[lbo-talk] questions about the working families party

[SA]

The discussion of how to exit the DP has gotten me thinking about the 
Working Families Party. I have a couple questions for anyone who follows 
them closely.

QUESTION 1:  Tell me if this impression is wrong. My impression is that 
the WFP tends to focus much more on backing Dems in *general* elections 
for *important* races (e.g., state legislature) and much less on running 
its *own* candidates in *primaries* in *less important* races (e.g., 
city council). Is that right? If that's right, why?

QUESTION 2:  If the WFP ran its own candidates more, is there some 
reason why it couldn't require those candidates - once they win and 
become incumbents - to hand over control of any money they raise to the 
party? If they did that, and if they could win some offices that way, 
wouldn't that give the party much more leverage over its own 
office-holders (as well as more resources generally) than it has now 
over the Dem office-holders that it backs?

SA