For the reasons (1) and (2), the Green Party must make a strong showing in the battleground states, rejecting the "safe state" strategy; and to reject the "safe state" strategy, they must nominate Nader, rather than David Cobb (see Cobb's "Green Party 2004 Presidential Strategy" at <http://www.gwu.edu/%7Eaction/2004/cobb.html>).
>And let me just say that in case YOU PEOPLE didn't notice, Manning
>Marable and many of the people involved in the Black Radical
>Congress were essentially the only fucking Black people in the
>fucking country who were supporting Nader back in 2000. While many,
>many, many people on the Left were saying TINA, especially
>progressive Blacks, many Black radicals were supporting Nader as a
>way to send a message to the Capitalists and White Supremacists in
>the Democratic Party.
>
>It was basically us and Aaron McGruder, and that was it.
I did notice that Manning Marable, among other left-wing Black intellectuals and organizers, gave critical support to Ralph Nader in 2000: "'Vote Strategically: For Nader' -- Part One of Two," October 30, 2000, <http://www.freepress.org/columns/display/4/2000/501>; and "'Vote Strategically: For Nader' -- Part Two of Two," October 31, 2000, <ttp://www.freepress.org/columns/display/4/2000/502>.
However, I have also noticed that Marable's support for the Democratic Party goes beyond voting for Kerry in 2004. Marable's vocal support for Carl McCall and the futile concept of the "Working Families Party" in 2002 did not serve McCall, the Democrats, the Greens, Black communities, or even Marable himself:
***** From: portsideMod <portsidemod at y...> Date: Sat Nov 2, 2002 1:52 am Subject: Open Letter on NY election from Frances Fox Piven & Manning Marable
Open Letter on NY election from Frances Fox Piven & Manning Marable
[The Professional Staff Congress, the union of CUNY Faculty and Staff, has voted to recommend a Row H/WFP Vote for Carl McCall. Please forward this letter as widely as possible.]
AN OPEN LETTER ON THE ELECTION
FRANCES FOX PIVEN & MANNING MARABLE
We are writing to fellow scholars and students because we feel strongly about the coming election. We are voting for Carl McCall on the Working Families Party line, and we want to share our reasons why.
We believe that the left -- progressives, liberals, whatever term you prefer -- is right on the big issues. The values of equality and solidarity, respect for minorities, belief in the dignity and power of working people -- they may go out of fashion, but they are no less important for that.
We are tired of Pataki as governor. We are tired of living in a state that lags so badly in protections for workers and the poor. We are tired of seeing New York's progressive traditions dwindle away. We are tired of seeing a state that once led the country in social provision becoming meaner and more punitive every year.
We wish McCall were a better candidate. But uninspiring as he can be, he's far and away better than Pataki. On the minimum wage, on health care, on the budget, even on the environment, McCall's positions are significantly more progressive. Whatever the New York Times may say, it's simply not true that there's no real difference between the candidates.
But our biggest concern is not just about the candidates, big as the difference is there. It's about building a movement. That means coalitions. It means working with unions, with communities of color, with working-class white voters upstate. That is exactly where the Working Families Party's greatest strengths lie. Democrats take such coalition work for granted, and the Greens don't even know where to begin.
There is a racial aspect to this election that goes unmentioned in the mainstream media. The fact that Carl would be the state's first African-American governor should be celebrated, not ignored. We should make a special effort not to forget this.
There is a terrible and enduring gap between white liberals and the leaders of the black community. Black Americans are perhaps the strongest and most natural constituency for progressive ideas, and in the past, as we all know, have been in the vanguard of progressive change in this country. But in the past generation, black and white progressives have largely gone our separate ways, to the great detriment of both. This election is a chance to begin healing that rift. But if black leaders in this state look at returns the day after the elections, and find white liberals have abandoned McCall, we will have suffered a great setback instead.
Working Families is our best hope of building a new kind of politics in this state. It's a slow process. No, the WFP won't be running its own candidate for governor this year, and probably won't in four years either. And it certainly won't be running a presidential campaign, with all the media attention that goes with it. But in the long run, the slow organizing and coalition building of the WFP will yield far more power for working people, and far more meaningful change.
Some say McCall can't win. Maybe, maybe not. But if we don't vote for him, he certainly won't. And even if he loses, votes for WFP preserve their ballot line and build power for working people, poor people and their allies. That's what we are voting for on the WFP line, Row H.
We hope you join us.
[IF YOU CAN VOLUNTEER ON ELECTION DAY, PLEASE REPLY BY E-MAIL. OTHERWISE, JUST SPREAD THE WORD.]
<http://groups.yahoo.com/group/portside/message/3265> *****
Carl McCall lost to George E. Pataki, 33% to 49%, even though the sorry Green candidate Stanley Aronowitz took only 1% of the total votes: <http://www.cnn.com/ELECTION/2002/pages/governor/index.html>.
In contrast, in California, where the Green candidate Peter Camejo did much better than Aronowitz, taking 5% of the vote, Gray Davis beat Bill Simon, 48% to 42%: <http://www.cnn.com/ELECTION/2002/pages/governor/index.html>. -- Yoshie
* Bring Them Home Now! <http://www.bringthemhomenow.org/> * Calendars of Events in Columbus: <http://sif.org.ohio-state.edu/calendar.html>, <http://www.freepress.org/calendar.php>, & <http://www.cpanews.org/> * Student International Forum: <http://sif.org.ohio-state.edu/> * 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/>