>Perhaps, Nathan has already discussed this, but one way candidates to
>the left of Dems can participate in electoral politics successfully
>(= win seats if possible, while conducting political education
>unconstrained by the limits of the Democratic Party) is to run in
>local Democratic primaries without the Party's endorsement, best the
>Party-endorsed candidates, and then run as independents or candidates
>endorsed jointly by the Dems and assortments of other parties like
>the Greens and the Labor Party. In many Democratic primaries, the
>Dems hardly do anything for candidates they endorse, so it's possible
>for well-networked activists to win without spending much.
Absolutely- this is exactly what I've suggested, especially the last point, since the "Democratic Party" isn't really significant in organizational terms in most areas-- an independent candidate may not be able to expect money support from the party PACs but that's about it. There are a few cities like New York City where party organization still exists, but in most places, the "Party" is the candidates who win the primary election. I've noted repeatedly that the Greens or whoever could easily run "Green Democrats" with the exact same organization they are building, yet use the primary to take out Democratic rivals, then use the general election to take on the Republican.
In almost any election, a progressive candidate has to take on the Democrats running for tht party line and the Republicans running on that party line. The current Green strategy is to take them on by running against both winners of those lines at the same time in the general election. This means that they are usually marginalized in what is seen as a two-way race and have to try to recruit progressive voters who normally vote Democratic, two hurdles that lead to the usual failure of third party candidacies.
Since the US has open primaries (something quite different from most European countries), progressive candidates can take out potential Democratic rivals in the primary in one step, then take on the Republican in te general election. Early in the century, some progressives in places like the Dakotas instead took over the Republican party for the same purpose (the Nonpartisan League). It's all based on the strategy that makes sense in a particular place.
-- Nathan Newman