roosevelt alienated many conservative democrats in 1937 by his unexpected plan to "pack" the supreme court via the judiciary reorganization bill of 1937. following a sharp recession that hit early in 1938, major strikes all over the country, the cio and afl competing with each other for membership and roosevelt's failed efforts to radically reorganize the supreme court, the democrats were in disarray. meanwhile, the gop was united as they had shed their weakest members in a series of defeats since 1930. re-energized republicans focused attention on strong fresh candidates in major states, especially robert a. taft the conservative from ohio, earl warren the moderate who won both the republicans and the democratic primaries in california and thomas e. dewey the crusading prosecutor from new york. the gop comeback in 1938 was made possible by carrying 50% of the vote outside the south, giving gop leaders confidence it had a strong base for the 1940 presidential election.