[Marxism] An analysis of the DP convention that works better

["Charles Brown" <charlesb@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Mark Lause 



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Yes, Charles, let's test that.

In each and every case you mention--woman suffrage, civil rights and
the anti-Vietnam War movement--the impetus to change came from people
functioning independent of the electoral parties.  As the movements
grew stronger, they forced officeholders to make concessions.

^^^^
CB: Yes, and contrary to Sartesian's claim, none of these dramatic
movements of the 20th Century was debilitated by the Democratic Party. 
So, his claim fails the tests of factual history. All of these movements
succeeded to a substantial degree. In the case of the Vietnam war peace
movement, it basically took over and "debilitated" the Democratic Party
in 1972 with McGovern as the candidate whose main platform plank was end
the Viet nam war. That debilitated the Dem Party , in the sense that
Nixon won by a landslide. 

In the case of the Civil Rights Movement, it "took over" the Democratic
Party in a large sense - federal civil rights laws passed, dozens of
Black/ urban mayors and city council members, legislators winning
office, and the Republicans instituting the 
"Southern Strategy" by which they basically won decades of Presidential
elections based on identifying the Democratic Party with Black people (
the Civil Rights Movement) in the minds of various strains of racists.
^^^^

As an aside, it was the Democratic Party that provided the greater
obstacle to woman suffrage in the heyday of the movement.  And the
Democratic Party was responsible for needing civil rights legislation
in the first place, since it was the party that established and
tightened segregationist standards as late as the 1950s.  And the
Democratic Party started and escalated the Vietnam War.

^^^^^
CB:  Yea, there is a historical reversal of the roles of the Parties
with FDR, fyi.  At any rate, the women's suffrage movement was not
debilitated by the Dem Party, as Sartisian claimed. It succeeded. 

^^^^^^^

 We're not discussing ancient history here.  Have we forgotten?

^^^
CB:  I think Sartisian said 20th Century.

^^^^^^^

ML



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