In May 1946, Lois Lane is invited to speak on behalf of a progressive candidate at a mass meeting, part of “the bitterest election campaign in the history of Metropolis” … and the story opens with a telephone threat, which she shrugs off as typical dirty politics.

“Trying to spoil your opponent’s political rallies is old stuff,” she tells Jimmy Olsen. But this time the threat turns out not to be an empty one… By the end of the episode she and Jimmy are clearly in danger… The corrupt politicians want The Daily Planet’s staff to end their partisan approach to reporting — with the lines drawn as clearly as a comic book with “clean government” on one side and crooks and racketeers on the other.

Lois is introduced to the crowd as “The most famous woman reporter in the country” and calls her mayoral candidate “a fine and courageous American.” His platform includes slum clearance, modern housing, more schools, playgrounds and recreational facilities, while the “wealthy and greedy owners” of Metropolis slum properties are supporting his gang-connected opponent.

Where will it all lead? The first 14 minute story ends with a cliffhanger for Lois and Jimmy. Will they survive? When will Superman get involved? (And how much Kelloggs Pep will the story sell?) No spoilers here.

The whole 14-episode story about corruption and ward politics was sandwiched in between two other liberal landmarks in the Superman radio show — the Daily Planet’s summer-long 1946 campaigns against “The Clan of the Fiery Cross” and a hate-monger organization called the Guardians of America, which I’ve written about before.

All three — 53 episodes from April to July 1946 — are on “Page 9” of the Internet Archive’s collection of Superman radio episodes.

The Metropolis election story also serves as an example of how much the radio show relied on the work of Daily Planet journalists to carry the continuity of cliff-hanger plots over as many as 25 days (in the case of the Hate Mongers Organization), with Clark Kent spending more time on journalism, including reporting local news, than he spent fighting the super-villains and global disasters. Those became his main target in later comic fantasies and Hollywood superhero special-effects extravaganzas. For example, even a 1970 comic cover about “Lois Lane’s Greatest Scoops” include a trip to Atlantis, an adventure where Lois acquired Superman’s powers, a “Showdown Duel with Super-Villains,” and something about Superman being enslaved by Amazons.