[lbo-talk] Re: Undecided Until the Last Minute Re:Dean'sSelf-Demolition

[Liza Featherstone]

This "we" vs. "they" is not borne out by observation. Many people you're
speaking about as ABBs actually spend much more time on other "movement"
work than on the election. Myself included. In fact Nathan Newman, the
original proponent of ABB-type-thinking on this listserv, is not, as far as
I know, working for any Democratic candidate right now. He spends lots and
lots of time as a committed activist working to build a left movement, just
like you.

The dichotomy you're drawing - between working to defeat Bush and working to
build a movement that demands far more radical change - is ridiculous. Both
of those things are immeasurably important, and many activists are
recognizing that by doing both. Or, like Nathan, they mostly do one thing
and in solidarity, acknowledge the importance of the other. Most of the
reasons to choose one form of political engagement over another are
temperamental and visceral, and as your posts on this issue demonstrate,
difficult to defend logically.

And I have never met any genuine progressives of the ABB variety who don't
realize the next DP president is going to be vile. I am sure they plan on
protesting him as soon as they recover from the victory party.

Liza 


> 
> And incidentally, if 2005 under Bush _does_ constitute a real crisis --
> those best prepared to respond would be those who worked on organizing
> outside the electoral arena this year. We (the non-ABBs) are, I suspect,
> the ABBs Plan B. :-) We're also the kernel of Plan B if a DP
> administration turns out to be as vile as I suspect it will.
> 
> Carrol
>