cato, Clovis, William Rufus, and Rob Roy
not only had red hair, but each was celebrated for having it; how
Ossian sung a "lofty race of red-haired heroes," how Venus herself was
golden-haired, as well as Patroclus and Achilles. "Thus does it
appear," the article concluded, "that in all ages and in all
countries, from Paradise to Dragon River, has red or golden hair been
held in highest estimation. But for his red hair, the country of Esau
would not have been called Edom. But for his hair, which was doubtless
red, Samson would not have carried away the gates of Gaza. But for his
red hair, Jason would not have navigate