National Affairs: New Machine in Manhattan

The American Labor Party’s busy doorbell ringers were not quite enough to elect their beloved Commentator Johannes Steel (TIME, Feb. 18) to Congress. Candidate Steel, endorsed by Fiorello LaGuardia, Henry Wallace and the Communist Daily Worker, lost to Democratic wheel horse Arthur G. Klein by 4,000 votes.

But the election was significant evidence of a new trend in Manhattan politics. In former years, a light vote always meant that Tammany’s Democratic machine had things its own way. Now it was the leftwing political actionists, not the party regulars, who turned out to vote regardless of issues or weather. Steel’s 13,421 votes compared favorably with the A.L.P.’s best previous total in the 19th District; Klein’s 17,360 showed that only one of three registered Democrats had bothered to show up.

Tammany’s paternalistic precinct captain seemed to be losing ground to the ruggedly radical, rain-or-shine A. L. Partisan.