The
agrarian and back-to-basics nature of the EPIC Plan captured the
American nostalgia of returning back to the land, of producing what one
would need for sustenance, and of bartering and trading one's product
for other needed goods. And, more pragmatically, it put the jobless
back to work with the by-product of feeding the hungry. The EPIC Plan
perked the ears of
Californians, and soon Sinclair had a loyal following that joined his
EPIC Clubs. Designed to study the problems in California and how the
EPIC plan could solve them, the EPIC Club membership gave him the lead
in the August 1934 Democratic Primary with 54% of
the votes, with 54.6 percent of the support coming from Los Angeles
County, home of 179 cooperatives (Hackett 15). Sinclair, however, knew
his
support was regional and largely confined to the existing co-op areas.
To win the election, he would need the support of leading
Democrats, including FDR, before he could carry the entire state.
Before the primary, Sinclair had indeed hoped to meet with FDR to
secure his
approval and support of the EPIC Plan. Getting the attention of New
Dealers with agrarian production-for-use was not hard to do since New
Dealers had experimented with it, with mixed success, and even
implemented the ideas into the TVA plan. Sinclair did get an
appointment with FDR and other New Dealers in Washington, but not until
after his victory at the primary (Hackett 26-27).
When Sinclair met with FDR, he and most of the New Dealers were
hesitant to publicly support Sinclair's EPIC Plan. The New Deal was
already under harsh criticism for its seemingly socialist agenda, and
for having FDR ruling the nation with near-wartime executive powers to
implement his own
vision of relief. FDR was also aware of Sinclair's wealthy and
influential critics back home in California, who were spearheaded by
Louis B. Mayer, the president of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, and William
Randolph Hearst, the radio/tabloid/newspaper tycoon (I, Candidate 167).
FDR neither supported nor dismissed the EPIC Plan, but rather let it
simmer along without a wink or nod.
FDR's cautious reserve paid off as the smear campaign against Sinclair by
Mayer and Hearst moved ahead full-throttle. Throughout his book, I,
Candidate For Governor and How I Got Licked, Sinclair
shows how Hearst
used his media empire to misquote and misrepresent Sinclair
and the
EPIC platform, as well as how Mayer used his influential connections to
do the same. A public relations firm was hired on the recommendation of
Mayer with the sole
intent of discrediting Sinclair. Hearst, Mayer, other wealthy citizens,
and some leading Republicans were fearful of the EPIC Plan's
socialist-communist leanings, and of its production-for-use, instead of
production-for-profit, and set out to do whatever possible to end Sinclair's campaign in California.
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