{"id":129,"date":"2013-11-10T09:56:56","date_gmt":"2013-11-10T13:56:56","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.libertyunionparty.org\/?p=129"},"modified":"2013-11-10T09:56:56","modified_gmt":"2013-11-10T13:56:56","slug":"sawant-socialist-alternative-campaign-doing-well-facebook-post-to-codepink","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/greenmountainpeaceandjusticeparty.org\/?p=129","title":{"rendered":"Sawant Socialist Alternative Campaign doing well – facebook post to CodePink"},"content":{"rendered":"

——– Original Message ——–
\nSubject: [CODEPINK DC] Sawant Campaign Optimistic Of Eventual Victory!…
\nDate: Fri, 8 Nov 2013 23:09:34 -0800
\nFrom: Alan L. Stewart
\nReply-To: Reply to Comment
\nTo: CODEPINK DC <7652470775@groups.facebook.com><\/p>\n

Alan L. Stewart posted in CODEPINK DC<\/p>\n

Sawant Campaign Optimistic Of Eventual Victory! Election Victories
\nfor Socialist Alternative – Huge Opportunities for Working-Class
\nPolitics Must be Seized <\/p>\n

Two Socialist Alternative candidates sent historic shock waves through
\nthe United States left last night. Both candidates, Kshama Sawant in
\nSeattle and Ty Moore in Minneapolis, mounted the strongest election
\ncampaigns by open socialists in a major U.S. city in many decades.<\/p>\n

Only initial results have been announced, and more ballots are being
\ncounted in the next couple weeks. At the moment, both races are too
\nclose to call. Moore is down by only 130 votes. Sawant is down by only
\n4% in the initial count of an estimated 38% of the total ballots
\nexpected, with the remaining ballots likely to trend strongly in
\nSawant\u2019s favor.<\/p>\n

Regardless of the final count, the votes for these firebrand socialist
\ncandidates illustrate clearly the vacuum in U.S. politics and the
\nanger at the corporate-controlled establishment.<\/p>\n

Rooted in the Great Recession and the shallow economic recovery, there
\nis a tremendous distrust of the political establishment, which fueled
\nboth campaigns. The government shutdown also stoked up a popular rage
\nthat allowed the socialist campaigns to strike a real chord with
\nordinary people. During the government shutdown, the approval rating
\nfor Congress slumped to a historic low of 5%. In a Gallup poll, a
\nrecord-high 60% said that a new party was needed in the U.S., and a
\nrecord low of only 26% said the two parties were doing an adequate
\njob.<\/p>\n

Many people in the U.S. often feel discouraged and demoralized by the
\nrigged pro-corporate electoral system. However, these campaigns
\ndemonstrated beyond a shadow of the doubt that independent candidates
\nand ordinary working-class people can challenge the establishment and
\nwin without taking a dime of corporate money! Ty Moore raised more
\nmoney than his main corporate-backed opponent, and Kshama Sawant
\nraised $110,000 compared to her opponent\u2019s $238,000.<\/p>\n

Socialist Alternative\u2019s campaigns showed clearly that it is possible
\nfor ordinary people and young people to organize together and fight to
\nchange the world. Socialist Alternative wants to build on this
\nmomentum, and is appealing to people to donate and get involved with
\nSocialist Alternative to help us build future campaigns of the 99%
\nlike the \u201cFight for a $15\/hour minimum wage and a union\u201d and the
\nstruggle to tax the super-rich to pay for a green jobs program and
\nmass transit.<\/p>\n

As cuts to popular government programs like Social Security are likely
\ncoming, possibly in the next few months, both corporate parties will
\nprobably see their support further undermined. Going into the 2014
\nmid-term elections, these socialist campaigns have shown the huge
\nopening for independent working-class politics. Coalitions of fighting
\nunion leaders, socialists, Greens and civil rights groups should be
\nbuilt in every city across the country to organize movements and mount
\nindependent candidates.<\/p>\n

These election results, along with the Arab spring, the Wisconsin
\nlabor uprising, and the Occupy movement, have made possible what
\nseemed impossible. They are ushering in a whole new process. Not only
\nare these electoral campaigns leading to the growth of a new vibrant
\nsocialist movement in the United States, but they will also serve as a
\nmodel that will contribute to the eventual inevitable rise of a new
\nparty that will fight the richest 1% \u2013 a mass party of working
\npeople.<\/p>\n

Socialist Ideas on the Rise<\/p>\n

Many people on the left argue that socialist ideas cannot gain mass
\nsupport in this country; these campaigns show that they\u2019re dead
\nwrong. Pew Research Center Polls show over and over that a majority of
\nyoung people and people of color now prefer \u201csocialism\u201d to
\n\u201ccapitalism.\u201d Obviously, this consciousness is confused, but it
\nillustrates that people are fed up with growing inequality, the
\nunbearable rises in the cost of living, and capitalism itself.<\/p>\n

Sawant and Moore\u2019s opponents barely bothered to resort to
\n\u201cred-baiting\u201d against socialist ideas. Instead, incumbent Richard
\nConlin in Seattle used thinly-veiled anti-immigrant and sexist
\nrhetoric against Sawant while Alondra Cano in Minneapolis shied away
\nfrom negative campaigning, preferring to rely on her support in the
\nreal estate industry and the political establishment.<\/p>\n

Socialist ideas are clearly back on the agenda, and Socialist
\nAlternative is uniquely positioned to help build a new socialist
\nmovement. This needs to be done by socialists being the most effective
\nfighters for the needs of ordinary working-class people such as a $15
\nan hour minimum wage and a tax on the super-rich to fund jobs and
\nservices. Socialist Alternative has stood out on the left for our
\nability to connect with politicized workers with understandable
\nlanguage. At the same time, we honestly explain that reforms in our
\nsociety can only be fully sustained if power is taken out of the hands
\nof big business and a new socialist system based on democratic public
\nownership of the top 500 corporations is established.<\/p>\n

Building Movements<\/p>\n

Ty Moore\u2019s campaign in Ward 9 of Minneapolis was built alongside
\nimportant high-profile housing justice campaigns led by Occupy Homes
\nMinnesota. Moore and Socialist Alternative helped co-found this
\norganization which successfully defended many homeowners from being
\nevicted by big banks and the police. The center of Occupy Homes\u2019s
\n\u201cForeclosure and Eviction-Free Zone\u201d was in Ward 9, a diverse,
\nworking-class community, and both Occupy Homes and the Moore campaign
\nmutually reinforced each other.<\/p>\n

Likewise, in Seattle, Sawant\u2019s campaign helped put the \u201cFight for
\n15\u201d – strikes and protests of low-wage workers for a $15\/hour
\nminimum wage – at the center of political debate. When labor
\norganizations placed an initiative on the ballot to raise the minimum
\nwage to $15 in the suburb of SeaTac, Socialist Alternative
\nenergetically built this movement while aiding victimized striking
\nworkers and countering arguments against raising the minimum wage,
\ncontributing to the ballot initiative\u2019s historic success.<\/p>\n

Eventually, both mayoral candidates, who hadn\u2019t mentioned the
\nminimum wage at the beginning of their campaigns, came out vaguely in
\nsupport of a $15\/hour minimum wage. Sawant\u2019s success at shifting the
\npolitical debate prompted the Seattle Times, the largest newspaper in
\nSeattle, to say before the election that \u201cthe winner of Seattle\u2019s
\nelection is already the socialist Kshama Sawant.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Labor Movement<\/p>\n

These independent working-class electoral campaigns have important
\nlessons for the labor movement, which is facing a serious crisis. The
\nlabor movement is under attack from big business, and the Tea Party
\nRepublicans are trying to destroy union rights altogether. However,
\nDemocratic politicians are often the ones proposing cuts,
\nprivatization and other attacks on unions, too. In this situation, the
\nlabor movement needs to regain its fighting traditions and run more of
\nits own independent working-class candidates.<\/p>\n

Instead, labor leaders often back Democrats either out of fear of
\nRepublicans, habit, or the fact that many labor leaders live lives of
\nluxury that have more in common with politicians than their own
\nmembers. However, the Moore and Sawant campaigns demonstrate that
\nworkers are increasingly fed up with politics as usual, and labor
\nsupport can be gained by credible independent campaigns with concrete
\ndemands. Moore obtained the active support of SEIU State Council in
\nMinnesota which played an instrumental role in the campaign.
\nMeanwhile, Sawant won endorsements from six union locals, and a
\nmajority of the King County Labor Council voted in favor of endorsing
\nSawant (narrowly missing the super-majority necessary for an
\nendorsement).<\/p>\n

In the coming months and years, union members will face continual
\nattacks on their rights and living conditions. In the course of these
\nfights, we\u2019ll need to use protests, pickets, strikes and direct
\naction to defend ourselves. Workers will have to struggle to win
\ndemocratic control of their unions and elect leaders who are actually
\nwilling to resist the corporate onslaught. These battles will show the
\nneed for workers to have their own independent political
\nrepresentation, and the Moore and Sawant campaigns show that unions
\ncan run very successful independent candidates, which should be a step
\ntowards forming a new party of the 99%.<\/p>\n

Next Steps<\/p>\n

Many people who supported Moore and Sawant are breaking from the
\nDemocratic Party, but aren\u2019t ready yet to fully break from the
\nDemocratic Party. Socialist Alternative will continue to argue within
\nsocial justice movements and coalitions that the Democrats are
\nfundamentally a party of big business, and that working-class people
\nshouldn\u2019t give any support to them – even candidates on their
\n\u201cleft wing.\u201d<\/p>\n

We urgently need a party of working people, connected to social
\nmovements, fighting unions, community organizations, Greens and
\nsocialists. As a concrete step to get there, we should form coalitions
\nthroughout the country with the potential to come together on a
\nnational level to run 100 independent working-class candidates in the
\n2014 mid-term elections. The unions who supported the Moore and Sawant
\ncampaigns and many others should run full slates of independent
\nworking-class candidates in the mid-term, state, and local
\nelections.<\/p>\n

U.S. capitalism is in a deep economic and social crisis. The political
\nestablishment is discredited, and their system of government appears
\nbroken. Deep anger is growing against inequality, racism, sexism and
\nhomophobia. Environmental destruction is worsening. The situation is
\ncrying out for an alternative.<\/p>\n

If socialists, Greens and union leaders don\u2019t capitalize on this
\nopening, then the right wing will. For instance, a Libertarian
\ncandidate for Virginia governor won over 145,000 votes in this
\nelection. Even worse, reports show that openly racist far-right groups
\nare growing.<\/p>\n

This is an urgent situation. We need to actively build the socialist
\nmovement along with broader coalitions of the 99% to challenge the
\nagenda of big business. The incredible election results of Ty Moore
\nand Kshama Sawant are shining examples of the way forward.<\/p>\n

To join Socialist Alternative today:
\nhttp:\/\/www.facebook.com\/l\/rAQFehE5JAQHax2rj99JNyzX1bex0AHVQPCvdmCf8QDwKcw\/socialistalternative.org\/join\/<\/p>\n

To donate to Socialist Alternative:
\nhttp:\/\/www.facebook.com\/l\/XAQHxQJvfAQFbm7_MqZ5EKkNtJKCxi_0IaAo3sAe8q_Zj8A\/https%3A%2F%2Fvotesawant.nationbuilder.com%2Fdonate
\n We do not accept corporate money; so we need your support!<\/p>\n

Kshama Sawant campaign information:
\nhttp:\/\/www.facebook.com\/l\/CAQHUlbz2AQF1UtM-ZIBSJlHnnaKy6bdo8FA6SexsI_Pi8Q\/www.votesawant.org\/<\/p>\n

Election Victories for Socialist Alternative – Huge Opportunities for
\nWorking-Class Politics…
\nhttp:\/\/www.facebook.com\/l\/3AQGUZP6aAQF-KjqgTYwXmoltkWaU7U35ZyPr6-_-WsFINA\/www.votesawant.org\/election_victories_for_sa<\/p>\n

Two Socialist Alternative candidates sent historic shock waves through
\nthe United States left last night. Both candidates, Kshama Sawant in
\nSeattle and Ty Moore in Minneapolis, mounted the strongest election
\ncampaigns by open socialists in a major U.S. city in many decades.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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