In the 1968 campaign, the Democratic Party acted as a virtual appendage of the labor movement. Meany and the bigwigs of the AFL-CIO gave Humphrey much of his funding, did pretty much all of the canvassing and GOTV stuff, and came very close to electing Humphrey president.
In the aftermath, however, labor lost its 15 second grip on Democratic Party power and lost control of the party to the New Politics forces that were coalescing around the party and essentially seized power when the nominating rules were changed by McGovern-Fraser.
With the South having essentially jumped ship with George Wallace and the New Politics rising, is it possible that the labor movement could hold on to control of the Democratic Party in the early seventies? How might that be done?
My initial thought would be a Humphrey win in '68 would allow the AFL-CIO a free hand in the reform process. IOTL, a power vacuum allowed the New Politics groups to jump right in and reform the process, shutting labor pretty much out of the entire discussion. Any ideas? How would this effect the development of the Democratic Party? A move towards a more social democratic platform in the 1970s?