it's heating up

[Justin Schwartz]

Like Carrol, I worked in the Jackson Campaigns--both of them--and in my case 
saw a promising Rainbow Coalition deliberately and systematically smashed by 
a combination of RC hacks and mainstream DPers. The mainstream Dems in Ann 
Arbor in the 80s opposed _every_ issue I worked on--even the Nuclear Weapons 
Freeze(!) (remember that?)--until and unless it became clear that it was 
going to win, in which case they horned in for the photo op and to try to 
take credit. Oh, don't start me talking, I'll tell everything I know. --jks


>From: Carrol Cox <cbcox at ilstu.edu>
>Reply-To: lbo-talk at lists.panix.com
>To: lbo-talk at lists.panix.com
>Subject: Re: it's heating up
>Date: Wed, 25 Oct 2000 15:44:52 -0500
>
>
>
>Justin Schwartz wrote:
>
> >  Third parties
> > are just platforms to raise a fuss; the real action is in mass 
>movements,
> > and to hell with the Dems--they say the same about us, except when the 
>vote
> > is close. --jks
>
>At times Justin and I have said nasty things about each other, and 
>doubtless
>will again, but he here states what has to be the core of any progressive
>movement in the United States (revolutionary or reformist). I'll add a 
>footnote
>to his point about working with Dems. I worked in the Jackson campaign in 
>1988
>(in fact I initiated the campaign in this congressional district). It was
>worthwhile in that I formed new relationships (and recemented old ones) 
>that
>still hold potential for future conflicts if any arise before alxheimers 
>catches
>up with me. But from the viewpoint of "influencing" the Democratic Party -- 
>the
>*one* promise that the Dukakis organization made to the Jackson people was 
>that
>they would provide money for a registration drive. Hah! Not a penny came
>through. As I had expected. Jackson made no complaint -- as I'd expected. 
>The
>politician who gave us the Civil Rights Act, incidentally, was not Lyndon
>Johnson but that essence of conservative Republicanism, Everett Dirkson. 
>And we
>would have gotten that act regardless of who was in office in Washington. 
>We won
>it by mass action outside the electoral system. We also won the passage of 
>ERA
>by Congress through mass action outside the electoral system. We lost it 
>when
>the mass action stopped and the wheeling and dealing in the corridors of 
>power
>started.
>
>Those who hope to reform the Democratic Party or who still stick to the 
>lesser
>evil theory will eventually be voting for Eichmann against Hitler -- or for
>Hitler against someone worse than him.
>
>Carrol
>
>

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