".. the Democrats are now and will be in the future an obstacle to progressive change"
ya ya ya i altered that phrase
the real line goes like this
".. None of this is to suggest that the Democrats aren't now or won't be in the future an obstacle to progressive change: in too many instances they are, but they aren't the main obstacle for the moment."
"This election... is not about choosing a lesser evil. It is about our nation's future"
" are we going to move in a progressive-democratic direction
or a rightwing anti-democratic-authoritarian direction"
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NB " distinguish this characterization" rightwing anti-democratic-authoritarian "
from fascism which has a particular meaning in the communist movement:
- the open terroristic dictatorship
of the most backward sections of the capitalist class- "
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" the labor-led people's coalition, and Communists as a current within that coalition, must make every phase of the election process a number one priority."
"The people's coalition must be a major factor in the primaries.
It must reach, register and educate new and stay-at-home voters. It must guarantee a maximum voter turnout on Election Day."
"No less important, it must unrelentingly expose the reactionary positions of the Republican candidates and their racist and anti-democratic systematic campaign to disenfranchise tens of millions of voters."
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"Not everyone shares this view. Some think the Democrats are as bad as the Republicans. Others go further and say that the Democrats are worse because they create popular illusions that change is possible within the two-party system. Still others say the electoral process is so compromised by corporate money that participating in it is a fool's errand. And finally there are advocates of running a third-party presidential candidate in this election."
"Like it or not, millions go to the polls in spite of their misgivings. They are invested in the electoral process. Voting is a sacred duty. And the Democratic Party is the vehicle of reform for tens of millions, the majority of whom are working and oppressed people."
"What is more, labor will throw itself into the campaign to elect Democrats, moderate as well as progressive, albeit from its own organizational base. Four hundred thousand campaign volunteers are going to walk neighborhoods this fall."
"Much the same can be said about the racially oppressed. Ditto women and seniors. The majority of youth will also take part in the elections, and like four years ago on the side of President Obama and the Democrats."
"A third-party presidential candidate would only help the extreme right as well as isolate the left from the broader movement."
"The two parties of the capitalist class have similarities. That is undeniable. But differences also exist at the level of social composition and political policies - policies that can be widened under the impact of a powerful people's movement, as they were in earlier historical periods."
" It is easy to imagine any number of electoral strategies but....."
" which one is rooted in objective realities and advances class and democratic struggles?
which one positions the popular forces to go on the offensive
in the post-election period?
which outcome will clear the ground of neoliberal polices and debris? Which one will weaken the corporate class as a whole? "
"To skip over the current stage in the name of militant radicalism may feel revolutionary, but in the end it is self-defeating and strategically misguided."
Comments (11)
THE FIRST STAGE ON THE ROAD TO SOCIALISM USA
This is not a new policy; it goes back to the election of Ronald Reagan in 1980.
even if social change does take that long(a credible assertion for sure), ye maybe ought not proclaim that you are on stage one of your plan creeping on half a century after the plan's adoption.
why, an ungenerous eye might dismiss you as a pack of useless do-nothings endlessly spinning your wheels in the muck.
Posted by LeonTrollski | May 12, 2012 3:04 PM
Posted on May 12, 2012 15:04
"The people's coalition must be a major factor in the primaries. It must reach, register and educate new and stay-at-home voters. It must guarantee a maximum voter turnout on Election Day."
I agree. And it must make sure that they throw their votes away or stay at home.
Posted by davidly | May 12, 2012 4:57 PM
Posted on May 12, 2012 16:57
Never trust anybody who bases their actions on so-called "objective" reality.
Posted by Christopher | May 12, 2012 8:28 PM
Posted on May 12, 2012 20:28
Whoa, whoa, whooooaaaaaa. Waitaminnit, man.
"Voting is a sacred duty?"
What, you mean like jury duty (spit) or answering a draft callup (double spit)?
BZZZZZZZZZT. Wrong. Thanks for playing. Here's a copy of our home game.
Who's our next contestant, Bob...?
Posted by Mike Flugennock | May 13, 2012 11:17 AM
Posted on May 13, 2012 11:17
"millions go to the polls in spite of their misgivings. They are invested in the electoral process"
that part seems obvious enough
in fact i see value in the Democrat party label
jefferson jackson bryan franklin and eleanore
if the national convention
can't be taken over by a peoples coalition
like backed jesse jackson in '84 and '88
then that coalition ought to split
the party
not form a new party
if the people can't throw out the corporations as bryan tried to and in the end failed to
then split the party
and take the JJBF&E traditions along with em
the defeat the right stage is
nothing more
then a bald faced capitulation
even if part of the left stays inside
the donkey tent
the move has to be toward
a peoples'take over
a reclamation
a redemption
a purging of the corporate heart worms
Posted by op | May 13, 2012 12:48 PM
Posted on May 13, 2012 12:48
"isolate the left from the broader movement"
that i can agree with
but surely there are better uses of limited resources even within the confines of ballot boxing
better then electing "moderates" to the house
or adding ohbummer votes in safe states
exposing the GOP ?
why bother
better expose the 1% infecting and controling
the center aisle paths
of both parties
--as comrade sam aknowledges
at least by implication
if you read his "stage II "
strategy
--- which is essentially
a simpleton's update
of the browder line of 1936-1944---
a general support the jack asses everywhere
they gallop is completely inexcusable nonsense
in general working in house or senate races ?
forget about it
we really i think only face
the lesser evil argument in one context
where noam chomsky gets wobbly
over the potus race
a white hat emperor
and there only
in a few win/lose states
other wise
the line i think oughta be
work on something state or lcal
maybe maybe maybe
support pwogs running for the house
and if they can't get the party nom
push them to pledge to make an independent run
ala black hat ccenter aisle drama queen
joe joe-mentum
rip that reformation out of the bad guys play book
and use it to defeat blue dogs dlcers new dems
etc etc
if a pwog won't pledge to run in the general
no matter
whether they win or lose the local party nom choice
go do something useful elsewhere
Posted by op | May 13, 2012 1:10 PM
Posted on May 13, 2012 13:10
the above is of course a wind mill ecapade on my part
no one here has an unsettled mind on these matters
but hey
the site needs postings any one with a good post oughta contact father S
my guess we get snipers here however
and snipers don't like trapsing about in the open field in battle formations
Posted by op | May 13, 2012 1:18 PM
Posted on May 13, 2012 13:18
Yes, the running-dog imperialist bandits will be forever cast aside as the toiling masses loose themselves from their fetters and declare a people's electoral democracy based on fraternal relations among the working classes in cooperation with their imperialist task-masters!
As is well known by all with a highly-attuned class consciousness, the key to the liberation of the working classes lies within the belly of imperialism itself! All power to the Democrats! All power to the Democrats!
Malingerers and hooligans found to be voting for third parties or abstaining from the election altogether will be subject to re-education by the vanguard of the proletarian internationalist struggle for the deliverance from asunder the very boot-heels of imperialism and capitalist exploitation!
Let those who would malinger in the face of the greatest struggle of our epoch be cast into the flames of imperialist plunder! Let the masses be victorious by voting Democrat!
DOTARDS OF ALL COUNTRIES UNITE!!!!!
Posted by Pied Cow | May 13, 2012 2:15 PM
Posted on May 13, 2012 14:15
"isolate the left from the broader movement."
The broader movement? The broader movement? Oh, wait a minute! Didn't they mean to write "the Broder movement" as in David S. Broder (not to be confused with Earl Browder), the pundit Barack Obama described as, "most respected and incisive political commentator of his generation.")?
Broader, Broder, Browder... oh, brother!
Posted by Sandwichman | May 13, 2012 2:39 PM
Posted on May 13, 2012 14:39
"the key to the liberation of the working classes lies within the belly of imperialism itself! "
now that brings up lots of thorny stuff
i feel a ponderous responsive post
building in my colon
oh you poor fools !
stay clear if i shit this one out !!!
Posted by op | May 14, 2012 8:30 AM
Posted on May 14, 2012 08:30
"Broader, Broder, Browder"
apparently
sandy's brain has similar
rolling dirth quakes as mine
my favorite
gus hall monte hall robert hall
the last one of those hals
requires age and location qualifications
to enjoin and enjoy robustly
Posted by op | May 19, 2012 7:56 AM
Posted on May 19, 2012 07:56