> But the events that brought about that situation were entirely external
> to electoral politics. In fact one of the more important events was in
> itself apolitical -- the Watts riot. The move to the left came from a
> rather small number of people raising hell & in effect putting a gun to
> the head of the ruling elites. All those reforms were extorted, not won
> by persuading anyoen or by supporting or opposing candidates in
> electons.
>
Sorry, Carrol, the Watts riot happened a month after LBJ signed Medicare into law. In fact, here is a December 1964 document from LBJ's Senate vote counter saying they already had more than enough votes to pass Medicare: http://voices.washingtonpost.com/ezra-klein/obriencropped.jpg . Already in 1960, Nelson Rockefeller got inserted into the Republican platform a plan endorsing Medicare as long as it had a "private option." The gun-to-the-head theory of legislation fails.
SA
