🚀 go-pugleaf

Communist Party USA ( CPUSA ) endorses Kerry:

From:
http://www.cpusa.org/article/articleview/590/1/56/

"It was no surprise to me that virtually everyone I met during a recent 
three-week trip across the Midwest was quick to remind me that this 
election is the most important in their lifetime. While agreeing that the 
overriding political task is to defeat Bush and his counterparts in 
Congress and elect Kerry and a more people-friendly Congress, no one 
reduced this to simply a contest between the Democratic and Republican 
parties. 

This election, they told me, will continue the nearly 24-year struggle 
against the forces of extreme political reaction who are now entrenched in 
the White House, Congress and Supreme Court - but with this difference: 
Nov. 2 could well mark a turning point for better or worse. 

A Bush victory would give the ultra-right a green light to ramp up their 
project to drastically and unilaterally reshape the domestic and 
international landscape in the interests of U.S. imperialism. 

On the other hand, a victory by Kerry and the broad democratic movement 
that supports him would be a body blow to the extreme right, bring some 
relief on bread and butter issues, and lift the siege on our nation's 
constitution. 

It also would create a much more favorable political terrain on which the 
people's movement could struggle for its agenda, beginning with an end to 
the occupation of Iraq. 

Thus the stakes are high, and what adds to the drama is that the electorate 
is so divided that the outcome will depend on which campaign is able to 
turn out the biggest vote. 

Given these circumstances, what should be the role of left and progressive 
people? 

It is not to parse every word, vet every speech, and scrutinize every 
statement of Kerry. Nor is it to damn Kerry with faint praise. Rather its 
main task, as I see it, is to bring into sharper focus the differences in 
the two lines of policy represented by Kerry and Bush, to delineate the 
vastly improved political playing field that a Kerry victory would bring, 
and, above all, to become involved in the grassroots efforts to mobilize 
the vote. 

In so doing, the left will help voters gain an understanding of the bigger 
picture, extend the practical efforts to reach the electorate, and enhance 
its connections to the main democratic organizations - connections which 
are critical to post-election struggles. 

Across the country there is a growing anti-Bush feeling, but that alone is 
not enough. To win requires that millions be convinced that the differences 
between Bush and Kerry are real, substantial and consequential to their 
lives on the whole range of issues: Social Security, Medicare, health care, 
overtime, minimum wage, public education, affirmative action, civil rights, 
reproductive rights, immigrant rights, gay rights, civil liberties, tax 
policy, environmental protection, Cuba, preemptive war, and nuclear weapons 
testing and use. 

Even on Iraq, there are differences between the two. But more importantly, 
the defeat of Bush would be a repudiation of his policies of war and 
occupation, and that could not be ignored by a Kerry administration. 

Thus, the remark heard in some left circles, "I will vote for Kerry but 
hold my nose," misses the point and is demobilizing. It may bring some 
momentary self-satisfaction to those expressing it. But it will do little 
to convince swing, undecided, or stay-at-home voters to go to the polls. 

In my experience, aside from right wing talk show hosts and their loyal 
listeners, few people believe that Kerry is a candidate of the left and 
progressive movement. Most know that he is closely tied to the U.S. ruling 
class and a defender of capitalism, as is Bush. 

That common class affiliation and fondness for the "free enterprise" 
system, however, doesn't prevent millions of voters from understanding that 
Kerry is a political centrist and espouses different policies than Bush. 

Nor does it keep them from realizing that a Kerry victory would give the 
broader movements more political leverage than they now have. 

The biggest danger in this election is not that people have unrealistic 
expectations of a Kerry administration, but rather that a substantial 
section of voters still believe that it doesn't make much of a difference 
who they vote for on Nov. 2. The responsibility of left and progressive 
people is not to spend their time bellyaching over Kerry's shortcomings, 
but to convince millions of people that there is a choice and that the 
outcome of this election will have enormous consequences for our nation's 
future. 

Sam Webb can be reached at vote2004 @ cpusa.org"


And the Democratic Socialists of America endorse Kerry:

http://www.dsausa.org/LatestNews/election04c.html

"Socialists Urge Support for Kerry
July 23, 2004

The Democratic Socialists of America Political Action Committee (DSAPAC) 
released a statement today urging its members to work for the election of 
John Kerry in the 2004 presidential election.

"Kerry was hardly the first choice of our members. Most supported Dennis 
Kucinich or Howard Dean in the Democratic primary elections and would be 
very critical of Senator Kerry's voting record on trade issues, as well as 
his support for the resolution authorizing the use of force in Iraq; but 
the most important concern of our members now is to defeat Bush," said 
Frank Llewellyn, the National Director of Democratic Socialists of America 
(DSA).

The DSAPAC statement was very critical of the current direction of the 
Democratic Party, lamenting the strength of the Democratic Leadership 
Council as compared to the Congressional Progressive Caucus in Party 
circles. But the statement condemned the much greater threat to the 
interests of the average American posed by Republican control of all three 
branches of government.

The statement urged DSA members to participate in get-out-the-vote and 
voter education projects with other progressive organizations. "It is very 
important that progressive movements keep organizing and mobilizing so that 
we will be in a position to make demands on a new administration," 
Llewellyn continued.

The Democratic Socialists of America is the largest socialist organization 
in the United States, with 5500 members and local organizations in most 
large cities. It is affiliated to the Socialist International, a federation 
of the world's socialist, social democratic and labor parties.

The complete text of the DSAPAC statement can be viewed at: 
http://dsausa.org/dsapac ."





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Grassroots Activist
( no email - spoofed )