The Liberal Crisis-II

...The tragic possibility, of course, is that time may have run out on that option If that is the case, conceivably some outstanding Democrat--George McGovern, Eugene McCarthy, or possibly even Robert Kennedy despite his disclaimers--will feel it his duty to enter the Presidential contest Recent reports suggest that Senator McCarthy is seriously considering such a challenge, I am sure he would have the overwhelming support of the peace block before and at the convention...

...Joseph L Rauh Jr , a Washington lawyer, is a vice chairman of the Americans for Democratic Action...

...As for his historical analogy, the best that can be said for it is that Tyler quickly concedes it has the fault of all parallels But this one is peculiarly indefensible To suggest any similarity between the "dump-Johnson" movement--critical as I am of its present tactical validity--and the Communist attack on German Social Democracy in the pre-Hitler era is to convert history into a farce...

...Many things could dramatically alter the situation before the Democratic convention meets next summer In the interim, Johnson might be persuaded by the triumph of peace slates to recognize that his consensus had collapsed even within his own party and that—in the interest of country as well as party--he should make a bold magnanimous effort to achieve negorations through a genuine end to bombing and an abandonment of Ruskian ritualism...

...I think it could be argued far more persuasively that only active, spirited liberal dissent can strengthen the Republican moderates in their fight against a Reagan or Nixon drive If liberals and laborites are inexorably wedded to Johnson, come hell or high noon in Vietnam, the Republican Right can convincingly argue that there are no dividends m an anti-Rightist candidate dedicated to ending the war...

...To depict any Republican alternative to Johnson as the counterpart of Hitler is unworthy of Tyler's wisdom Indeed, in the light of Johnson's adoption of the basic military strategy outlined by Barry Goldwater in 1964, all of us who supported LBJ in that year should be especially wary of such loose language...

...To sum up, Gus Tyler has distorted both the spirit and the substance of the memorandum It was never conceived as a declaration of unconditional surrender to Lyndon Johnson, and that will not be its effect if it is wisely and vigorously implemented by concerted liberal action in every state And, if the drive for a convention peace caucus finds leadership m Senator McCarthy or some other equally serious challenger, the labor movement upon which Tyler so heavily counts may yet choose responsiveness to the antiwar movement in preference to isolation from its natural liberal allies...

...My memorandum was and is designed to maintain maximum options in a fluid period But none of these options bears any resemblance to Tyler's plea for a coalition of submission to what great and growing numbers of Americans view as a calamitous dead-end war He indicated his own tacit awareness of that spreading sentiment when he successfully offered to the Galbraith ada Board resolution an amendment supporting the principles of the "Negotiation Now" campaign...

...I am against the "dump-Johnson" movement because it is bound to be diversionary and divisive unless or until there is a serious alternative Democratic candidate in the field There are many Democrats concerned about Vietnam--and prepared lo support peace delegates--who are plainly unwilling to speak out openly against an incumbent President before an authentic challenger emerges There are many effective political figures who can be enlisted to run m primaries or at state conventions on a peace plank but who would feel compelled to repudiate as of now, the personalized "dump-Johnson" slogan...

...Ifear that I must disclaim what Gus Tyler ostensibly intended as a generous reference to me in his discussion of "The Liberal Crisis" (NL, October 23) Much as I respect Tyler's talent for debate, it had never occurred to me that a memorandum plainly calling for the election of peace delegates to the Democratic National Convention--resolutely opposed to the Administration's escalation m Vietnam and determined to turn the party against the war--could be used in a brief urging liberals to rally 'round the flag and mute their opposition to President Johnson's Vietnam policies I reject the Tyler thesis that the way to meet today's crisis is to submit to the very policies that have created it...

...But whether or not such a candidate emerges, a peace caucus could become the decisive voice m the convention's proceedings Johnson might then confront the choice of running on a platform that repudiated his policies, of belatedly revising his stand, or of possibly deciding to abdicate gracefully I am confident such a caucus, if it commanded the numerical strength I believe it can mobilize, would not be hoodwinked by pieties It would almost minimally require the appointment of a new--and very different--Secretary of State committed to concrete change Its strength, of course, would assume far more significant dimensions if someone like McCarthy had decided to make the fight...

...In the fever of his pro-Johnson-ism, Tyler has even altered a fact of recent ada history He identifies James Wechsler with the nameless "dump-Johnson" crusade when in fact Wechsler has written publicly m warm support of my memorandum (and was one of those whose advice I sought before presenting it...