Democratic End-Run

When the Six Senators of the Democratic Apocalypse first announced their intention of carrying out the Democratic platform come hell or high water, there was initially much confusion and consternation in the ranks. The idealists were overjoyed. But the practical party-liners were aghast at the prospect of utter destruction of Democratic unity on essential bills in the Senate. The latest move of the liberal Democrats, however, in forming a twenty-star Committee outside the House should be both idealistic and practical enough to satisfy both sides.

Because the group of twenty is organized outside of Congress, much of the danger of Senatorial machinations may be avoided. Whereas Senators Douglas, Humphrey, McNamara, Morse, Murray, and Neuberger line-plunge might be stymied effectively within Congress, there is not much that Southern Senators and/or Republican ones can do to the reputations of Eleanor Roosevelt, H.S. Truman, and Adlai Stevenson. Most of the Twenty have passed through the fire of public scrutiny and stand either purified or hardened. As a result, they give the liberal platform a much solider foundation than the six enterprising young bucks could ever hope for. The effectiveness of the plan seems demonstrated already, since through it Rayburn and Johnson have been drawn into partial co-operation.

Besides transcending Senate factions, the Twenty as a group offer the only possibility of awakening Democrates from the opiate of the Eisenhower personality. The group offers Stevenson for the intellectual, Mme. Roosevelt for the downtrodden, Truman for the writers of vitriolic letters to newspapers, Estes for the plain folks, and Kennedy for the women. The combination of Democratic principle with Republican-style advertisable personalities is simply incredible.

It is also very heartening, for, even should it not accomplish much, the formation of this all-star pressure group proves that the Democrats are still a youthful party, capable of not only imaginative but extraordinary action. Even better, it shows that the party does mean business, that they mean to make a Democratic majority more than a mere acquiescence.