Commies Come Out to Sing
For many decades the American folk music scene was dominated by leftists/communists. Many musicians had to toe the party line to perform or record. Folkways records was the big record label for many folkies, and its politics was decidedly leftist. When Dylan broke from folkie scene in the mid sixties, he was excoriated by many old commies, like Seeger, not so much for going electric, but because he refused to sing the songs the commie folkies wanted him to sing.
Sure, Dylan wrote and sang a number of songs defending criminals like George Jackson and Ruben "Hurricane" Carter, but he basically sang them because he wanted to sing them. He wanted to sing his own songs many of which had nothing to do with politics. The Seegers of the movement wanted Dylan to be strictly political.