> At this point, discussion is all theoretical, since we don't have the
> capacity to organize the kind of electoral pact that I suggested as
> one way of making use of electoral politics, but, for such a pact, the
> policy of Anybody But Republicans, i.e., supporting _any_ Democrat,
> won't do. The hypothetical electoral pact is to be created by
> left-wing Democrats and third-party advocates on the Left, for the
> purpose of electing candidates on the Left, running in Democratic
> primaries where that makes sense, running on Green and other tickets
> where that works best, or, more modestly, using such electoral
> campaigns to keep social movements alive during election years. Where
> the line between Democrats who are worth campaigning for and Democrats
> who aren't has to be determined democratically.
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I agree. However there would be intense pressure on left wing DP'ers to
support and work for the election of the Democratic candidate, whoever she
or he was, if their favourite lost in the primary. The Lamont folks would
have been expected to work for Lieberman's election if he had won. I imagine
most or a large number of them would have quietly sat out the campaign, and
given how highly polarized the Connecticut party is, could have done so
without alienating those who weren't already alienated.
I used to find it a difficult, when I was active in the NDP, to support a right-wing candidate who had won the nomination from a left-winger, but you had to do so to retain any credibility as a "loyal New Democrat" in the riding association. However, in the NDP it was next to impossible to find yourself in the position of endorsing someone who was a prominent supporter of an imperialist war, although candidates could be weak on Quebec self-determination, militant unions like the postal workers, public service pensions, the rights of gays and native peoples, deficit spending, etc.
British leftists have the same problem as Americans do in relating to Blair's Labour Party. So there's no question that leftists, especially in the US and Britain, who think it's necessary to participate in liberal and social democratic parties where the mass of trade unionists, antiwar and other movement activists are found have to be prepared to get their hands dirty. Your strategy would be a good compromise where workable, and in any case, for that part of the left which is outside the DP, much better than ineffectually scorning progressive Democrats rather than trying to form alliances with them during and between elections.