American imperialism; and Johnson himself can become the most hated and despised president." {World Outlook, April 9, 1965, p. 3. J
The November 8 elections in the Unitea States bore witness to the accuracy of this forecast. Only two years after receiving the greatest majority in the history of the country, Johnson's popularity had eroded so far that the Repulican party -- dealt a staggering defeat in 1964 when it ran Goldwater as its candidate -- was able to register-a comeback that astounded its own chieftains and gave them good grounds for believing that they might even take the White House in 1968.
How is this shift to be explained? One pundit, Tom Wicker of the New York Times, declared it was because the Republicans, "by and large," offered the electorate "better candidates"! Others ascribed it to the inherent stability of the two-party system.
Some, seeking a more realistic explanation, pointed to rising concern among the American voters over inflation, a white "backlash" against "riots" in the ghettoes, frustration over the war in Vietnam, dissatisfaction with the administration's "credibility gap," the "midterm swing," and local grievances -- in about that order.
The truth of it is that the two-party system is not designed to provide a direct reflection of the moods and wishes of the electorate, differentiated according to class
or a sector of a class. It serves the more important function of blocking the formation of new political tendencies, particularly those bearing promise of transcending capitalism. Despite factional differences that can often appear quite sharp, all the protagonists of capitalism have a united front on this, extending from the Birchers to the labor bureaucrats. Elections in the United States can thus prove quite deceptive as to the molecular processes going on in the class struggle in the country.
On the surface the November 8 elections gave good cause for the elation evident in the more conservative circles. On the parliamentary level, the ‘shift was.in their direction. And their feelings were well indicated by the cheerful note in the Wall Street Journal: "The stock market sprang to life in the wake of Tuesday's elections." Both the Republican and Democratic high commands asserted that the two-party system had again proved its worth.
Left unexplained was the extreme way in which the vote is oscillating in-the twoparty framework. In 1964, the boat tilted heavily to one side as the passengers moved away from Goldwater in horror. In 1966, the same passengers, now moving away from Jdohnson with almost the same emotion, appear to have brought things into better equilibrium from the capitalist viewpoint, even providing the boat with a favorable trim to the right. But is this the end of the matter? Will they now stop in dead center, or a bit to one side or the other?
The fact is that the American people feel insecure and deeply uneasy and the prime generator of this feeling at the moment is the escalation of American involvement in a war on the mainland of Asia. The two-party system blocks them from giving this clear expression on the electoral level. The sentiment exists nonetheless, giving rise to some curious anomalies as they seek inside the election booth to find a way to indicate their exasperation.
The inflationary process, heightened by the enormous spending for the war in Vietnam, is another source of the bitter distaste for Johnson. The inability of the people to find adequate means of expressing this within the two-party system was shown rather eloquently during the final weeks of the campaign when housewives from coast to coast, instead of preparing to line up in angry battalions at the ballot boxes, began picketing the big chain stores, brandishing placards denouncing high prices.
White racist prejudice, hypocritically described by the mass media and the politicians of the twin parties. as "backlash," turned out -- as in the previous election ~to be not nearly so predominant as had been direly predicted (in hope of frightening and cowing the Negro people and turning them away from militant action and a struggle for "black power"). Nevertheless, white racist prejudice was there, registering its presence in such ugly ways as voting down a "civilian review board" for the New York police department, although the board amounted to mere window dressing. \
A bright spot in this otherwise drab scene was the campaign of the Socialist Workers party. In New York, in particular, the campaign caught the attention of rather wide circles of the radical movement, winning endorsements from a number of prominent socialist-minded figures. The National Guardian came out forthrightly for the slate headed by Judy White, the SWP candidate for governor, as did Paul M. Sweezy of Monthly Review, Edward M. Keating of Ramparts magazine, and Chris Kearns and Felix J. McGowan of the Catholic Worker. A roundup published by The Militant November 14 makes impressive reading. A big vote for the SWP candidates is, of course, not. expected. The campaign, however, did serve to publicize the program of revolutionary socialism in the very heart of the imperialist U.S. and to win new recruits for the movement.
For the coming period, two things can be confidently forecast for the American political scene: (1) Johnson will continue to deepen American involvement in Southeast Asia and the Republicans will back him in this despite the factional advantages they will try to derive from the unpopularity he is winning by his course. The day after the election; for instance, Richard ("Slippery Dick") Nixon, while claiming that the voters had repudiated Johnson, said very pointedly that it was not over Vietnam. (2) The underlying crisis affecting American imperialism in a world that has outlived capitalism and is struggling to break out of its confining shell, will continue to find increasing expression outside the ballot box and in the arena of action.
Demonstrations against the war, battles on the civil-rights front, strikes in defense of living standards like the ones conducted by the New York subway workers and the air-line mechanics, housewives picketing supermarkets -- struggles on this level, with whatever ups and downs, can be expected to widen and to deepen in the immediate period ahead, giving to American politics a new dimension that will eventually register in the minds of the workers as an imperative need to break out of the two-party prison.
"PAGEPICATION". OF THE MEKONG DELTA?
By. Dick Roberts
Where and how is Johnson going to strike next in Vietnam? That question is being raised by opponents of the war all over the world who have become all too familiar with Washington's pattern of escalation. There was one immediate obstacle in Johnson's path: the U.S. elections. With these “out of the way," the Democrats feel free to get on with the war plans agreed upon in Manila. The only question is, when and where? _
The most likely arena of expansion appears to be the. "de-militarized zone" which divides Vietnam. Not only has there been a major build-up of U.S. forces in that. area, but there have been increased saturation—bombing raids, and the off-shore U.S. naval fleet. began shelling the coast immediately north of the zone November . 2, the day Johnson returned from his Far East tour.
A less-talked about, but according to the Wall Street. Journal, an equally likely zone of escalation, is the. Mekong Delta. This is the rice-growing region south of Saigon, occupied by nearly 40 percent of south Vietnam's population, which .has been under virtual National Liberation Front rule from the early period of revolution. It has been the frequent target of U.S. bombing; but it has not been an arena in which the Pentagon has felt safe to launch the “search and destroy" operations conducted in the central and northern regions. The Wall Street Journal's opinion on this subject was expressed in a November 10 article written from Saigon by Journal staff reporter, Selwyn Feinstein.. mo,
"Now that Washington is no longer preoccupied with American political campaign— ing," Feinstein writes, "it is going to have to decide what to do about a fat sheaf of ‘contingency ' plans, drawn up by Gen. William C. Westmoreland and his staff, that call for a major new entanglement of American combat units in the Vietnam war. These plans would send U.S. fighting forces plunging into the marshy, rice-rich, Vietcong-infested Mekong River Delta..."
Although the final "go-ahead" “has not been received from Washington, according : to Feinstein, preparatory steps for a Mekong Delta invasion are already underway: "The U.S. Army is busily constructing a base big enough to handle a brigade (roughly 5,000 men) at the provincial.capital of My Tho, along one of the Mekong's main tributaries about 45 miles south of Saigon. Meanwhile, a U.S. Army battalion is operating on the edge of the Delta, halfway between Saigon. and My Tho in Long An province, and its performance in the words of one U.S. official, ‘is being closely watched.'" .
Nevertheless, Feinstein holds, there are reasons for continued reservation on the part of the Pentagon about the likely success of a full-scale attack on the Mekong region. The argument against it is significant, because it does not concern ‘the Mekong Delta region alone, but the whole U. S. strategy in Vietnam.
At issue is not so much ‘the question of invading the region, as of holding it after the advancing troops have moved on to new arenas of combat. In Washington par~ lance, this concept is often.referred to as "pacification" and, to put it another way, the question now being raised by some generals in respect to attacking the