Our First Serious Fascist?

Lyndon LaRouche, whatever one thinks of his politics, has at least brought a modicum of excitement to the political scene. John Anderson, who recently gained such wide support, is only new as a candidate for the presidency; his opinions, except for the fact of being held by a Republican, are in no sense unusual. Now LaRouche is something else again. In a few television appearances (as a candidate for the presidency in 1976, and once again this year, in the New Hampshire Democratic primary), he has been able to startle, disconcert, and at times even frighten liberal audiences in a way that recalls the effect Malcolm X had during the ’60s. Part of Malcolm’s appeal came, of course, from his electric rhetoric of aggression, and he was helped, too, during his flights of invective, by the guilt feelings toward blacks of those who heard him. LaRouche has nothing of this sort going for him. And he is not striking in appearance on the television screen as Malcolm was, with his reddish hair, and cream of brown complexion. LaRouche, with strong features, is all the same reassuringly plain; he is not exceptionally handsome, not intriguingly homely. Yet, like Malcolm’s, his effect on audiences has been little short of sensational. Speaking clearly, rapidly, and ever so grammatically, Mr. LaRouche at first gave the impression of an academic, in politics on a sabbatical, but after one had heard him out, one saw that he is a firebrand. What he has to say is often as ...