[lbo-talk] Dennis Kucinich

Wojtek Sokolowski sokol at jhu.edu
Mon Apr 2 07:46:40 PDT 2007


Doug:

This is ludicrous. The left, whatever that is exactly, in the U.S. is small and weak. It has no chance of electing a president, or even of significantly influencing a presidential campaign. It's a waste of time to think otherwise, though that didn't stop the Nader campaign. The left, whatever that is, would be better off spending time at lower levels of politics - city, state, even the House of Representatives, but the presidency is a lost cause.

[WS:] Amen. The problem is, however, that local politics do not create much publicity, whereas presidential politics do. I would also say that "weak" is too strong of a word because it implies at least some real power. However, the so-called "left" in the US is all posturing, mirrors and smoke, verbiage and grandstanding, all bark no bite.

Therefore, if the left engaged in the local politics and lost - it would expose its phony nature, because other weird and peripheral characters do win local races from time to time. However, when it engages in presidential politics which nobody but the most mainstream-supported candidates can possibly win - it can pretend that it is a victim of bourgeois conspiracy rather than fall to its own phony nature.

Actually, it is a very clever PR gimmick - avoid confrontations that put your strength to an actual test in the eyes of the public opinion. Engage only in those confrontations that tell nothing about that strength, but give you the platform for grandiose, self-righteous bullshit.

Wojtek



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