I meant to get back to you the other day. In fact, I had a long email (which was way too long) that I have in my "Mail Waiting to Be Sent" file. Let me explain what happened briefly before the convention, what happened during the convention, which led to its present outcome.
Prior to the convention, I was one of the SP members advocating not to run our own campaign. David McReynolds from the Socialist Party of New York State, RW Tucker from the Socialist Party of Pennsylvania, many people from the Chicago SP, a few of us from North Carolina, and David Tucker from the Social Democratic Party of Virginia were all against the SP running a campaign. Our reasons for opposition were that many of us felt that George W. Bush was one of the most reactionary persons to occupy the Oval Office, conditions are not presently positive for any third party campaign on the presidential level due to restrictive ballot access laws & the fear of isolation from the broader progressive movement, and the finances that it would take to launch presidential campaigns. Most importantly, some of us feared the spoiler issue (or the perception of being spoilers). The majority at the Convention voted for a presidential campaign anyway.
We had four people bidding for the SP nomination. Walt Brown from Oregon, Eric Chester from Massachusetts, Don Doumakes from Iowa, and Lisa Weltman from Michigan were the people contesting for the nomination. There were others earlier like Geoff Braasch from Ohio and Mary Cal Hollis from Colorado, but they dropped out for health reasons and/or personal obligations. Lisa Weltman & Eric Chester embraced a "socialism" that was contrary to my worldview. They argued for a REVOLUTIONARY route as opposed to a reform/incremental route toward socialism. I am not a radical nor a revolutionary, because being radical or revolutionary implies being unreasonable. There's NOTHING unreasonable about democratic-socialism. Anyway, Walt Brown & Don Doumakes represented the establishment/majority tendency within the SP. They both campaigned on a leftist-populist reform route toward socialism. They were less concerned about rhetoric and slogans; they were more concerned about making socialism palatable and mainstream. After everyone voted, Walt Brown gotten the nomination.
Here's some information on Walt Brown. He joined the Socialist Party during the last Norman Thomas campaign of 1948. Walt Brown served during World War II, and he remained a Naval Attorney until 1970. In 1974, he ran as a Democrat for the Oregon State Senate. From 1975 until 1987, Walt Brown was the most leftist Democrat in the Oregon State Senate. In the early 1990s, he re-joined the Socialist Party. He and other SPers living in Oregon were able to achieve ballot access for the Socialist Party of Oregon. He ran for various offices including the US House as a Socialist candidate. In his many SP campaigns, he would get tens of thousands of vote, because people know the name of Walt Brown in Oregon. He's seen by some as the Norman Thomas of the Oregon LEFT.
As a delegate, I voted against the SP running a presidential campaign. But when I chose between the four candidates, I enthusiastically voted for Walt Brown. Walt Brown has media connections, and his son is active in Indonesia with the Social Democratic Party which just joined the Socialist International a few years ago. Walt wants to see the SP become America's mass based --- "labor party." In my view, I want to see the SP act in a similar manner to the Cooperative Commonwealth Federation of Canada (1933-1961) and the New Democratic Party of Canada (1961 to the present). I think it will be done when America abolishes the Electoral College. The Democrats and the Republicans will split. Fiscal conservatives within the GOP would have a Republican Party that would become center right similar to the Progressive Conservative Party of Canada, due to the social conservatives leaving. The social conservatives would probably go into the Constitutionalist Party which would be an electoral entity similar to the ultra right Canadian Alliance. The Democrats would also have a split. DLC types and moderate Dems would stay on as the Democratic Party, and it would be an electoral entity similar to the Liberal Party of Canada. The AFL-CIO and many grassroot leftist Democrats would form their own mass-based "labor party," similar to the SOCIALIST New Democratic Party of Canada. The socialist-left wing movement (the SP, DSA, CCDS, Solidarity) would join in this new electoral entity. Think about it this way. The Working Families Party of New York State and the Vermont Progressive Party are already existing state affiliates of this future mass-based "labor party."
I justify supporting Walt Brown because the GOP are crooked people that will find legal measures to stop the Democrats anyway. Look at the impeachment period when the GOP tried to unseat Bill Clinton after the 1996 Election. In 2000, the Governor Jeb Bush & Secretary of State/Chair Kathleen Harris of the Bush-Cheney Campaign in Florida attempted and succeeded in staling the election from Al Gore. Congressman Tom DeLay of Texas attempted for the Texas Legislature to Gerrymander the Congressional Districts to increase Republican seats in the US House. Last year, the Republicans found ways to unseat Earl Hilliard of Alabama and Cynthia McKinney of Georgia by having the GOP vote in Democratic primaries. In California, the Republicans were successful with the California Recall which was to unseat Grey Davis. And now, the Bush Administration are using the FBI to spy on Mayor Street (a Democrat) from Philadelphia. It is creeping fascism, and I fear that the Democrats will campaign and pander to the center (soft right) instead of campaigning in the tradition of FDR, Hubert Humphrey, or George McGovern. Any thoughts on this? And of course, I hope this email finds you well.
For Bread & Roses, Melvin Little Socialist Party of North Carolina http://www.ncsocialist.org/