By Duane Campbell
In 2014 the Left should turn to electoral campaigns as one element of
our political strategy. As we know, the
U.S. political system is overrun by money.
Economic power at the top is used to produce political results in Congress and in elections. The rich get richer while the middle
stagnates and the poor get screwed.
Our response must be
encouraging more voting not less. The lack of interest in electoral
participation expressed in many places is not progress for the left, rather it
reveals a lack of interest in defending democracy. Not voting is giving up on
what democracy we have. Yes, our
democracy is truncated, exploited, and
distorted by economic power , but we need to grow and expand democracy, not
abandon it.
We can make a difference in the electoral arena. We
recognize that many working people have a general distrust of
political parties- and often the
parties deserve this distrust Working people do not have- in most
cases- representatives in our government nor a party which fundamentally
represents our interests. While
the parties divide on some issues, both mainstream parties are dominated by corporate
interests.
Both parties
have failed working people and, our democracy is weaker for this.
In response millions, about half of all the eligible voters, do not even vote.
They do not believe that their participation matters. This is a
frightening defeat for democracy.
Voter turnout
matters. For example, in California
turnout was critical in 1994 in losing Proposition 209 ( Affirmative Action)
and in 1996 in losing Prop. 227 (anti
bilingual education ). In 2012 increased turnout made possible passage of
Prop.30- a tax on the rich to fund schools and social services.
The 2014 report, True South Unleashing Democracy in the Black
Belt by Ben Jealous notes the voter turn out in 2012 for Barack Obama, along with
changing demographics in the South to
argue that increased turn out of Black and Latino voters could turn the
elections of North Carolina and Virginia and soon even some Congressional
Districts in Georgia against the Republicans.
How do we convince people to vote?
·
We recognize
that motivation is about emotion. We
need to engage their feelings. They need
to hear, feel, experience the battle.
·
We recognize that people are motivated ( and
convinced) by taking action more than by argumentation. Getting someone to take an action is vital. Actions can include; going to a meeting,
making a donation, campaigning, signing
a pledge.
So what should we in
DSA do? We need to select and engage in some
electoral battles. Our selection could be based upon:
·
It is an important issue.
·
Our allies are working on it.
·
There is a democratic socialist thread in the
campaign.
For example, we can do anti austerity work by supporting
candidates at all levels who call for job creation, wage increases, and benefits for
working families and who oppose public
sector budget cuts in social services
and pensions. The Working America campaigns of the AFL-CIO have demonstrated that low propensity voters can readily understand and
will vote for such candidates-if canvassers listen to them and talk with them.
In our work we can explain that the assault on unions and
pensions, and public education are a part of a neoliberal strategy to weaken
unions and gut the public sector.
In some states such as the upper Midwest where low voter
turnout in 2010 delivered the states to the Republican governance ( Wisconsin,
Ohio, Indiana, Pennsylvania) campaigns targeting low income voters can focus on
reversing the severe austerity of state budgets and the increased voter
restrictions. Union members, including
retirees, can work within their unions
to increase voter turnout. Union members
in contested states as well as in the South vote more Democratic than their Tea
Party leaning age and gender cohorts among the white working class. ( See Levison, The White Working Class Today. 2013)
We can work with
the Moral Freedom Summer campaign in North Carolina and similar efforts in Georgia to reverse voter suppression laws. Efforts targeted at low income persons can
challenge the Republican decisions to prevent the expansion of Medicaid to the
poor and low income families.
Voters will turn out when issues vital to them are on the
line. In states like Texas, Kansas,
Oklahoma, Arizona, Louisiana and Mississippi, among others, organized work
could increase turn out by focusing on the war on women and these states’
recent restrictions on abortion clinics and abortion rights.
In states with large Latino and immigrant populations organized
outreach can improve turnout to punish the Republican House members who have
blocked immigration reform (almost all of them). Recent immigrants can not vote since they are not
citizens, but they are members of families
and networks where many relatives,
friends and neighbors can vote.
Building DSA
We need to stand and fight for what is right. That is what socialists do. In electoral work
we often need to engage in campaigns where the issue is right v. wrong such as
raising the minimum wage- not necessarily in support of a candidate. If it is about a candidate, then we need to
focus on defending something concrete- like public education and a woman’s
right to medical care. Low propensity
voters engage when the fight is about their values and their lives.
Our work often requires that we have our own or allied
campaign structures, not necessarily integrating into the candidate or the
party campaigns. In our work and
forums we can explain the limits of our current capitalism and the
control of our government by the capitalist class.
The two
major parties reveal deep divisions based upon race, ethnicity and to a lesser
extent social class. Since the early 1990's, both parties have become
more ideological, with the class divisions in the society running down the
middle of the Democratic Party. The
Congressional Progressive Caucus has some 65 members listed as members.
The
consolidation of a White Republican Party in the South has delivered control of
state houses and both the Congress and often the White House to the Republicans. The White
Republican Party may well deliver the Senate to the Republicans in 2014.
The
Republican Party is correctly seen as the party of capitalists and home for Tea Party conservatism. The
Democratic Party fields a long list of
candidates and their supporters with little ideological party cohesion- except
to oppose Republicans.
The divisions
between the two parties are at times significant, with complex regional and
racial dimensions. And, while cynics argue that there is little difference between
the parties, young women (beyond the
small leftist circles) see a Supreme Court sharply divided between Republican (
men) and Democratic (women) that decided 5-4 on health care restrictions in the Hobby Lobby case on the ACA
that denied some women’s rights
to contraception. Education and
organizing can turn these young women into new voters and some of them into DSA members.
While we recognize
that neither of the major parties will join with us to oppose global capitalism
and imperialism, there are issues where we can engage in the fight for gender justice, rights, and against voter
suppression . Recent positive campaigns
to increase the minimum wage and demanding fair wages have engaged and united
working families. Engaging in these
electoral struggles encourages people to expect more from their voting and
their government – a necessary pre condition for democratic socialism.
We need to respond
to widespread cynicism with agency. The
ruling class wants us to be discouraged, to stay home on election day, and to
hand our nation over to them. How do we change this situation ? We do not give up on democracy. We will not cede the future of our nation to the corporations.
Duane Campbell
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