Third Parties (was RE: Fulani's endorsement of Buchanan)

[Yoshie Furuhashi]

Nathan wrote:
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: owner-lbo-talk at lists.panix.com
>> [mailto:owner-lbo-talk at lists.panix.com]On Behalf Of Doug Henwood
>>
>> WE'RE ENDING THE HATE
>> Statement by Dr. Lenora Fulani
>> My critique of the liberal
>> left is perhaps best understood in clinical terms. I am a
>> developmental psychologist by profession, and I have a diagnosis of
>> the Left. I think they're deluded. They actually believe that they
>> can take over the Democratic Party. ...The American Left, like the black
>> establishment - and the two are closely connected - refuse to take
>> seriously the need to build an independent movement. They won't
>> partner up with politically incorrect allies, which is just what you
>> need to do if you're going to go up against the corruption of the two
>> party system.
>
>Actually, on this point Fulani shares the same viewpoint of many folks on
>this list, except she argued a number of years ago that hanging out with
>1-5% on the far fringe is a delusion as well.  I remember back in 1993, Fred
>Newman of Fulani's party gave a speech at their New Alliance convention
>(broadcast on C-SPAN) where he explained the logic of their organization
>merging into the Reform Party.  The idea was that while they had no respect
>for Perot or the politics of the Reform Party, it had a chance (unlike a
>marginal left party) of actually becoming a viable third party.  And their
>viewpoint was that once the 2-party structure was undermined, that would
>create room for a fourth party of real leftwing values.
>
>But until the two-party system was undermined, any left third party was a
>delusional dream.  So in the meantime, any opportunistic alliance to smash
>the 2-party duopoly was their goal.  The Buchanan alliance is just the
>continuation of the same strategy that led Fulani's New Alliance Party to
>merge into the Reform Party in the first place.
>
>The idea is not to win - Fulani even says in other speeches that she
>probably wouldn't ally with Buchanan if he had a real chance to win - but to
>break open the 2-party system.
>
>I think this is a foolish strategy, but it honestly seems more strategic and
>rational than most other left third party strategies, which never really
>have a convincing roadmap on how to get from where we are to a viable
>alternative.  At least Fulani has a strategy and gameplan, even if her party
>is made up of cultists and other scary political operatives.

I thought this post by Nathan was interesting, but noone has responded to
this.  What do, for instance, the Labor Party advocates on lbo think of the
matter?

Yoshie