Work in progress — cycles are added one at a time. Every quote is machine-verified against an archived source; follow the links to read it.
Issues › Elections & Suffrage
Communism, radicalism and "alien isms" as a political issue
| Cycle | Candidate | Position | Solution | Strength | Attribution | Verdict |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1936 | Earl Browder (Communist) | Popular Front: nominal opposition to Roosevelt, real opposition to Landon and 'fascism' | Run a Communist ticket while treating the defeat of the Republican-Liberty League right as the objective. | vague_gesture | reported | not_applicable |
| 1936 | Franklin D. Roosevelt (Democratic) | Repudiate Communist support; the New Deal is the answer to Communism, not its ally | Reject the 'red herring': neither seek nor accept support from advocates of Communism or any alien 'ism'; meet radicalism by curing the conditions that breed it. | specific_pledge | candidate_direct | kept |
| 1936 | Norman Thomas (Socialist) | Keep the Socialist vote independent; chide the La Follettes for handing Roosevelt 'everything on a silver platter' | Refuse the Popular Front logic of backing Roosevelt; hold Wisconsin's Socialist vote in the national column. | directional_stance | reported | not_applicable |