ADA Takes a Step Toward the Left

Perhaps the most significant thing to be said about the May 1968 convention of Americans for Democratic Action (ADA) was its revived spirit and liveliness, particularly impressive to one who had witnessed the factional bickering of the previous year’s convention. ADA has proved to itself that an act of political courage and imagination, even if timidly undertaken, can convert a largely moribund organization into one with some semblance of life and a possible future. The February executive board’s decision, by a vote of 65 to 47, to endorse Senator McCarthy for President, had not only proven a worthwhile risk but had brought a measure of self-confidence to the several hundred delegates.

The punitive withdrawal from ADA ...