The point of it all came near the end, when () Gates read that a third party would be very effective in 1948, but only if we could get Henry Wallace to be its candidate.
There it was, plainly stated. The Communists were proposing a third party, a farmer-labor party, as a political maneuver for the 1948 elections. They were even picking the candidate.
When Gates had finished, I took the floor. I said that while I would not rule out the possibility of building a farmer-labor party, surely the decision to place a third party in 1948 should be based not on whether Henry Wallace would run, but on whether a third party would help meet the needs of workers and farmers in America. And if a third party were to participate in the 1948 elections, the decision should be made immediately by bona-fide labor and farmer groups, and not delayed until some secret and unknown persons made the decision.
My remarks were heard in icy silence. When I had finished, the committee with no answer to my objection simply went on to other work.
However, it was becoming evident that the top clique was having a hard time with this proposition. It was also clear that () Dennis and his clique of smart boys were reserving to themselves the right to make the final decision, and that the Party in general was being kept pretty much in the dark.