Socialist candidates on the ballot
A real choice for workers in Washington state
By Workers World Seattle bureau
Washington State election officials announced
on July 9 that Workers World Party had achieved ballot status.
Workers and progressives in that state now have the opportunity
to vote for WWP presidential candidate John Parker and
vice-presidential candidate Teresa Gutierrez in November.
Parker and Gutierrez are workers, people of color, anti-war
activists and socialists running a protest campaign. They are
challenging Republican George W. Bush and Democrat John Kerry,
who they denounce as willing tools of big business and the
military-industrial complex.
The Workers World Party candidates say workers, the poor,
people of color, women, the lesbian, gay, bi and trans
communities, immigrants, youth and students, rank-and-file
soldiers, and all who are oppressed need their own party--one
that fights for them and represents their interests.
Among the demands in Parker and Gutierrez's campaign
platform are: Bring the troops home from Iraq now, union jobs
and a guaranteed income for all, same-sex marriage rights now,
abolish the Patriot Act, and extend full rights to immigrants,
including the undocumented.
"Washington, like all the states, has complex and
challenging rules for ballot access," explained Jim McMahan of
Seattle, a campaign organizer. "These regulations were designed
to keep progressive, working-class parties off the ballot. But
we worked hard and overcame these obstacles, because we knew
poor and working people in Washington State need an alternative
to the twin parties of war, racism and cutbacks."
McMahan said WWP's message would resonate with millions of
workers statewide who've suffered layoffs in recent years,
including more than 75,000 Boeing workers who have been laid
off since 1999. "Although some who lost their jobs have gotten
new ones, most are working for lower pay, with fewer benefits
and less job security."
The official Voters Guide mailed to every registered voter
in Washington State will include a statement from the WWP
candidates.
Big issues: LGBT rights, war, jobs
Parker-Gutierrez supporters gathered close to 2,000
signatures from registered voters in one week, from June 27 to
July 3. The petitioning took place during WWP's statewide
convention in Seattle. Many signed at Seattle's Lesbian/Gay/
Bi/Trans Pride Festival.
"People in Seattle were very responsive to our campaign and
our candidates," reported Sue Kelly. "It was exciting to see
how many folks responded positively to the fact that we are a
socialist party. Quite a few recognized WWP.
"At Pride, our candidates being an African American man and
a Latina lesbian was a huge positive. There and in general,
most people were attracted by our opposition to the Iraq war.
Our demand for money for jobs and human needs was the next most
important issue," Kelly said.
"In the succeeding days, depending on where we were, the
economic issues were often foremost. The people see the
connection between the war and the economic issues. A few
people--more than I expected--said they had been classified as
convicted felons who had lost their voting rights, and wanted
them back."
"I petitioned for two days at the Pride Festival and got a
good response," said David Sole. "The hardest thing was that
there are still many people who want anyone but Bush. These
folks admitted that Kerry was for sending more troops to Iraq
and not favorable to same-sex marriage, but still weren't ready
to break with the Democrats. But it was important for them to
hear an independent view.
"While LGBT rights was a big issue at the festival," he
added, "the war in Iraq was also important to many who
signed."
Maggie Vascassenno explained, "At the community college
where I petitioned, close to the LGBT community, the response
to my appeal for signatures was very gratifying--a high
percentage of people that I approached were glad to sign.
"One of the most poignant moments was when I was speaking to
the father of an 8-year-old African American girl. After
listening closely to my rap, and repeatedly looking at the
campaign literature, she asked in a quiet voice, 'Is that a
Black man running for president?'"
Presidential candidate John Parker told Workers World that a
July 13 demonstration by Latinos in Washington's Yakima Valley
showed why WWP is running. The group was protesting government
round-ups of immigrant agricultural workers in the region.
"We want to represent the interests of our fellow workers,
including immigrants who are under attack, regardless of
whether they can vote for us," said Parker.
He explained: "We are building a people's movement that will
continue far beyond the elections."
To learn more about WWP campaign, visit www.vote4workers.org.
Reprinted from the July 22, 2004, issue of
Workers World newspaper
This article is copyrighted
under a Creative
Commons License.
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