[lbo-talk] Politics vs the DP

[Carrol Cox]

On 6/15/2011 12:35 PM, Doug Henwood wrote:
> On Jun 15, 2011, at 1:20 PM, Eric Beck wrote:
>
>    
>> Carrol is fond of talking about Wisconsin and how it has opened new
>> possibilities, which I agree with. But part of what made Wisconsin
>> "Wisconsin" was the role that Democratic legislators played in the
>> events, particularly their fleeing the state and disrupting the
>> legislative process, which helped create the space that allowed the
>> protest movement to flourish, to become creative.
>>      
> But hasn't that movement now largely devolved into electioneering for Dems?
>    
Yes, no, Maybe. At a meeting of Midwestern activists I attended 10 days 
ago the reprorts were mixed. For the time being Wisconsin activists are 
more or less stuck with working in the recall effort. But the number of 
those activists is greater than it was "before 'Wisconsin.'" And as 
several speakers from _other states_ emphasized the importance of 
"Wisconsin" (I've adopted Eric's point) went far beyond Wisconsin; it 
has energized local groups _and_ apparently has been the source of new 
new people becoming involved. As I quoted a friend in an earlier post, 
it is a "tiny, tiny fissure," and one can't really predict, but so far 
it's alive.

Carrol