Democratic National Committee chairman Paul Kirk warned here that “political extremism of any form must never be ignored or taken for granted” as he addressed a meeting of Jewish leaders about what he described as the deceptive political extremism of Lyndon LaRouche.
At the meeting, sponsored by the Jewish Community Relations Council of New York last Tuesday, Kirk asserted that “LaRouchites are participating in American politics under clouds of fraud and false pretense.”
He challenged “LaRouchites'” practices in raising funds, in recruiting candidates, in qualifying for a place on ballots, in calling themselves a U.S. Labor Party, in gaining political access at home and abroad, and in calling themselves National Democrats.
ASSAILS ILLINOIS PRIMARY OUTCOME
Kirk referred to the recent Illinois primary results in which two LaRouche candidates, Mark Fairchild and Janice Hart, won races for Lieutenant Governor and Secretary of State, respectively, allowing them to run as candidates on the Democratic ticket with gubernatorial nominee Adlai Stevenson.
“No one can undo history, but the Democratic Party must not permit that kind of history to repeat itself,” said Kirk.
The Democratic National Committee chairman charged that LaRouche supporters “specialize in hatemongering and hysteria through bilking the innocent and elderly and blaming the world’s problems on LaRouche’s conspitatorial villains.”
COUNTER STRATEGY IS WORKING
Since the Illinois primary, the Democratic Party has stepped-up efforts to inform the public before each election about LaRouche candidates. “We have monitored filings in every state in which LaRouche candidates have sought the Democratic nominations. We have fielded candidates even in districts where Democrats have done poorly — not to debate them and give them political legitimacy but to tell the voters of their political lunacy,” Kirk stated.
The counter strategy of the Democratic Party to fend off the “LaRouchites” has been successful since the Illinois primary, according to Kirk. “LaRouche candidates have not won a single contested nomination for federal, state, or local office and have been defeated in 85 out of 85 election contests,” he said.
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