Letters

On Jimmy Carter

Editors:

It seems to me that Mario Soares, speaking from far-off Portugal, showed more understanding about Jimmy Carter and the 1976 elections than those Dissent editors who were wringing their hands and expressing various degrees of distress about the Carter candidacy, in the Summer issue of the magazine.

Perhaps Soares was more aware of the minuscule size of the organized socialist movement in this country. Perhaps he recognized the path American workers have taken for almost a century to advance their class interests—through alliances and influence within the Democratic party. Perhaps he understood better than some of his American friends that “working-class politi...