The Left Vindicated: The Rise of the Socialist Party of America

If TR died, the Progressives would be more likely to support someone associated with him, like Hiram Johnson, rather than La Follette. And in any event, if the Socialists weren't satisfied with Bryan in 1908, there is no reason to think they will find La Follette sufficiently radical for them in 1912. Even the so-called right wing of the SP was heavily influenced by the orthodox Marxist argument that La Follette-style trust busting was futile, that trusts were a natural development of capitalism, and that the answer to the trust problem was neither TR-style legalization and regulation nor La Follette-Brandeis style trust-busting, but for the government to own the trusts. (The difference between so-called right-wingers like Berger and the left was that Berger favored the government *buying* the trusts instead of seizing them without compensation.) And then too the immense popularity of Debs among Socialists of all stripes would make it impossible for them to give up on his candidacy.

The reason Socialists weren't satisfied with Bryan not because he wasn't radical enough because many of them still remembered the collapse of the Populist Party because of Bryan fusion with the Democrats in 1896. Also Deb's wasn't the most enthusiastic about his own continued candidacy for the Socialist Party, for example in 1908 he attempted to get Bill Haywood to accept the nomination for the party and in 1916 decided to pursue a congressional seat instead of the presidency. It was reported that after every presidential campaign Deb's would spend weeks recovering from said campaigns because of exhaustion from the rigors of the campaign. It is not necessarily out the realm of possibility for Debs to abdicate from seeking the presidency. Also Debs after he was released from prison was a prominent backer of the CPPA and LaFollette's presidential campaign in 1924.
 
The reason Socialists weren't satisfied with Bryan not because he wasn't radical enough because many of them still remembered the collapse of the Populist Party because of Bryan fusion with the Democrats in 1896. Also Deb's wasn't the most enthusiastic about his own continued candidacy for the Socialist Party, for example in 1908 he attempted to get Bill Haywood to accept the nomination for the party and in 1916 decided to pursue a congressional seat instead of the presidency. It was reported that after every presidential campaign Deb's would spend weeks recovering from said campaigns because of exhaustion from the rigors of the campaign. It is not necessarily out the realm of possibility for Debs to abdicate from seeking the presidency. Also Debs after he was released from prison was a prominent backer of the CPPA and LaFollette's presidential campaign in 1924.

1924 was a *long* way from 1912. In 1912, the SP was still confident and growing. It had elected not only a Congressman but numerous mayors, state legislators, etc. It felt that it was due for a major leap forward. Even if Debs had declined to run that year, they would have insisted on running a genuine Socialist in his absence, which La Follette was not. As late as 1920, the SP refused to back the new Farmer Labor party, and insisted on running its own candidate (Debs again)--even though the FLP was more radical than La Follette. By 1924, the SP was a mere shell compared to what it had been, and its backing La Follette was an attempt to regain relevance Even so, La Follette made it clear that he was not a Socialist, and tried to get on the ballot as an independent in all states: he only reluctantly accepted the Socialist ballot line in states like California, where that was the only ballot line available for him.

Incidentally, with regard to La Follette and Berger: Even in the 1918 Wisconsin Senate race, "Although bent on [Irving] Lenroot's defeat, La Follette was not determined to have it at any cost. He used his magazine as a forum to criticize the platform of the strong Socialist candidate, Victor Berger. Both Wilson and La Follette were disappointed by the election of Lenroot, a man they considered, for entirely different reasons, disloyal and untrustworthy." Nancy C. Unger, *Fighting Bob La Follette: The Righteous Reformer,* p. 259. https://books.google.com/books?id=rNFpAwAAQBAJ&pg=PA259

In any event, the TR Progressives are not going to have La Follette, whose criticisms of the Colonel would be particularly resented after the latter's death.
 
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