Re: [Marxism] Greens to be on Ohio State Ballot

[Marvin Gandall <marvgandall@xxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Yoshie writes:

> > (MG) It will be interesting to see how much of the left-liberal vote
> > Fitrakis can
> > draw out of the Democratic party running against a candidate like
> > Strickland, where the crossover likelihood would be highest. If the
> > Greens
> > can't make inroads, it seems to me that would be a comment on BOTH
> > independent third party politics and the putative DP left. Has there been
> > any initial reaction yet by antiwar Democrats?
>
> I don't see any excitement about the elections, among Democrats,
> Greens, or any other types.  I don't see any excitement about any type
> of politics at all, now.
>
> As far as I'm concerned, it's a good time to read up on Iran.
=========================
Reading your post and Mark Lause's and reviewing my own, it's clear how much
the fortunes of the Greens and DP left seem to be linked, whereas many of us
have had a a tendency to view them as being sharply opposed. In dog days
like these, neither can hope to have much success either inside or outside
the Democratic party. But if the political climate were to change, both
would almost certainly grow and, if things were to really develop, converge.
Probably the major question at that juncture would be over the timing of a
left-wing split from a badly divided Democratic party. I'm no longer as
confident about the movement of history as I once was, but this is what I
would be watching for, given the current political landscape, if there were
a major upsurge.

In the meantime, anything which promotes contact between Green party
activists and DP dissidents has to be a good thing, and the responsible
attitude on both sides ought to be to approach the other in that spirit and
to search for ways in which they can cooperate. I don't know how much
practical contact there currently is between these two camps - both of which
draw on the same left-liberal constituency - and whether, on balance,
relations are generally friendly, antagonistic, or indifferent. There have
been scattered anecdotes on this and other lists in the past but they don't
allow for conclusions to be drawn one way or another.

My strong sense is that dissenting Democrats like Cindy Sheehan and Cynthia
McKinney don't have a sectarian view of the Greens as "vote splitters" and
feel much closer politically to them than to the DP leadership. Is this
right, and what is the view here of their following among DP party
activists? Have any prominent antiwar Democrats hinted they are ready to
leave the party in disgust for the Greens?

Robert Montgomery's post earlier today on the mood and allegiances of
Massachusetts public sector workers was very good. This is the kind of
practical first-hand information we need, IMO, to properly evaluate the
relationship of the US working class to the massive roadblock called the
Democratic party, which, given the centrality of US politics, affects us
all.




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