The state Democratic Party chairman, Vince Demuzio, is working hard to prevent a repeat of the 1986 primary catastrophe. Election followers will remember that in 1986 the supporters of Lyndon LaRouche managed to make their way onto the Democratic ticket, displacing the “real” Democrats.

Party leaders failed to recognize the potential threat and watched helplessly as Democratic candidates were beaten by “LaRouchies” in the election. There are many people who believe Gov. Jim Thompson would not have been re-elected to a fourth term had the LaRouche candidates not sunk Adlai Stevenson’s campaign.

Currently, LaRouche and more than 20 of his supporters are in the running in the Democratic primary March 15 for offices ranging from president to the county recorder of deeds. Legal challenges to their candidacies have failed—thus, Demuzio and other party leaders are left with phone and mail campaigns to educate Democratic voters that these candidates are not true Democrats.

A suggestion has been made by some Democrats to change state election laws to give party leaders the power to “screen” candidates who seek to run in the party primary. They have admitted there might be constitutional problems with such a tactic.

Such power does not belong in the hands of party leaders. The potential for abuse is immense. The political process in Illinois is already too dependent upon personal “connections” and friendships.

Giving party leaders the power to screen candidates for the primary would open the doors to blatant favoritism as to who received spots on the party slate. Imagine a system where the presidential candidates had to be “cleared” by party leaders before they could run in the Illinois primary.

Not only could the perennial candidate Lyndon LaRouche be kept off the ballot for the reason that he is not a “real” Democrat, but other candidates might be kept off simply because party leaders considered them too much of a threat to their favored candidate.

The benefits of keeping “LaRouchies” off the ballot are not worth the inherent risks of such a plan, particularly since the same goals can be accomplished by educating Democratic voters about the ticket they will see on the 15th.