>--- Yoshie Furuhashi <furuhashi.1 at osu.edu> wrote:
>>BTW, Kerry's nomination will prove wrong, once again, the idea that
>>those who want to build a mass political party on the left should
>>participate in Democratic caucuses and primaries to "take back the
>>party."
>
>First of all, is there a concerted effort to "take back the party"?
>I read Domhoff and others making the suggestion that it should be
>attempted, but I dont really see any activity in that direction.
On this listserv, Nathan has consistently made an argument that would-be Green and other independent candidates and supporters should campaign in Democratic caucuses and primaries, rather than trying to build a party to the left of the Democratic Party. However, I think that few, if any, LBO-talkers have made financial donations or volunteered their time and skills to any of the Democratic presidential candidates so far, despite their "Anybody But Bush" statements. If my guess that few LBO-talkers are doing anything for the Democratic Party is correct, does that mean that most LBO-talkers are tightwads and lazy asses or that they actually agree with yours truly? :->
So, in my remark to which you responded, I'm not talking about LBO-talkers. I'm talking about new and old activists and organizations who have volunteered or made donations or done both for Dean, Kucinich, Sharpton, Braun, or (even) Clark. Those who materially supported them -- rather than Kerry, Edwards, Gephardt, and Lieberman -- often did so with the intention of "taking back the party" or at least bolstering "the Democratic Wing" of the Democratic Party, rather than focusing on "electability." The Dean ("You Have the Power!") nomination, in contrast to the Kerry victory, would have reinforced an illusion that activists working in the Democratic Party could make a difference in the Democratic Party nomination and political program (or at least rhetoric).
>And, yes, Carrol, I agree with you that movement politics should be
>mostly sidelined for this one. Though you come out the other way on
>the equation. jks
Take a look at the cash flow:
***** It All Adds Up
Posted on 02-03-2004 2:14 PM EDT
The Campaign Finance Institute's analysis of year-end filings for all the major-party presidential candidates shows an increasing reliance on large donors. Of the $272.4 million raised in 2003, 49 percent came from $2,000 individual contributions (and two-thirds of the total came in donations of $1,000 and up).
Among the candidates who opted out of the presidential public financing system, President Bush was the most reliant on large donors, raising 65 percent of his total - or about $85 million - in $2,000 checks. Forty-five percent of the individual contributions to Sen. John Kerry, almost $9 million, came from $2,000 contributions. Although Gov. Howard Dean raised more than twice as much as Kerry in individual contributions, $2,000 donations accounted for only 9 percent of Dean's total fundraising (a lower percentage than any other candidate except Dennis Kucinich).
The Dean campaign was largely responsible for an increase in the amount raised in small donations, defined as contributions of less than $200. These contributions accounted for 22 percent of the receipts received by all candidates, up 6 percent from 1999. Dean raised 56 percent of his money - over $23 million - in contributions of less than $200. Bush brought in 15 percent from small donors, and Kerry raised 13 percent.
The Center for Responsive Politics has issued its own analysis of the latest FEC numbers. Employees of Merrill Lynch - led by Ranger Stan O'Neal - gave more to the Bush campaign than any other organization last year, contributing $432,000.
The top contributors to the Democratic contenders - neither of which would rank in Bush's top 20 - were the law firm Skadden Arps for Kerry ($99,800) and employees of the University of California ($91,300) for Dean.
<http://www.whitehouseforsale.org/blog/page.cfm?pageid=454> *****
Over $23 million in contributions of less than $200! And it's all gone down the drain!!!
***** The New York Times February 1, 2004 Missteps Pulled a Surging Dean Back to Earth By JODI WILGORENand JIM RUTENBERG
. . . There was the New Hampshire primary. There was his $41 million war chest, which he was just beginning to realize had been frittered away. . . .
In the earliest days of Dr. Dean's heady summer surge, as his shockingly large fund-raising haul of $7.6 million landed him on the covers of Time and Newsweek, the campaign committed to an aggressive spending strategy in hopes of wrapping up the nomination in warp speed. Exploiting the news-media fascination with their Internet-fueled insurgency, Dr. Dean's aides threw millions into early advertising in multiple states, dozens of field offices and audacious stunts like the four-day, 10-city "Sleepless Summer Tour" - so named to mock President Bush's lengthy vacation.
Other campaigns marveled at the crowds of 10,000 people in Seattle and New York - and the price tag of the effort. Jim Jordan, who at the time was campaign manager for Senator John Kerry of Massachusetts, recalled seeing an 8 1/2- by 11-inch, four-color, card-stock invitation to one of those August rallies, and estimating its cost at 85 cents. "I scribbled down the math," Mr. Jordan said. "They must have sent out 60,000 to 80,000. So they were spending $50,000 to $70,000 for postage for a rally. That was all about building up an illusion for reporters on the plane. It was all about building a sense of momentum and invincibility." . . .
<http://www.nytimes.com/2004/02/01/politics/campaign/01DEAN.html> *****
***** Downbeat Dean sets date for withdrawal Suzanne Goldenberg Friday February 6, 2004 The Guardian
. . . The largest expenditure in the final three months of 2003 was $7.2m for television advertising, paid to Trippi McMahon Squier Media, the firm associated with erstwhile campaign manager, Joe Trippi. . . .
<http://www.guardian.co.uk/uselections2004/story/0,13918,1142306,00.html> *****
$23 million in contributions of less than $200 can't make any difference at all in Democratic Party politics, but the same sum (be it in a lump sum on one cause or divided for several causes) spent on movement organizing (to defend workers' rights, to fight for universal health care, to protect civil liberties, to oppose the occupation of Iraq, to build a mass party on the left, or whatever -- take your pick) can make a lot of difference. -- Yoshie
* Bring Them Home Now! <http://www.bringthemhomenow.org/> * Calendars of Events in Columbus: <http://www.osu.edu/students/sif/calendar.html>, <http://www.freepress.org/calendar.php>, & <http://www.cpanews.org/> * Student International Forum: <http://www.osu.edu/students/sif/> * Committee for Justice in Palestine: <http://www.osudivest.org/> * Al-Awda-Ohio: <http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Al-Awda-Ohio> * Solidarity: <http://www.solidarity-us.org/>