> The Dems aren't a party so much as a brand-name or a merchandising
> operation,
> so there's nothing to take over. It'd be like trying to take over a
> marshmallow. (It works the other way, too: it's precisely because US
> parties
> are so hazily amorphous that the oiligarchy can run amok.) What *is*
> worth
> pushing to the Left is the labor movement.
Well, that too, of course, but the DP has a number of useful assets -- offhand, the first one I think of is automatic ballot lines in every state, which Friend Ralph is going to have to work like a dog to get. And the brand name is nothing to scoff at; it will attract quite a few votes from people who would be suspicious of a "generic-name" "Party No. 3."
Jon Johanning // jjohanning at igc.org __________________________________ Had I been present at the Creation, I would have given some useful hints for the better ordering of the universe. -- Attr. to Alfonso the Wise, King of Castile