On McCarthy and the Spectre
Spinrad, William
READERS or DISSENT are probably as tired as everyone else of analyses of McCarthy. This note is offered for only one reason—to say a word on the continuing fears of a "McCarthy movement."...
...Although we have emphasized McCarthy's support by "right-wing middleclass elements, there is no evidence that his adherents are disproportionately found in such groups...
...Attempted McCarthy protest rallies were all, as Westbrook Pegler lamented, miserable "turkeys...
...If there was ever a time for a movement to show itself, this was the crucial moment...
...have no fantasies about emulating them...
...Above all else, they want respectability...
...But, they are not ready to do anything themselves...
...This aspect of the drive towards conformity diminishes the appeal of any demagogue...
...Yet, how were the signatures collected...
...Those who might provide the base for a McCarthy-movement—the middle-class adherents of the so-called "right wing"—are not oriented towards political protest...
...Yet this effort at an ad hoc, bush-league movement completely fizzled...
...This note is offered for only one reason—to say a word on the continuing fears of a "McCarthy movement...
...They are too busy making money, seeking new ways to make money, buying new homes in the suburbs, planning their sons' careers...
...Millions, it is true, signed petitions opposing the censure...
...As one example, the most publicized distribution in New York City was through students in a parochial elementary school...
...We live in a period which breeds a McCarthy, but which also limits his effectiveness...
...Even those who approve the antics of McCarthy, Jenner, et...
...McCarthy remains the wild est exponent of this technique, but not necessarily the most threatening one...
...McCarthy and his cohorts know this, and they are less likely to break from the GOP than the leaders of the ADA from the Democrats, What we call McCarthyism remains a serious danger...
...Witness the response to the Senate hearings on McCarthy's censure...
...Whatever the social complexion of his organized coterie, those who accept his policies may, just as likely, be found among working-class pro New and Fair Deal Democratic voters...
...The McCarthyite audience is even more politically inert than the liberal public...
...Frustrated by the coldwar impasse, they applaud a public figure who is pledged to ferret-out "domestic reds...
...READERS or DISSENT are probably as tired as everyone else of analyses of McCarthy...
...There is no place for any McCarthy led or inspired political body outside the Republican Party, such as some liberals and socialists seem to fear...
...And, in the recent mild showdown, much of the McCarthy audience lined up with Eisenhower and the Senate, the symbols of respectable power...
...It is not a danger, however, of any incipient mass movement, but of the continued capricious extension of canons of military security to the political arena...
...This, in any case, is the writer's untested impression...
...rabble-rousing is not the path to success in contemporary suburbia...
...Furthermore, when called upon for some minimum, active expression of support, few verbal McCarthyites showed up...
...A close look at contemporary America discloses no potential for any such mass movement (unless, of course, there is a serious depression or an international catastrophe, in which case "all bets are off") . A large proportion of the population (whatever the actual figure) is, unfortunately, for McCarthy—both his "aims" and "methods...
...Children, not politicallyinvolved adults, were expected to assume the active role...
Vol. 2 • July 1955 • No. 3
