The Hope of McCarthy's Candidacy
The Hope of McCarthy's CAndidacy In his article in the September issue of The Progressive, James A. Wechsler, the gifted editor and political analyst, captured the nature of 'The Agony of the...
...Rusk to justify their immoral adventure in Vietnam...
...It is against the background of these searching, peace-seeking views on American foreign policy—and we have had space for only a few—that we express the profound hope that Senator McCarthy will confront the President in the primaries...
...It is what the Democrats did in 1948 on the issue of civil rights, which was a highly divisive issue," he has said...
...This is a continuing application of the strategic theory of John Foster Dulles and reflects in action the ancient fear of the "yellow peril" presented to us now in a new image by the Secretary in his words that 'within the next decade or two there will be a billion Chinese on the ". . . and anyone who don't agree with us is unpatriotic" mainland, armed with nuclear weapons, with no certainty about what their attitude toward the rest of Asia will be.' If this is the specter that is haunting Asia, it is difficult to see how we will rid Asia of it even though we achieve an unpredictable and total victory in South Vietnam...
...Today our potential foreign obligations are almost unlimited...
...The clamor for "unity" in the Democratic Party is great...
...He is convinced that the Democratic Party cannot forthrightly face the electorate by smothering dissent in its own ranks and pretending to a consensus on Vietnam that does not exist...
...Recognition as a great power is essentially a nationalist rather than an ideological objective...
...But he is convinced his is not Herblock in The Washington Post "Dean, I think you've let the dragon out of the bag" Candidacy a quixotic venture...
...We have moved from a position of isolation and rejection of world responsibility to a position of isolated, almost singular responsibility for the whole world...
...His candidacy would provide at least a modest measure of the dialogue and debate which are supposed to differentiate our form of government from totalitarian societies in which the people can only vote yes when they are allowed to vote at all...
...There is never a totally painless way to pull back from either unwise, ill-advised, or outdated ideas or commitments...
...Given the scope and depth of dissent on Vietnam in America today, it would be tragic if the Presidential campaign offered only differing forms of entrapment and frustration...
...indeed he is not the fiery type, but rather an urbane, witty, sophisticated, and slightly cynical scholar in politics...
...On the contrary, the tall Minnesotan believes that it would be beneficial to both the Democratic Party and the country to fight out its deep-seated differences on Vietnam...
...Senator McCarthy regards the Vietnamese issue as only part of a significantly larger problem confronting the United States...
...He has been especially critical of Rusk's newest notion of why we are fighting in Vietnam by accusing the Secretary of "careless or intentional abuse of the language" which "can serve only to raise the emotional level of the debate, obscure the issues upon which judgment should be made, and cause further frustration and division within the country as well as between Congress and the Executive branch of the Government...
...Senator McCarthy is under no illusion that he has a chance—however faint—of capturing the Democratic nomination from the White House incumbent...
...He is critical of the present-day application of the policy of containing Communism launched under the Truman Administration and of the multiplicity of treaty obligations developed by the late Secretary of State John Foster Dulles under the Eisenhower Administration...
...In denouncing Rusk's version-of-the-moment of why the United States is in Vietnam, Senator McCarthy expressed agreement with most thoughtful students of world affairs in rejecting the notion that revolutions throughout the less-developed areas of the world are a Chinese-inspired wave of the future and that Vietnam is a test case for guerrilla warfare and for wars of national liberation...
...Nor is he persuaded by the demands for synthetic party unity...
...But throughout history, mighty nations have learned the limits of power...
...Rusk, Senator McCarthy said: "The one rather clear conclusion from his [Rusk's] remarks is that, in his mind, the United States must establish and maintain an anti-Communist bastion in South Vietnam and that this is essential as a part of the overall strategy of containing China through encirclement, and that all of this bears quite directly on our national interest, if not our survival...
...The lesson for the United States, he wrote, is this: "A nation has prestige according to its merits...
...It is not exported by the Chinese, but rather it is primarily native, indigenous, and national...
...America's contribution to world civilization must be more than a continuous performance demonstrating that we can police the planet...
...Senator McCarthy was referring to the bitter convention struggle in 1948 when the liberal forces of the Democratic Party, led by then Senator Hubert H. Humphrey, defied the cry for unity and forced through a strong civil rights plank in the Philadelphia convention...
...The principal hope that at least some Americans may be in a position to register their clear-cut rejection of the Johnson Administration's dead-end policy in Vietnam in favor of a more creative approach rested in mid-November on Senator McCarthy...
...He has struck hard at Secretary of State Dean Rusk's changing explanations for the same policy and has called for the lat-ter's resignation...
...The prospect of character assassination is real...
...Three months later, on Page 13 of this issue, Mr...
...Senator McCarthy's views on foreign policy, especially in those areas of deepest and most immediate concern to Americans today, represent a decisive departure from the discredited doctrines expressed by Mr...
...The task is not easy, he cautioned...
...And yet developments during the past month suggest the possibility that although the electorate may be confronted with a fixed fight between two hawks in the November election, some semblance of choice, without which the democratic process is meaningless, may be available in some states which conduct Presidential primaries...
...Given the explosive mood of many segments of our society today, the failure to provide a meaningful choice might seriously, if not mortally, strike at the very heart of the democratic structure which we like to believe separates us from totalitarianism...
...Johnson's choice as his running-mate in 1964...
...He recommended that America reassess its obligations, determine priorities and "continue to seek, with other nations, a broader and more realistic distribution of responsibility for this world...
...On our better nights, we too dream dreams like this—until the alarm clock scolds us back to reality and the melancholy awareness that the choice in 1968 is far more liable to be between those two relentless hawks: President Johnson and former Vice President Richard M. Nixon...
...There were those at that time that said, 'don't divide the party, don't split the party, we can work this out, let's have a moderate plank.' "Some of those today who are calling for unity in the party were most active in the civil rights effort in 1948, which was a thoroughly divisive proposition to bring before a Democratic convention, and though there is no direct comparison between this issue and civil rights, the basic principle of facing up to it within the framework of the political party, I think, still is entirely valid...
...The Johnson Administration's tendency to serve as policeman of the world is a direct aftermath of these earlier doctrines...
...On the last level, for example, there have been indications that if the Senator goes through with his plans, he will be vilified by the Administration as a vengeful politician still embittered by his failure to become Mr...
...It is Senator McCarthy's belief that the victorious Humphrey-led crusade to put the party clearly on record on civil rights helped the Democrats to go on to win the Presidential race that year despite great odds...
...This move, bitterly condemned by party hacks as divisive and certain to defeat President Truman for reelection, precipitated the historic walkout by Southern delegates and led to the formation of the States Rights Party headed by Strom Thurmond of South Carolina, now a Republican Senator...
...Wechsler escapes from the nightmare just long enough to reflect on the dream choice that could —but won't—confront liberals and doves on Election Day next year: New York City's John V. Lindsay as the Republican nominee versus Minnesota's Senator Eugene J. McCarthy as the Democratic candidate...
...As we were going to press, the prospect of a direct confrontation between him and President Johnson on the issues of Vietnam >f McCarthy's had become a strong possibility...
...The Hope of McCarthy's CAndidacy In his article in the September issue of The Progressive, James A. Wechsler, the gifted editor and political analyst, captured the nature of 'The Agony of the Liberals" when he wrote: "For a large sector of the liberal community, the Presidential election of 1968 has assumed the dimensions of a nightmare offering only different forms of entrapment and frustration...
...As for China's foreign policy objectives, a subject that the Administration has now made the heart of its policy in Vietnam, Senator McCarthy is convinced that "she seeks recognition as a great power whose voice is heard in the world's councils...
...The Senator expressed it this way in The Limits of Power...
...The pressures on Senator McCarthy to sit still and keep quiet are severe...
...But Senator McCarthy is not easily intimidated...
...As he emphasized in his newly published book, The Limits of Power, he is deeply concerned that the United States is over-committed around the world...
...By entering the campaign he would provide millions of Americans with the only referendum they may have on the issue of deepest concern to the nation...
...The Minnesota Democrat had reached no irrevocable decision as this was written, but he told The Progressive that he was giving the most serious consideration to challenging President Johnson on Vietnam policy in states which have Presidential preference primaries...
...If Senator McCarthy goes ahead with his plan to provide campaign leadership for anti-Vietnam forces in the 1968 campaign, he will be playing an unaccustomed role—and one that is doubtless not much to his taste...
...And it is conceivable that if the voters' response to the Senator's cause and candidacy is as great as we believe it will be, President Johnson, once so consensus-minded, might yield to the pressure of public opinion by moving toward a more affirmative position on Vietnam...
...Although he has long been an articulate critic of White House policies in Vietnam, including the bombing of North Vietnam and Administration failure to recognize the role of the Vietcong, Senator McCarthy has not been previously identified as one of the more fiery foes of the President's Vietnam policy...
...All Chinese, Communist and non-Communist, agree on its importance...
...There is no good reason for accepting this characterization of the Vietnam war," said the Senator...
...The threat of reprisals if the Minnesotan dares challenge the President is menacing...
...China, understandably, seeks to overcome the bitter legacy of a hundred years of humiliation by the West...
...In recent months, however, he has spoken up much more sharply as the dead-end war has escalated...
...Johnson and Mr...
...Progressive-minded Americans will recall the courage and eloquence he demonstrated in his memorable speech for Adlai Stevenson against the unstoppable power of the Kennedy forces at the 1960 Democratic National Convention...
...Moreover, in a series of interviews he suggested he would also encourage peace-minded favorite-son candidacies in other states and would help lead the fight for a party platform plank that would demand significant changes in the nation's course in Vietnam...
...Then, facing up to the substantive issue raised by Mr...
Vol. 31 • December 1967 • No. 12
