File spoon-archives/marxism-international.archive/marxism-international_1996/96-11-09.204, message 32


Date: Thu, 7 Nov 1996 09:25:25 -0500 (EST)
From: Justin Schwartz <jschwart-AT-freenet.columbus.oh.us>
Subject: Re: M-I: American Elections



In re the figures below, Richard is shocked to find how weak and
disorganized the left in America is. I guess it's noyt well understood how
right wing this country is.

The largestr left group in the country is the Democratic Socialists of
America, with maybe 5,000 members, miost of them paper members. DSA
supports progressive Democrats. The nonstalinist splinter from the
Communist Party, the Committess of Correspondence, has about 2000 members.
CoC also tends to support Democrats. The CP itself has aboutt 1000
members. It claims manby more and claims to be growing. The ex-Trotskyist
Socialist Workers Party probably has about 500 members. The American
affiliate of the Brit SWP, the Cliffite International Socialist
Organuaztion, has baout 750. The Maoist Revolutionary Communist Party
probbaly has about 500 members. My group, Solidarity, has about 350. The
Greens, I don't know. They have been doing respectably for a snmall party
out west. There is also a small independent social democratic formation
called the New Party that has been doing OK in Wisconsina nd a few other
places. Basically the American far left is politically nonexistent.

--Justin

On Thu, 7 Nov 1996, Richard Bos wrote:

> Justin Schwartz wrote:
> 
> > 
> > The vote total for the two main parties and Perot was 88,951,101. That's
> > about 49% of the eligible electorate, the lowest since Coolidge's election
> > in 1924. The breakdown, from the Chicago Tribune, and including minor
> > oparties, is as follows:
> > 
> > Clinton, William Jefferson Democrat 44,300,236 49%
> > Dole, Robert J. Republican 36,985,693 41%
> > Perot, Ross Reform 7,665,172 8%
> > Nader, Ralph Green 549,950 1%
> > Browne, Harry Libertarian 451,213 1%
> > Phillips, Howard Taxpayers 175,178 1%
> > Hagelin, John Samuel Natural Law 106,348 1%
> > Moorehead, Monica Gail Workers World 28,227 1%
> > Harris, James Democrat 12,057 1%
> > Collins, Charles Edwin Republican 7,128 1%
> > Feinland, Marsha Peace And Freedom 3,601 1%
> > Hollis, Mary Cal Socialist Workers 3,271 1%
> > White, Jerome Socialist Equality 2,275 1%
> > Dodge, Earl F.  Prohibition 1,122 1%
> > 
> > Alas, American "democracy" may be in decay, but it's not anywhere near
> > terminal in the sense of there being any foreseeable prospect of an end to
> > the Republicrat rule.
> > 
> > --JUstin
> 
> I was shocked to see just how low the vote was for the Left candidates
> in the US election. How many members, and how much support does the left
> in general have in the US?
> 
> The NCPB never stands candidates for a number of reasons that we have
> been into before. One of which was that we would get a pathetically
> small vote for the effort, and expence put in. It costs 500 pounds
> sterling per parliamentary seat I think (maybe more). Even so, I reckon
> a small organisation like this one could get more votes nationally than
> all the US left combined.(If we had that kind of money, I could think of
> far better ways of spending it though.) We would still be behind
> Screaming Lord Sutch and the Official Monster Raving Looney Party!
> 
> Is it that most of the American left boycott the elections? Is it
> because they do not stand in all States?
> 
> It would be of interest to many of us outside the USA to know in a
> little more depth about the state of the left in the USA. Organisations;
> influence; how they relate with each other; class structure of
> activists; do parties work together; moves towards unity etc. etc.
> 
> Seeing the figures made me realise that there is very little of this
> kind of analysis on this list, and the old list, about the US scene.
> There has been more about Britain and Australia, and almost nothing from
> other parts of the world.
> 
> If the left in the major imperialist countries is so weak then we should
> really understand this. We should study the parts of the world were it
> is growing.
> 
> When we have done all that; we should get off our buts and bloody well
> do something about it!
> 
> Comradely,
> 
> Richard.                     
>       New Worker Online http://www.geocities.com/CapitolHill/2853
> 
> 
> 
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