EDITORIAL
It's not just Iowa
Every time election season begins with the
Iowa caucuses, we have to point out that Iowa is not typical of
the United States. Before too many conclusions are drawn about
the political climate in this country today, let's look at the
facts about this Midwest state.
First, its population comes to about 1 percent of the
countrywide total. Of its 2.86 million people, 91 percent are
white, compared with 69 percent in the United States as a
whole. (Most Native people were forced out of Iowa or killed in
the 1800s.) Some 12 percent of children in Iowa live below the
poverty level, while the figure for the whole U.S. is 21
percent. While nationally 81 percent of the people live in
metropolitan areas, in Iowa only 46 percent do.
It's just a fact that if the first primaries or caucuses
were held in New York or California or Ohio, the outcome would
be different.
By following a schedule that puts Iowa and New
Hampshire--which is actually 95 percent white--first, the
capitalist political establishment is already skewing the race
for the nomination in a conservative direction.
This is typical ruling class politics. Industrialization and
the gobbling up of farmland by agribusiness have driven most of
the population of the U.S. into the areas around the big
cities, yet the political institutions--especially, of course,
the U.S. Senate--are weighted to discount the views of these
large, multinational working class concentrations.
Thus it is not surprising that in Iowa John Kerry, who
artfully came across as the anti-war, pro-war candidate,
helping to confuse the voters with peace demagogy wrapped in
flag waving, came out ahead. Having the Kennedy machine behind
him and a personal fortune didn't hurt, of course.
Capitalist politics boils down to the fine art of ignoring
and marginalizing the most exploited and oppressed--thus
discouraging them from participating--while finding, or
manufacturing, divisive issues that will arouse bigoted
passions and energize those on the right.
Bush did that in his State of the Union address when he
called for a "marriage amendment" that simultaneously denies
same-sex couples civil unions while promoting the idea that
people are poor because they're not married--and not because
decent-paying jobs are as scarce as hen's teeth these days.
At the same time, of course, Bush had to say something about
jobs, since his corporate cronies are laughing all the way to
the same banks that are foreclosing on jobless workers.
But neither Democrats nor Repub licans have any program to
deal with the looming capitalist economic crisis that has made
a mockery of the term "recovery." All around the world, the
political climate is shifting to the left as this bankrupt
system drives millions into poverty while creating a new class
of billionaires. The U.S. elections don't provide even a pale
reflection of this gathering storm.
Reprinted from the Jan. 29, 2004, issue of
Workers World newspaper
This article is copyright under a Creative
Commons License.
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