Republican Party Advances in California

[Jeffrey Levin]

One of the worst effects of the liberal left's support for Clinton is that
the kinds of social movements James Farmelant describes tend to back off of
organizing and mobilizing in favor of lobbying and compromise, seduced by
the idea that they might get a little piece of the pie.

The left will need to figure out how to engage simultaneously in electoral
and non-electoral politics.  We should take a cue from the right and focus
our electoral energy on local campaigns.  Local governments control
significant resources that can be used to build the capacity of progressive
forces.

Jeffrey Levin <jlevin at pacbell.net>

-----Original Message-----
From: James Farmelant <farmelantj at juno.com>
To: lbo-talk at lists.panix.com <lbo-talk at lists.panix.com>
Date: Monday, October 05, 1998 1:38 PM
Subject: Re: Republican Party Advances in California


>I think any strategy to move American politics leftwards that
>focuses primarily on electoral politics is doomed to failure.
>I think at the present time the revitalization of organized labor,
>the reenergizing of social movements like feminist movement,
>the environmental movement and other progressive social
>movements and the forging of alliances between these movements
>is of greater political importance.  Only then can the terms of
>political discourse which are currently being set by the corporate
>owned media be altered in a more progressive direction.
>
> Jim Farmelant
>