labor's election victories

Nathan Newman nathan.newman at yale.edu
Tue Mar 14 15:01:23 PST 2000



>On Behalf Of Max Sawicky


>With any given
> progressive candidate, whether Hilda Solis or Joel Kovel, what is the
> advantage of not taking the shot at a conservative Dem in the primary?
> -- Nathan Newman
> >>>>
>
> I can think of one, even though I sympathize w/the
> basic approach. If you participate in the primary
> and lose, there is some obligation to support the
> winner in the general election.

"Support" is a pretty open question; plenty of players in elections take their marbles and go home if they lose a primary. About the only thing you lose is the ability under many state laws to actually run in the general election - what are called "sore loser" laws that bar primary losers from running independently.

But I think it is a fair statement that except for certain old machine districts (increasingly scarce), any progressive candidate has a far higher probability of winning in a Democratic primary than in a general election. So except for losing out on the symbolic listing on the ballot, there is rarely a case where a candidate would have had more chance to win bypassing the primary and going directly to the general election.

-- Nathan Newman



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