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US. ELECTION OUTCOME

- By MIKE DAVIDOW

Despite massive popular discontent
.with four years of war under the
Johnson - Humphrey administration,
Richard Milhous Nixon today has
squeezed out one of the narrowest vic-
tories in U.S. political history.

Concession from Vice-President Hub-
ert Humphrey came shortly after noon,
following long hours of seesawing re-
turns after the polls closed Tuesday
night.

Nixon promptly followed the con-
session with a statement that he would
try to re-unite the nation and indicat-
ing cooperation with elements of the
Democratic Party.

The 43 percent of the vote given
him, the smallest share provided a Pre-
sident since 1912, dramatically demon-
strated the nation was almost prepared
to swallow its discontent rather than
turn the country over to Nixon and his
running mate, Spiro Agnew.

The election results disclosed that a
tortured and thwarted.electorate denied
by assassination and suppression the
alternatives it sought gave an ageniz-

Senate doves re-elected

When the smoke lifted it revealed
that an imporant bloc of opponents and
critics of the Vietnam war rétained
their Congressional posts. The war-
weary voters returned Senators J. Wil-
liam Fulbright of Arkansas, chairman
of the Senate Foreign Affairs Commit-
tee, Frank Church (D. Iowa), Gaylord
Nelson (D. Wisc.), Birth Bayh, D. Ind.)
and others.

The victorious doves were re-elected
despite savage attacks, heavily financ-
ed by opponents such as billionaire
Charles P. Hunt of Texas.

The Democrats maintained control of
Congress, retaining nearly the same
ratio to Republicans in both House and
Senate as existed before. Estimates
were that the final standing in the Sen-
ate would be about 57-43 compared to
the previous Democratic. majority of
63-37,

An historic addition to Congress is
Shirley Chisholm of Brooklyn, the first
Negro Congresswomen in history. An-

other notable victory was that of Alan

PACIFIC TRIBUNE—-NOVEMBER 15, 1 968—Page 6

ing minority assent to Nixon and
Agnew—hardly a mandate and no
swing to the right.

The Nixon-Agnew ticket was beaten
in Agnew’s home state, Maryland.

The voters overwhelmingly rejected
George Wallace’s fascist-like appeal
everywhere but in the South and dras-
tically reduced his vote from an earlier
anticipated 22. percent to 14 percent of
the total vote.

The Wallace vote while it was dimi-
nished by belated intensive campaigns
by pro-Humphrey trade union forces
also provided Nixon with his margin of
victory.

The Nixon appeal to Wallace sup-
porters not to “waste” their vote paid
off as Senator Strom Thurmond parti-
cularly revealed in South Carolina and
the “border” states.

In what appeared to be the only way
open to them, millions of voters de-
monstrated in a last-minute surge of
support to Hubert Humphrey the peace-
ful course they wanted the country to
chart and their rejection of racist re-

Cranston of California, whose triumph
over arch-reactionary Max Rafferty
helped offset the defeat of anti-war
stalwarts like Paul O’Dwyer, of New
York and Joseph Clark of Pennsyl-
vania.

Senator Gaylord Nelson, who cru:

saded for drug-price controls and won
the enmity of the drug lobby, defeated
an opponent whose campaign was
heavily endowed by the drug corpora-
tions. Nelson was strongly identified
with the Kennedy policies.

The victory of Sen. George McGov-
ern (D., S.D.) paid tribute to his record
and his refusal to retract his dissent to
the war in Vietnam.

Sen. Abraham Ribicoff, (D., Conn.),
who laced into Mayor Daley for Ges-

_tapo brutalities in Chicago, won a sec-
ond term, easily defeating his Republi- -

can opponent Edwin H. May, Jr., who
called himself an enthusiastic member
of ‘the Nixon team.”

Among others, progressive Ameri-
cans: will rejoice in the re-election- to
the House of Rep. Adam Clayton
Powell, who. swamped his GOP and

Nixon's narrow win

pression camouflaged as “law and
order.”

Humphrey’s near victory was largely
the product of his last-weeks’ efforts
to dispel past doubts by adopting much
of McCarthy’s position on Vietnam and
by sharpening his attacks on Wallace.
Above all it was given its near-
victorious 11th hour push by the Pre-
sident’s order for a halt to the bomb-
ing of North Vietnam, But this came
too late and appeared too tainted with
electoral manoeuvering to breach the
deep-seated Johnson-Humphrey “credi-
bility gap.”

Nixon’s near-defeat was the result
of a late rally by the disintegrating
coalition on which Democratic victo-
ries were fashioned since the New Deal.
By far the most effective force was the
black voters who, by their thumping
90 percent vote for Humphrey in big
cities, provided the Vice President with
much of his margin of victory in key
states. : :

In the South, where they gave Hum-
phrey 97 percent pluralities, they were

the only substantial force left to 4 Le
mocratic party devoured py W
and the Republican party.

While an intensive AFL-CIO ca
paign managed to rally trade nfl
support and cut down Wallace }
ence,it fell considerably shor of cl
Democratic pluralities. Similarly ¥ for!
much of the McCarthy movement’
ed a late united front with Ken? =o
and Humphrey forces, the results esp
the breach in Democratic ranks, ari
cially widened in Chicago, was al
fully healed at the grass-roots eV ,

The peaceful forward direction, iM
ers sought was most clearly expr oi
in most cases where they had 4 ca
of Senatorial and Congressional a?
dates who were not compromis
close ties with the Administrati2®
who had records of opposition
President’s Vietnam policy. ie eal

In Cleveland, Charles Vanik 4 de
ed arch reactionary Representative” ,
Frances Bolton. Nixon was deni PA
significant gains in either the
or House of Representatives.

Conservative opponents in Harlem’s
18th district.

John Conyers, (D. Mich.), was re-
elected.

Councilman Edward Koch, (D.L.,
N.Y.) defeated Republican State Sena-
tor Whitney North Seymour in the 17th
(Silk Stocking) district in the election
for the seat vacated by Republican
Rep. T. R. Kupferman, Mayor Lind-
say’s successor.

In Nassau’s 5th district, Allard Low-
enstein won a close race over Mason

Hampton, Republican-Conservative, for ,

the seat vacated by Democratic Rep.
Herbert Tenzer.

Organized labor, the strongest lobby
for. the people in the capital, is adding
up the pluses and minuses in the Con-
gressional elections as returns continue
to pour in.

Paul Wagner, legislative representa-
tive of the United Auto Workers said,
“If you consider the overwhelming pub-

licity. given to the issue of law and.

order and the campaign of George
Wallace and ‘riots,’ I think you can see

ae

that we achieved a stand, some way

it was a negative victory.” i
Wagner said the drift of the COY
toward the right and the growth i

cism would continue unless a
counterforce with a clear alter™
program steps forward to fill the ¥
um in the Democratic Party.
“The elections were lost by thé
mocrats because of party disunity,

disorganization,” Wagner declare”

“The pitch of criticism of LabOF oy
increase in the 91st Congress,” he u
tinued. “We will see a slow strane
tion of all social programs in Cone’ if

“I think we are going to seé
pressure from the people in the ®
session. The people will continu?
stirred up.” rth

Ben Albert, publicity director °
Committee on Political Educati? on
the AFL-CIO, said, “It isn’t 2 © Gof
day. The loss-of Sen. Clark a as

to?

_Morse will hurt us. The defeat of

John Dow in New York was 54 =
the vast sweep predicted by the R'
licans did not materialize. I sym
thize with the country right no