First, if you agree with what follows, please send it to friends or other lists. Time is short - this should have been done a week ago. People often don't read their mail until the weekend and I'd hope many to whom you might send it would resend it to their own friends after getting it from you.
Second, Mary Cal Hollis and I are on the ballot in seven states - Washington, Colorado, Florida, Iowa, New Jersey, Rhode Island, and Vermont. If you have friends in any of those seven states it is doubly urgent you get this to them, to urge a socialist vote for President.
Third, we have write-in status in the following states: Alaska, California, Connecticut, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Massachusetts, North Carolina, New Hampshire, Pennsylvania, Texas, and Wisconsin. (This means that we have filed the electors, etc. and you need to write in: "David McReynolds / Mary Cal Hollis". In the other states there is either no provision for a write-in, or we lacked the resources to get this done).
Fourth, I am not opposed to Ralph Nader. I am not running against him. But a vote for Ralph Nader is NOT a socialist vote. A vote for McReynolds and Hollis is. So if you or your friends want to express a strong dissent from the corporate state, and support for democratic socialism, then please cast that vote for McReynolds and Hollis.
Fifth, In those states where the McReynolds/Hollis ticket is not on the ballot, or does not have write-in status, I would personally, if I lived in such a state, vote for Ralph Nader - some of you would vote for Gore, or possibly the SWP or Workers World candidate. I've only given my own position, not that of the Socialist Party. I think Nader has run a good hard race.
Sixth, this race has proven surprising. Somehow Gore let the election slip away from him - two months ago it looked as if Bush had sunk and now it looks as if Gore has. No one is quite sure what will happen next Tuesday, but a Gore victory, which I had been sure of, now seems doubtful. So I may owe Jim Hurd in Indiana $5 or $10 (I think it was $10) I'd bet on a Gore victory. On the other hand, (to prove I'm wrong twice over), the pressure on Nader from the Gore campaign has probably done more to irritate voters than win them, and has given Ralph Nader new momentum in the final weeks. He may well get the 5% I'd bet my friend Howie Hawkins $100 buck he wouldn't. The nasty attacks on Nader as being "ego driven" (the same attacks would be made against Mary Cal and myself if we were polling even 1%) may have just tilted some folks into voting for a minor party ticket in rebellion to this pressure. If they are in a rebellious mood I hope they choose the Socialist Party!
Seventh, for those not already aware of it - and your friends may not know of it - check out our campaign website: <www.votesocialist.org> - it has lots of information. That site will list the handful of folks we have running for Congress - I do want to take a moment to urge those across the river in New Jersey to vote for Greg Pason for U.S. Senate and Tino Rozzo for Congress.
May I suggest that if you are in the New York City area this coming Tuesday you drop by for a happy "Socialist PARTY" starting at about 7 p.m. (I don't think I'll get there until 8 p.m.) at the Muste Institute building, 339 Lafayette St., at the corner of Lafayette and Bleecker - third floor. Beer, soda, and a TV set to watch the returns. (Please remember that while the Nader/Buchanan/Hagelin votes will probably be reported, our vote will be so small that we won't know what it is until two or three weeks after the election when the NY Times carries it. We did not run this race to win the election, nor to win votes - we ran it to carry the message of socialism to as wide an audience as possible, and that I believe we did).
There is some good news. For one day we actually got 1% in the Zogby poll! Of course this was an anomaly - it meant that out of the 1000 or so folks polled by phone, between 8 and 12 said they were voting for myself and Mary Cal. This kind of aberration happens with the best polls. We will NOT be polling 1% in the general election. On the other hand, people taking the poll at: SelectSmart.com continue to give the Socialist Party candidates very high ratings - just under Al Gore, and way ahead of Bush and Nader at last report (and this is out of about 300,000 folks who've taken the poll - try it yourself).
During the course of the campaign I was able to get on Politically Incorrect; "I'm on the Ballot", which was shown on most PBS stations; and on the History Channel - which is only on cable - in a discussion with John Anderson and Harry Browne. Thus far, however, the New York Times has not approached the Campaign about any kind of coverage, nor has PBS itself given time to any of the socialist candidates, nor has CNN.
This is pretty outrageous because coverage has been given not only to Nader but to Hagelin and Brown - candidates who have no more chance of winning that the Socialist Party ticket. Which means that, as far as the main media goes, the electoral choice runs from the far right to the moderate Left with Nader. For the most part the socialist option has been blacked out.
Finally, I want to express my very deep thanks to all who helped in this campaign, first to Shaun Richman, the Campaign Director, and then to all of you who, in state after state, set up meetings, got us on the ballot, arranged for a write-in, and in so many ways made it your business to help put socialism before the American people.
You can, on election day, distribute the "palm cards" - I think you'd need to call the campaign headquarters to have a chance of getting these in time. You could also simply xerox your own leaflet to hand out near polling places. This is very important in states where we are on the ballot. But even in states where we are not on the ballot, it is still possible to print up a flyer that says something such as: "You can't vote for these candidates today because of unfair ballot restrictions" and then give a brief description of Mary Cal Hollis and myself, with the key points we are running on. (Again, check this at the website).
I hope to continue to work with many of you in the months ahead. One race is over, another has begun - to deepen and broaden the democratic socialist movement and build the Socialist Party.
Fraternally, David McReynolds <http://www.votesocialist.org>