Unemployment was at high levels, and recovery was far off. Opponents in GOP called for cutting spending to cut the budget deficit. The Democrats were at a split decision. Units accused him of gathering and caving into "big business". Right -wing demagogues on the stump and media accused the White House of imposing socialism on America. In 1934, Upton Sinclair's EPIC crusade proved most influential and not just in helping to push the New Deal left. After quickly winning Democratic gubernational primary, Sinclair's threat alarmed conservatives that it sparked the creation of the modern political campaign, with reliance on hired guns, advertising and media tricks, national fundraising attack ads on the screen and more. It provoked Hollywood’s first…show more content… EPIC organizing surged in California. The number of local chapters was more than 800, and circulation of the EPIC News reportedly hit 2 million. Black precincts that had reliably voted Republican now split down the middle. Even a few Hollywood screenwriters who regularly kept their politics under wraps in the right-wing movie colony spoke out for Sinclair. The vested interests organized the most creative dirty-tricks campaign ever seen. It involved turning over a major campaign to publicity, outside advertising, fundraising and media consultants for the first time. What got left of the official GOP campaign got chaired by a local district attorney named Earl Warren. California’s newspapers covered only Merriam’s activities while mocking Sinclair day after day with quotes from books and novels taken out of context. Hollywood moguls docked most employees a day’s pay, giving the proceeds directly to Merriam’s coffers. Millions of dollars to defeat Sinclair poured in from business interests across the country. And then there were the attack ads shown in movie theaters around the state causing near-riots in some
