JOHNSON'S PROBLEMS BEGIN
By Joseph Hansen
The scope of Johnson's victory was due in the main to the assistance given him by Goldwater. Johnson's Republican twin was remarkably successful in playing the role of the greater evil and at least in this way living up to the title of his book Why Not Victory?
In essence Goldwater's program did not differ greatly from Johnson's. The Mexican biweekly magazine Politica put it rather neatly. ina cartoon showing the Arizona department store owner clad ina leopard skin, the Texas rancher in a business sult, each of them carrying an equally heavy club labelled "nuclear war,"
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Yet Johnson managed : ‘to pose as the | man of “peace, "an all the more remarkable feat in view of his ordering the bombing in the Gulf of Tonkin at the very height of. his. cpmpaign. .Such a belligerent act during a campaign is unprecedented in Amerioan electioneering. In the 1952 campaign, for instance, General Eisenhower, running against the liberal Stevenson, took thé oppoaite ‘stance of promising to end the war in Korea, one of the few campad.gn promises in American history to be carried out, Le
The image of Goldwater as the brandisher of a nuclear club, an image he. deliberately cultivated up to and after his winning the Republican nomination at San Francisco in July, proved to. be his most damaging handicap, as he himself was forced to acknowledge as the campaign came to an end. He sought to charge this, but could not succeed, as his efforts were far too little and much too late. Only if he had taken the initiative from the’ ‘beginning | in calling — for a withdrawal from South Vietnam and promising to carry it out, just as Eisenhower had carried out his 1952 campaign pledge, could, . Goldwater have offered Johnson an. effective challenge | on this issue.
Goldwater ‘could not do this because he ‘committed ‘himself to the most bellicose elements in American society and made himself the spokesman of their rabid slogan. “better dead than red.".
In this muted way. the dampaign served once again to indicate the depth and strength of the peace sentiment among the American people. This was undoubtedly the most decisive issue in the campaign, as became clear in the development of the demagogy of both Republi-— cans and Democrats by.the end of the campaign. Johnson began his © summary by assuring the country about pis. "total commitment to preserve peace while protecting freedom." Of ten final promises issued by Johnson November 2 at Houston, Texas, the first one reads: "TI want to reduce the threat of nuclear war, to maintain presidential control over our nuclear weapons, to strengthen our alliances and to advance the cause of freedom around the world,"
Of the two men, the American voters judged that Johnson was less likely to press the button that could precipitate a nuclear holocaust. Nevertheless, the feeling, was. nation-wide that not much confidence could be. placed in, bhis Ate professional machine politi-
In fact, despite the’ vote cast for the Democrats, the feeling was never so high that both candidates. made a sorry spectacle.
“This sentiment was voiced by the very Rev. Francis B. Sayre, Jr., dean of the Washington Cathedral, who told his congregation ” that the tactics and ethics of both candidates: offered. a sterile | choice to the American people. an
James Reston, one of the editors of the New York Times, said October 31 [in the international edition]: “It would be difficult
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to underestimate the number of people who are going to vote for the President next week with a profound sense of uneasiness, not because he has removed their doubts or convinced or exalted them, but simply because he is the only alternative to Goldwater,"
An Ohio clergyman was widely quoted for his observation that "each of them is the incarnation of the worst in his party."
This reflects a widespread opinion, The Gallup polls persistently showed that about twenty per cent of the voters saw no differences on major questions between the two candidates,
At the beginning of the campaign, much was made of the possi« . bility of a "white backlash" on which Goldwater might ride into office. Those who took a more profound view of the class structure of AmeéPican society doubted that this would prove decisive. Their forecast proved correct. The issue of peace or war ' turned out to be welghtier than color prejudices,
‘Goldwater's cultivation of the "white backlash" vote invited a smashing blow straight to the teeth. It cost him the Negro vote virtually in its entirety. That vote has become decisive in swinging the key Northern states and cities and has become of increasing importance even in the South.
Here the economic issue acted ‘in the same direction. Bad as things are under the Democrats for the Negro people in the way of | jobs and opportunities, Goldwater did his best to display indiffer= ence and hostility to the poor. He advanced proposals such as turn= ing the Tennessee Valley Authority [Tva, the giant complex of dams and power plants constructed under Roosevelt] to private industry. He promised to reduce federal expenditures that mean jobs for hundreds of thousands of workers, —
Johnson took full advantage of the openings Goldwater offered him on these issues and utilized them to reconsolidate the Democratic alliance with the organized labor movement. This alliance was sealed by naming Hubert Humphrey, one of the Democratic party’ s best known liberals, as vice-presidential candidate.
Goldwater made no effort whatsoever to outbid Johnson in this field, On the contrary he singled out the naming of Humphrey as evidence of "softness on Communism," a McCarthyite line of approach that has iost its effectiveness. Even Nixon, who made his political career on this issue, was embarrassed by it,
“Thus the trade-union bureaucracy which had difficulty swallowing Kennedy's choice of Johnson as running mate in 1960, fell into’*-the arms of the political representative of fonlightened" Southern business: and the dominant Eastern rulers in 1964. ra ‘Golawater repelled the senior citizens, the old folk, who |...
might be thought to incline toward conservatism, He handed this vote to Johnson by opposing even the miserable social-security system now in effect. (The way America treats people past middle age is one of the disgraces of the modern world.
The rural vote, where Goldwater appeared to have strength even a few months ago, was driven in the direction of Johnson by an ambi-.' valent and equivocating attitude on farme-price supports. This reinforced the peace issue which is traditionally strong in rural America,
Finally, and perhaps most important of all, Goldwater's pro-posed foreign policy appeared altogether too dangerous and adventur-~ istic to the Eastern bankers and industrialists who have shaped and implemented the bipartisan course from Truman through Eisenhower to. Kennedy., .Johnson showed himself acutely sensitive to this class |. sector. On the one hand he demonstrated. his understanding of their basic aims. by placing before them a most appetizing present.-~ the . counterrevolution in Brazil last April, On the other hand, he repeatedly demonstrated his suppleness by gestures in the direction of the Kremlin, .This combination. of strategic firmness and tactical adroitness. was appreciated by America's main ruling families, They made up their minds early and threw. their full. weight behind Johnson.
‘This soon became apparent in the extraordinarily powerful combination of the press, radio, television and "popular polls" through which opinion was mobilized and expanded for Johnson,... Like magic, the egoistic, rather. cruel, ambitious Texas Machiavelli. was converted into. the sensible, understanding, : kind-hearted family man best. suited to represent. everybody in the. White Houses, ito:
‘The election, results showed that the McCarthyism which domins ated American pol itics for a number of years has continued to recede since the turn occurred about 1957-58, But the election does not signify a shift to the left. Diverse and in some areas highly contradictory forces (the labor movement and big business) combined to crush Goldwater's bid for power. To what degree various components of the popular forces are prepared to. move to the left was not tested by the election. It did reveal that they are not pulled toward conservatism or headed in a reactionary direction. In this respect the: verdict was plain.
The conditions were unripe for a mass mobilization around the program and banner of reaction. Goldwaterism suffered a stinging rebuff as a premature bid for power.
But the deep-lying trends which enabled Goldwater to capture the Republican nomination remain operative. The right-wing forces which took over the Republican machine have not surrendered or. wa retired from the battle. They are rich, powerful, well~entrenched. © -: in the political apparatus and the economy, They have strong cadres: and connections, a network of reactionary organizations. (The New York Times October 29 gave $20,000,000 as the estimated funds avail-
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able to these outfits annually. The figure.is a conservative one. ) a The fascist potential in the United States will remain: Like: a time’ bomb; but for the immediate period it has been buried. Johnson, -who succeéded in appearing as Nall things to all Americans," ; is securely" in control,
‘What can be expected from the occupant of the White House? In foreign affairs he will try to extract further concessions from
the new Kremlin leaders by aiding them in whatever way he can to consolidate their uncertain positions. He will seek to solicit their tacit aid, if not direct help, in combatting and constricting the colonial revolution, He will also pressure the whole Soviet bloc.
The liberal Kennedy gave the world an armed invasion of Cuba and the involvement of the U.S. in the dirty war in South Vietnan, besides the Caribbean confrontation that. put the world on the ‘brink of .nuclear war, Johnson will certainly not be more inclined‘ to draw back after liquidating the Alliance for Progress, deepening the war. in South Vietnam, threatening to extend it to North Vietnam and ordering the Gulf of Tonkin bombings as part of his electoral cam= paign. If he feels forced to draw back in one area, such as South Vietnam, he will seek to recuperate in others. His sweeping elec~ toral victory gives him considerable leeway for a more flexible policy than has been followed in recent years by U.S. imperialism, It will certainly not be less reactionary nor less loaded with dangerous possibilities,
.- On the domestic scene, Johnson faces two enormous problems. One is. the Negro revolt, the other is the economic situation.
After the big actions during the summer, the official Negro leaders succeeded in discouraging further mass demonstrations. Theexcuse was not to play into Goldwater's hands.
But Johnson's election was projected as a great potential victory for the Negro people. The Negro masses will expect some=thing concrete from the promised victory. But after passing the civil-rights bill, the Democratic chief has no new legislation to propose, no measures to provide more jobs. Will the "long hot summer" be succeeded by a "winter of bitter discontent"?
As for the economy, Johnson wrapped himself in ‘the plush mantle of the boom during his campaign. But if this should lose headway in the next year or two, what does he propose? How will-be counteract the economic and social consequences of a dip in the "prosperity"? His token "war on poverty" is likely to start off with losing: the first battle against unemployment which could not be. substantially reduced at the peak of the boom,
One of the. big questions now before the United States is the future of the two-party system. The focusing of the most reaction-
ary.elements around Goldwater was a harbinger of what is to come, ‘It will inevitably promulgate a symmetrical development to the left. The organized labor movement, like the Negro organizations, will be under great pressure to deliver something from the Johnson victory which they ballyhooed. This will be all the greater because of the reciprocal effect in the two sectors, The victory of the Labour party in. Great Britain adds a further element operating in the same direction, Why can't the American trade unions do at least as well as their British cousins in politics? Lo -
A ‘great. cleavage plane runs through the Democratic party, The development of the class struggle will eventually convert this into a fissure. That, however, is something for the future,
The vote for the valiant. Socialist Workers party and for the Freedom: Now party (which ran in the state of Michigan) will not be known. until tthe official results. are compiled, probably some weeks. from now... They met with a good reception during their campaigning,’ however, The Socialist Workers party reached hundreds of thousands. with the message of revolutionary: socialism and once again put: up a strong defense of the Cuban Revolution as it did in the 1960 cam-= paign. woe,
MASS ARREST OF LEFT - COMMUNIST