Re: the thread on the turn of the century populists and today's variety
Sent this to Omar Ali:
>Solid history on populism, but don't ya feel >uncomfortable
>hanging with Pat Buchanan along with Lenora >Fulani and Fred Newman. I
don't uncritically >follow Chip Berlet's line on NAP, and the >Reform Party
(note to lbo'ers my allusion to >Chip's following the Bell, Glazer,
Hofstadter line >on the populists as incipient irrationalists and
>rightist), but watch out who you ally with. As Lenin titled one of his
pamphlets "Who the Friends of the People Are." re :Russian >populism & the
Narodniks if memory serves.
Michael Pugliese
Before I reply to Omar, I must say that back in my college years I believed in the Schactman/Harrington "realignment" line vis. a vis the Democrats. I leavened it with cites from Nicos Poulantzas,"State,Power, Socialism," his last work, and articles from Jim O'Connor's "Kapitalistate" journal but at that time I was a bit of a socialdem. These years in Clintonia have disabused me of my "parliamentary cretinism" and illusions about the Dems. How to answer this "useful idiot" to use another phrase from Comrade Lenin, is another question.
Michael Pugliese
Received this in reply: ( y'all can insert the > in the right
place, reformated from HTML to plain text)
>Dear Michael,
>Thanks for your note and your concern. I've personally >known and have very
>worked closely with Dr. Fulani and Fred Newman since the >early 1990s in
>both the electoral arena and in the theatre (with Newman) >and can assure
>you (for whatever it's worth to you) that the stuff they put >out on them
>are complete distortions -- which include many outright lies >-- of who
they
>are and what they do. Far from being the monsters and >psycho-weirdos that
>the media paints them out to be, they're actually extremelly >decent,
smart,
>hard-working, and generous people.
>It's actually quite sad the way they've been characterized, >but this is
>what happens to independents (especially if you attack the >mis-leadership
>of the American Left, Black Democrats, and Zionism). >Building a third
party
>has been very difficult. Something that can only be fully >appreciated if,
>for instance, you want to get on the ballot as an >independent. The great
>news is that there is enormous support for the formation >of a successful
>third party accross the ideological spectrum. Concerning >Buchanan (who
I've
>only recently had a chance to meet and for a few minutes >a couple of
times)
>he is who he is. I don't agree with many of his views (like >most of his
>social views), but his macro-economic positions and (recently) his
anti-two
>party declarations, are welcome as far as I'm concerned.
>Hey, the proof is in the pudding. We'll see what happens >with this whole
>Reform Party effort. And, seriously, if you're interested in >speaking
>directly to Dr. Fulani or Fred Newman, I arrange for it. >There's nothing
>like speaking to someone face to face. I'm glad you're >crititcal of
>Berlet's stuff, it's extremelly politically motivated stuff. I >really
>wonder if he has any conscience whatsoever in putting out >that stuff.
>Anyway, I'd be curious to know where you read my work >on populism (who are
>you?). As a token of my appreciation for your note, I'm >sending you
>something I literally just finished writing for the History >News Service.
>I'd be curious to hear your thoughts on it. Feel free to call >me or e-mail
>me anytime.
>Regards,
>Omar
>(212) 870-2597
>osa2 at columbia.edu
>HISTORY NEWS SERVICE 11-20-1999
>Moving Beyond Ideology: The Development of A New >Populism in America?
>by Omar Ali
>A new political phenomenon is happening in America that >has caused a great
>deal of confusion in the press. On November 11th Black >independent and
>leftist, Dr. Lenora Fulani, endorsed Patrick Buchanan, the >socially
>conservative ex-talk show host who recently bolted the >GOP to join the
>Reform Party. The announcement has drawn heavy >criticism from both the
>liberal and conservative establishments as an unlikely >match that has
>opportunism written all over it. The argument goes >something like this:
>Buchanan is seeking Fulani's influence within the Reform >Party to gain the
>party's nomination (she received 45% of the vote when >she ran for
>vice-chair of the party) in order to grab Reform's $12.6 >million in
federal
>matching funds; Fulani, on the other hand, who joined >Buchanan as a
>co-chair of his presidential campaign, is seeking a larger >podium from
>which she can rail against the two-party system by >attaching herself to
the
>country's best-known two-party defector.
>If politics is about taking advantage of opportunities, this >unlikely duo
>may very well have created one of the most unusual >opportunities for a new
>populism in America that goes beyond the left-center-right >ideology of the
>Democratic and Republican parties and which has kept >Americans of
different
>political persuasions distant from each other.
>While Fulani and Buchanan have been accused of >compromising their
>respective positions on social issues, both have >vehemently denied that
>either is compromising anything. For instance, Fulani >speaks as
>passionately about being pro-choice as Buchanan does >about being pro-life.
>Instead, both invoke the language of populism and the >Reform Party's
>positions on economic and political reform (term limits, >ballot access
>reform, and campaign finance reform) to describe the >basis of their
>coalition.
>History points to a number of unusual coalitions in the >development of
>third parties: The Republicans brought together Whigs, >Democrats, and
>Free-Soilers in the 1850s; the Populists of the 1890s >brought together
>Southern Black and white farmers and laborers in the >People's Party; and
>even the Black Panthers worked with the predominantly >white Peace and
>Freedom Party in the late 1960s when they ran Eldridge >Cleaver for
>President. So, why not Fulani and Buchanan in the Reform >Party?
>The rapprochement between Fulani and Buchanan may >actually create the
>basis for a much broader rapprochement between two >groups of voters which
>have seldom seen eye-to-eye in the voting booth: African->Americans and
>white working-class Americans. Blacks and blue-collar >whites have had very
>different histories in terms of party affiliation. The die-hard >loyalty of
>African-Americans to the Democratic Party is in stark >contrast to the
>volatility of blue-collar whites, who have frequently shifted >their party
>affiliation between the two major parties in the last quarter >century.
>However, if we take decreasing voter turnout as a >measure of general
>dissatisfaction with the two-party system (on average, >less than half of
>the American electorate vote) and increased signs of de->alignment from the
>Democratic and Republican parties among both groups, it >could be argued
>that African-Americans and white working-class >Americans may be prepared
to
>make a significant third-party break in the year 2000. The >anti-corporate
>populism of Buchanan and the pro-independence of Fulani >in the Reform
Party
>may just fit the bill.
>De-alignment from the two major parties is currently at its >highest.
>According to the most recent Gallup Poll, 38% of all >Americans 18 and
older
>consider themselves independent of either major party - >making
independents
>the largest electoral group in the United States. The Pew >Research Center
>shows that voters under the age of 30 are the most >independent group; and,
>a 1999 poll sponsored by the Joint Center for Political and >Economic
>Studies reveals that the percentage of African-Americans >who identify
>themselves as independents has increased by 55.4% in >the last two years -
>from 14.8% in 1998 to 23% in 1999. "In short, the change >among
>African-Americans has been towards independence and >away from both major
>national parties," concludes the Joint Center report.
>It is possible that we are seeing the emergence of a new >populism less
>driven by the ideological platforms of either major party but >propelled by
>a shared vision of structural political and economic >reform. The
historical
>precedents of Black and white independents working >together in the
>electoral arena, the growing disaffection of the Black >community and the
>white working class to the two major parties, and the >advent of a
>Fulani-Buchanan alliance in the Reform Party, make for >an incendiary
>electoral situation that warrants careful attention among all >voters in
the
>upcoming elections.
>Omar Ali is a doctoral candidate in U.S. history at >Columbia University,
>where he has been researching the history of third party >movements. He
>currently teaches at Long Island University in Brooklyn, >New York.