Norman Thomas - Electoral Politics

Electoral Politics

Thomas ran for office five times in quick succession on the Socialist ticket — for Governor of New York in 1924, for Mayor of New York in 1925 and 1929, for New York State Senate in 1926, for Alderman in 1927. Following Eugene Debs's death in 1926, there was a leadership vacuum in the Socialist Party. Neither of the party's two top political leaders — Victor L. Berger and Hillquit — were eligible to run for President of the United States by virtue of their foreign birth. The third main figure, Daniel Hoan was occupied as Mayor of Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Down to approximately 8,000 dues paying members, the Socialist Party's options were limited, and the little known minister from New York with oratorial skills and a pedigree in the movement became the choice of the 1928 National Convention of the Socialist Party as its standard bearer. In 1934, he ran for U.S. Senator from New York and polled almost 200,000 votes, then the second best result of Socialist candidates in New York state elections, only Charles P. Steinmetz polled more votes, almost 300,000 in 1922 for State Engineer.

The 1928 campaign marked the first of six consecutive campaigns of Thomas running as the Presidential nominee of the Socialist Party. As an articulate and engaging spokesman for democratic socialism, Thomas' influence was considerably greater than that of the typical perennial candidate. Although socialism was viewed as an unsavory form of political thought by most middle-class Americans, the well-educated Thomas — who often wore three-piece suits—looked like and talked like a president and gained grudging admiration.

Thomas frequently spoke on the difference between socialism and communism, explaining the differences between the movement he represented and that of revolutionary Marxism. His early admiration for the Russian Revolution subsequently turned into energetic anti-communism. (The revolutionaries thought him no better; Leon Trotsky, on more than one occasion, levelled high-profile criticism at Thomas.) He wrote several books, among them his passionate defense of World War I conscientious objectors, Is Conscience a Crime?, and his statement of the 1960s social democratic consensus, Socialism Re-examined.