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We had a record low lousy turnout in the May 24, 2016, runoff election. According to Ed Sills of the Texas AFL-CIO, more than 96% of those who could have voted, didn’t. Even in the hottest national races, it’s unusual to see more than 63% turnout! That means that 32% of the eligible voters can win almost any election in America. Don’t forget, too, that eligible voters is not the same thing as “adult population,” because about 25% of the adult population doesn’t even register!
Activists who consider themselves progressives are divided on voting:
I fall in that third category. The working class has a stake in every election. Just as all political struggle has a workers’ side and a bosses’ side, electoral politics matters. Those who turn their noses up at electoral struggle are missing their opportunity to make progress and/or avert disaster.
In 1975, the Socialist Workers Party put me forward as a candidate for Congress. Following their usual policies, they ran me against the most liberal congressman in Houston. Their idea was that his liberal followers might need just a little shove to fall over into the radical camp. Also, SWP, being Trotskyite, felt that building their own party was more important than anything else in the world, and they figured I’d get more recruits from my opponent than I would if I ran against one of the reactionary candidates. Also, they thought elections were all frauds anyway, so there was nothing to lose by exploiting them.
I didn’t agree with any of that as I matured. Later on, they tried to put me forward against the only African American on the City Council. I balked at that and they withdrew the idea, then they transferred me to New York.
I worked very hard on elections when I was in the SWP. Being a candidate gives one the best political education possible, because reporters and audiences throw virtually everything at the candidate, and he/she better be able to answer without stuttering!
I invented a game called “Candidate” back in those days. One member of a group is designated “candidate” and everybody else thinks of difficult questions that the candidate must answer. It’s terrific training! Sort of fun, too, with the right group of activists.
Imagine for a moment that you’re being asked for your “policies” on transgender people’s bathroom habits!
Americans live in a limited democracy. Most of the democratic rights we have were won in struggle over the centuries. We never won full rights over everything that affects us, but we won a bunch of rights. The capitalists in power are always striving to take those rights away, and they’ve been pretty successful in the last few decades.
Incidentally, if one were to write a history of the fight for democracy, most of the heroes would be African Americans. From the civil war onward, they led just about every fight. Even today, the leadership of the battle against “photo-ID” voter suppression comes from the Congressional Black Caucus with Texas Congressman Marc Veasey at the head.
The battle for democracy is a battle against capitalism. Every victory brings us closer to the decisive victory that is needed and necessary.
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