NP and fusion again ( was Re: converts to the left)

[Alex LoCascio]

Charles Brown wrote:
> Of course, Marx and Engels joined a party
> callled the "Democratic Party" at one point.
> And Lenin was elected to a Czarist Duma.
> So, there is a lot of room for reformist
> struggle by revolutionaries.

...which brings us back to the question of why one cannot be a Marxist
and still endorse the New Party's fusion strategy.  Why is it that
fusion is regarded as a dead end simply because it helps Democrats?  The
Democrats endorsed by the NP, if I'm not mistaken, are "progressive"
ones.

Now, I also admire the Labor Party for the good work they're doing
building a large base of support before running in elections, but I
think their unwillingness to embrace fusion is more of a dead end than
endorsing progressive Democrats.  Do we really think that the LP stands
a chance running against Democratic AND Republican candidates?  Wouldn't
it be smarter, at least initially, to endorse pro-labor Democrats?

Sorry to rehash this topic, but it hasn't been sufficiently addressed,
IMHO.