Abstract

Pennsylvania

It is still too early to know whether significant reform of the Democratic Party can be achieved soon in Pennsylvania. One group actively encouraging it is the New Democratic Coalition, born out of the frustrations of the politician Joseph McCarthy campaign. McCarthy polled more than 400,000 votes, the highest ever given anyone in a Pennsylvania preferential primary, only to have the party leadership push through a delegate endorsement of politician Hubert H. Humphrey. That endorsement, and the tactics used to get it-anti-Humphrey delegates told to sit down and shut up, the state committee losing the papers of delegates pledged to vote for the victor of the primary on the first ballot, etc. convinced the McCarthy forces that the Democratic Party was in critical need of a shake-up.