Word: humphreyism
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Dates: during 1960-1969
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...needs of the people they propose to govern. Neither has come close to challenging the rationale for American aggression in Southeast Asia, and neither seems capable of the kind of complete disavowal which can best pave the way for an across the board restructuring of U.S. foreign policy. Humphrey for his part makes the conventional liberal analysis of American society and its ills, and offers the conventional liberal formulas to remedy them. Nixon repeats the stale Republican refrain about high taxes and excessive government spending, and suggests that the good will and resources of private enterprise can somehow substitute...
...vote for one of the two as the lesser of two evils and mark it down as a grueling but unavoidable duty? One could vote for Humphrey--were the country still not reeling under the impact of a liberal Democratic Administration, had Humphrey not allied himself in Chicago with the repressive chieftans of of his party, had he not stood against the minority plank on Vietnam, and were he somehow able to throw off the oppressive weight of his own rhetoric...
Voting is, of course, a political and not a moral act. But it is a myth that in this election one can have political impact only by voting for Humphrey, Nixon, or Wallace and it is a myth that by refusing to support one of them, a voter is sacrificing political influence for the sake of a clear conscience...
...vote for Humphrey or Nixon to save the country from Wallace is an unnecessary gesture that registers no protest; for even if he managed to throw the election into the House of Representatives, the Alabaman would not have the strength to see either himself or his philosophy prevail...
...prevent the next Congress from being conservative, but the election of men like these will help. They could, in the future, form the nucleus for an effective left wing movement in this country, as Wallace has become the nucleus of the Right. Like the refusal to vote for Humphrey, Nixon or Wallace, their election would be a step toward honestly appraising how bad things are, and how much work there is to be done...