In 1948, the sheen from America’s victory in World War II had yet to fade when Democrats met in Philadelphia for their party convention. The nomination of President Harry Truman for a full term in office was a foregone conclusion. But there were stirrings of opposition from Southern Democrats who virulently opposed the party’s new civil rights plank.
The defining moment of the convention occurred when then-Minneapolis Mayor Hubert Humphrey delivered an impassioned, electrifying speech urging the party to adopt a strong civil rights platform. He declared that the Democratic Party must “get out of the shadow of states’ rights and to walk forthrightly into the bright sunshine of human rights.” This led to the adoption of a progressive platform calling for a federal anti-lynching law, the abolition of poll taxes, and desegregation of the military and federal civil service.
Humphrey was just 37 years old when he delivered that electrifying speech. His raw political courage jolted the Democratic Party as no other figure had before. The mayor of Minneapolis parlayed the speech into a career that earned him the nickname “The Happy Warrior.” Lyndon Johnson later chose him as vice president, and Richard Nixon defeated him in the 1968 presidential election.
The speech and the civil rights plank proved to be too much for many Southerners. Angered by the adoption of the pro-civil rights platform, dozens of Southern delegates walked out of the convention. These segregationist Democrats, often called “Dixiecrats,” went on to form the States’ Rights Democratic Party and nominate South Carolina Governor Strom Thurmond for president, in an attempt to force the 1948 election into the House of Representatives.
Harry Truman would have none of it. He embraced the national party’s civil rights platform and issued Executive Order 9981 shortly after the convention to desegregate the U.S. Armed Forces, further cementing the national party’s break from Southern segregationists.
Thurmond received 2.4% of the national popular vote (about 1.17 million votes), but because his support was concentrated heavily in the South, he was able to carry just four states outright: Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, and South Carolina. Ultimately, his candidacy failed to force the election into the House of Representatives, as Harry Truman won handily with 303 electoral votes.
National Democrats had the courage to disavow the Dixiecrats and their toxic platform in 1948. Do their modern counterparts have the courage to disavow the toxic platform of the Democratic Socialists of America?
The DSA platform is also economically impossible to achieve. It calls for “a 32 hour work week with full pay and benefits.” For businesses to keep operating at current levels, they’d have to hire 20% more people. How many businesses have the cash to spare? For that matter, where will they find 20% more workers?
The DSA makes expensive promises that would bankrupt the country. “Universal healthcare at no cost to individuals” is one of many “free” things government will dispense. Also on the list: “all medical education and training,” “paid family leave,” “education from pre-K to college,” “reparations” and “a green future” with “massive investment in sustainable, publicly owned energy.” The group would also “cancel all student debt,” adding nearly $1.9 trillion to the national debt.
“Workers Deserve More” is chock full of fantastical promises. “Speaking of bills: you don’t really have them anymore.” How would that work? “You have no debt” and “you don’t pay a mortgage or have a landlord.” It’s reminiscent of Steve Martin’s bit: “You can be a millionaire and never pay taxes.” How? “First, get a million dollars . . .”
It gets better: “The DSA would also ‘demilitarize police departments’ and ‘redirect funding’ as “steps towards fully abolishing the police and prison system,'” the platform states. “Borders would be completely open. Every migrant would be eligible for citizenship and could vote before naturalizing.”
Democrats who don’t want to see their party in ruins had best step up and vocally, without hesitation or qualification, disavow the platform and dissociate themselves from the rabid America-haters. Accepting them as Democrats is not about a “big tent.” It’s a funeral bier for Democrats.
The Constitution is also on the chopping block. “Building a new society from the ground up”—France 1792 and Russia 1917, anyone?—entails making the District of Columbia a state, expanding the size of the House and instituting ranked-choice voting. Also abolishing the Senate and the Electoral College—though the latter wouldn’t give way to the popular vote. Instead, the platform calls to “replace the President and Supreme Court with an executive and judiciary chosen by and subordinate to Congress.”
The DSA platform is a huge gift for Republicans if they focus on its substance. For Democrats, it’s a real threat—but also an opportunity. Wise Democrats will define themselves by what they’re against—not only Mr. Trump but also the hard-core socialists in their midst. Democrats need to find the courage to say that the DSA is a wrecking ball that threatens to destroy both the party and America.
We have yet to see that kind of courage, especially from the leadership. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries are trapped in a web of their own making. They’ve allowed these radicals to worm their way into the Democratic Party and will now pay the price for the extremist views of the DSA.
We should be more worried about America than the Democrats. The DSA is not going away and will continue to “refine” its radical message until socialism is as palatable and wholesome as a glass of milk.
Let’s hope enough people are lactose-intolerant so their socialist pablum doesn’t go down very well.
Editor’s Note: President Trump is leading America into the “Golden Age” as Democrats try desperately to stop it.
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