ISO Backs Socialist Alternative Candidates This Time Around
North Star
"THERE ARE a handful of local races this year sparking enthusiasm on the left, among those who recognize the need for an independent alternative to the two parties of capitalism. Three candidates for Socialist Alternative--Kshama Sawant in Seattle, Ty Moore in Minneapolis and Seamus Whelan in Boston--are running for City Council seats. Sawant and Moore, in particular, have gained a lot of local attention and have a real chance at winning--a rarity for independent left-wing campaigns.
"The success of these efforts is directly tied to the candidates' reputation as respected activists. Moore, for example, has been part of Occupy MN Homes in Minneapolis--he has made the movement's call for a moratorium on foreclosures and a ban on police participating in evictions a central part of his campaign. Sawant's association with the Fight for 15 and other grassroots struggles has shifted the political discussion in Seattle--incumbent Mayor Michael McGinn was responding in part to Sawant when he told a reporter he'd sign an ordinance for a minimum wage of $15 an hour, or even higher.
"The International Socialist Organization, the publisher of this website, supports genuine left-wing candidates independent of the Republicans and Democrats. We urge readers to back these three socialist candidates and vote for them if they can.
"If any are able to win, it will an important victory for the left, with real consequences--the candidates have said they will open their offices to assist grassroots struggles involving workers, the oppressed, immigrants and the community.
"More often--and especially in elections on the state or national level of government, where the greater power lies under capitalism--campaigns by left-wing or socialist candidates have no chance of winning or even gaining a significant share of the vote. This raises the question, answered differently by different forces on the left, of whether scarce organizational resources should be devoted to electoral campaigns in addition to building activist struggles and political initiatives beyond the electoral arena.
"After the elections on November 5--and with national elections approaching again in 2014 and 2016 in which the betrayals of the Democrats and Obama administration will raise the need for an independent alternative for more and more people--this discussion should continue, taking into account the experiences of these three local socialist campaigns."