JOHNSON'S STRATEGY
‘By Joseph Hansen
Upon the nomination of Senator Goldwater as candidate of the Republican party, fear swept the world, Three questions were asked: Did this mean the rise of fascism in the United States? Was it pos~ sible for the Arizona senator to win in November? What about the “white backlash" -- the reaction to the Negro struggle for "Freedom Now" -- could this prove to be a trump card in Goldwater's electoral gamble?
The alarm has now subsided, Reason, or at least a faosimile of reason, seems to have gained the upperhand in the American politi-~ cal scene, and world public opinion has relaxed. The danger of a maniac coming to power in the United States appears to have lessened - » « for the time being,
Iwo developments since the Republican convention in July account for this change. One was the Democratic convention at which Johnson decided to name Hubert Humphrey as his running mate, ‘The other was the sampling of opinion in the United States indicating -+ as of the moment -~ a Democratic victory in November. Various: polls taken. by independent services, by the Democrats, and by the Republi- | cans even indicate a landslide building up for the Democrats, Acocord~ ing to columnists Rowland Evans and Robert Novack, an "atmosphere. of despair Lis] now beginning to pervade the Goldwater high command," © [New York Herald Tribune, European edition, Sept. 7.]
When Goldwater won the nomination at San Francisco, political analysts were faced with the problem of explaining how such a reaction-~ ary figure could win out over a liberal like Gov. Rockefeller or a conservative like Gov. Scranton, The principal reasons advanced were dissatisfaction among the middle class over a foreign policy that does not appear to be able to "win," a profound feeling of insecurity des~ pite the prosperity, and resentment over the rise in the Negro struggle for equality. These moods played into the hands of an efficient faction in the Republican party backed by big money from the newly risen sector of the capitalist class in Texas and Southern California, It was widely speculated that the combination might give Goldwater a winning hand,
Goldwater based his campaign tactics on this combination up to and during the Republican convention and for some weeks thereafter. This is what inspired his "trigger happy" remarks about using nuclear bombs to clear away the jungles in South Vietnam, about unleashing | the generals to use nuclear weapons as they saw fit, about the virtues of "extremism" -~ meaning such organizations as the Ku Klux Klan and the John Birch Society -- and so on, ad nauseon,
Now Goldwater has made an abrupt shift away from this line, He has begun to talk about "peace," about ending the draft. He has made concessions to the liberal wing of the Republican party. Clearly he has been reading the results of the polls and trying to adjust his publicity handouts accordingly.
Johnson concentrated on the main problem that has faced him as a professional capitalist politician, an especially power hungry one among these sharks noted for their ravenous appetite, the problem he has faced since he fell heir to the White House; i.e., how to win the presidency for a Southerner for the first time since the Civil War, Luckily for him he has been greatly assisted -- no doubt unwittingly -- by Goldwater.
- The key political forces in the United States today are not the allegedly discontented middle class (including farmers), racist~ minded sectors, and protofascist formations who see Goldwater as their hero, The key forces are the working class, particularly the trade unions, a rising Negro movement, and -- the main grouping of big business, still located in the East,
From the beginning, Johnson set out to put together a combination of these oontradictory forces. A really serious challenge among the capitalist politicians to this strategy could have come only from a liberal like Rockefeller, Goldwater's victory considerably simplified things for the Texas politician,
First of all, Johnson put on a well-calculated campaign to win the approval of big business, especially those who prefer to wear a Republican button in their lapel. One of his power moves was in the area of foreign policy, By his course, above all in Brazil, he
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revealed with the utmost. clarity his views and his capacities in rela-~ “tion to the major world problems facing American imperialism, The. real worries of American. capitalism lie here, not in "too much federal government or in "exorbitant" taxes, ree
Again luck (or, more accurately, the disastrous policies of the Latin-American Communist parties) was with him, He succeeded in put--. ting.a counterrevolution in the saddle in Brazil, by far the weighti-. est country in the Western Hemisphere outside of.the U.S. itself, Long before the California primaries in which Goldwater made his killing, big business had definitely made up its mind that Johnson had proved to be a most agreeable surprise,
While working among the upper levels of the capitalist class, Johnson did not overlook the labor movement. Here things were simple enough, The American labor czars are easily satisfied. Offering a. liberal gasbag like Hubert Humphrey as vice-presidential candidate . was more than sufficient to throw the labor statesmen into transports. Headed by Walter Reuther of the United Auto Workers, who threatened to walk out of the 1960 Democratic convention if a reactionary like John-= son was nominated as vice-presidential candidate, these same bureauerats now consider Johnson among the great greats, As John L, Lewis once observed of their kind, they don't. have’ heads; when they grew UP» their neoks just haired over,
Big business, of course, does’ not have: the slightest fear of
a tail-wagging liberal like Humphrey, The modern tycoon understands all about the need for attractive packaging to give even the most mediocre article sales appeal. Just the same, Johnson did not miss the angle of giving big business the opportunity to veto Humphrey's candidacy if it wished,
To win the Negro vote, Johnson pushed through the well-diluted civil-rights legislation sponsored by Kennedy, doing a more efficient . job of it, probably, than the Bostonian aristocrat himself could have managed, This, after all, was the trade in which Johnson spent a long apprenticeship, : - So ae
As' for the “white backlash" on which Goldwater staked virtually everything, Johnson himself pointed to the counter trend of what he calls the "frontlash" -- Republican voters frightened and alienated by Goldwater's rattling of nuclear bombs and appeals to hooded "extremists." Not unexpectedly, the latest Gallup poll (Sept. 6) shows that already three out of ten Republicans have decided to switch to the Democratic camp, This means a still heavier swing towards dJolingon among the so-called "independents."
It should also be pointed out ‘that the "white backlash" may have been greatly overestimated. Other issues are of concern. to whites -- the spectre of unemployment due .to automation, the dread of nuclear wary fear of making things worse by putting a Goldwater in
office. Moreover, even in relation to civil-rights struggles, the violent language and murderous actions of racists do not necessarily reflect a deep~going shift in the same direction among ordinary people, Their views on this very issue, in fact, may be quite the reverse,
This, of course, is not easily determined accurately in advance of the election. However, a most interesting study was made public in July by the Scientific American, the most important magazine in the United States, if not the world, devoted to popularizing develop~ ments in the field of science, This study reveals a long-range shift in views among white Americans in favor of the Negro people, This shift has been proceeding for .a number of years until now an absolute majority of whites favor integration, The phenomenon is not confined to the North but includes whites, in the South and even whites in the areas where violence has occurred,
Surprisingly little attention has been paid by the American press to this important study. (Ordinarily such studies in the Scientifio American are widely reported.) The accuracy of the findings will undoubtedly be tested at the polls in November,
_ Johnsonts cunning tactics have been facilitated by other fac- | tors besides Goldwater!s impressive performance in assuming the role. and image of the political villain who must be defeated "at all costs," The absence of a liberal opposition has already been mentioned, More. important is the absence of a labor opposition. America's powerful | union movement does not have its own political party. It does not. have even a single representative in congress!
Among the Negro people, too, the dominant leaders remain faithful followers of the Democratic machine, A beginning has been made toward organizing independent political opposition, but only a bare beginning. This is the Freedom Now party which won a place on the ballot in Michigan,
In the absence of any threat or pressure from these areas, Johnson was quite free to move his campaignrather far to the right, He did not even have to promise labor and the Negro people much, Instead he could direct his demagogy toward Goldwaterts following,
In addition, he was quite free to engage in the most reastionary moves on the foreign field even during his campaign, A good ex= ample was the adventure in the Gulf of Tonkin, With utter cynioism, Johnson created a foreign diversion in order to rally the public behind ‘the U.S. government in an "hour of peril"; i.e., behind Johnson as he seeks the presidency. That this entailed the risk ofworld war. was. of small consequence to the aspiring capitalist statesman; it fit in perfectly with his blueprint for a winning combination in November against Goldwater,
The only opposition in the United States to both Johnson and Goldwater is provided by the candidates of the Socialist Workers
party. Voicing the program of revolutionary socialism, Clifton. DeBerry and Edward Shaw are putting up a vigorous campaign.
The first Negro candidate for the White House, DeBerry ha received a warm welcome among militant sectors of the civil-rights movement. -
The American Trotskyists are,. of course, greatly handicapped in face of the vast resources available to the capitalist candidates. As in previous campaigns, however,.they are succeeding in bringing the message of socialism to a wide audience. Some of those who hear this.message will also think it over, and among them will be found the cadres who will eventually build the party needed to overturn capitalism in its most formidable stronghold,
REPORT ON ALEXANDER CASE
[The following statement to the press was issued by Dr, Wolfgang Mueller, Assistant Secretary of the Alexander Defence Committee in West Germany, in relation with a public meeting on the case held. in London on September 4, An