It’s Stupefying

If the debacle of the Illinois primary election does nothing more, it will alert the rest of the United States to the right-wing extremist natureof Lyndon H. LaRouche Jr. and the followers of his self-created National Democratic Policy Committee.

Two unknown LaRouche devotees, Mark J. Fairchild and Janice Hart, stupefied Illinois Democrats by winning the Democratic nominations for lieutenant governor and state treasurer on Tuesday. They upset organization Democrats who had taken victory for granted, winning perhaps merely because their surnames were more appealing than the ethnic-sounding names of their opponents.

Under Illinois law, the 28-year-old Fairchild becomes the official running mate of Adlai E. Stevenson III, the nominee for governor. To his credit, Stevenson vowed, “I will never run on a ticket with candidates who espouse the hate-filled folly of Lyndon LaRouche.”

Stevenson might even jeopardize his chance of being governor, but it will be a service to the nation by isolating the tiny LaRouche group and exposing its tactics of vilification, harassment, intimidation and threats of violence.

For years LaRouche advocates have accosted travelers with their anti-Semitic tracts in airport terminals, accused Henry A. Kissinger and Walter F. Mondale of being Soviet agents and promoted a laser defense against the Soviets long before Ronald Reagan’s “Star Wars.” A recent LaRouche newspaper editorial is headlined, “Put George Shultz on Trial for Treason.”

Their rhetoric was so bizarre that it seemed laughable. But LaRouche and his disciples are not to be laughed off. Treasurer nominee Hart promised “Nuremberg tribunals around the country” to root out traitors. LaRouche must be heavily guarded at his Virginia estate, he says, because of threats on his life from Communists, Zionists, the Rockefellers, various terrorists, the mayor of Keene, N.H., and Queen Elizabeth II. The group says that it is fielding about 700 candidates for local, state and federal offices this year, although the secretary of state’s office is not aware of any, at this point, running statewide in California.

In spite of the group’s title--it is not a recognized political party--and while LaRouche followers register and run as Democrats, they have nothing to do with the Democratic Party or any other reputable political organization. The Democratic Party has done whatever it can to dissociate itself from LaRouche.

This is America, and the law permits anyone with minimal qualifications to seek office. Let the LaRouches run, if they like, but legitimate Democrats and others must stand up to them and expose their slanders and paranoid allegations of conspiracies lurking everywhere. Illinois has demonstrated how important it is to cast your vote with care.