[lbo-talk] Getting some business that Magic Barry ain't got

Doug Henwood dhenwood at panix.com
Sat May 10 12:10:37 PDT 2008


On May 10, 2008, at 3:22 AM, Michael Pollak wrote:


> On Fri, 9 May 2008, Doug Henwood wrote:
>
>> If I were to give a serious answer to Charles's question it'd be to
>> organize around specific issues, like single-payer health care,
>> both to
>> achieve the specific goal and to build a movement, and forget (for
>> now)
>> the presidency
>
> I couldn't agree with you more. My only question is how. I'd be
> willing
> to give substantial amounts of time and energy and creativity if
> someone
> could show me a political business plan to realize this goal where my
> contributions made sense. The Labor Party method of passing
> referendums
> is extremely laudable, but I don't see how it adds up. They've had
> lots
> of victories that no one has ever heard of and it seems at a
> distance like
> it could go on that way forever.

Hey, things can't happen overnight! But if more people could be persuaded that this was a fruitful strategy, instead of obsessing over presidential campaigns, it might help. And single-payer is only one example; Working Families did a good job in New York on raising the state minimum wage and weakening the Rockefeller drug laws. The foreclosure crisis is another fruitful possibility.

Doug



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