WWP CAMPAIGN RALLY
Talking about fightback & revolution
By Leslie Feinberg
New York
The message of the Sept. 18 campaign rally came through loud
and clear: Workers World Party is using the podium of the 2004
presidential elections to build the revolutionary struggle
against capitalism and resistance to Washington's war of
occupation in Iraq.
The rally here brought together the three candidates, all
leaders in Workers World Party. WWP candidates John Parker for
president and Teresa Gutierrez for vice president; and LeiLani
Dowell, Peace & Freedom Party candidate for Eight
Congressional District, San Francisco.
The ease and warmth with which each of the candidates
articulate their party's political program of battling
imperialist war and economic exploitation, racism and bigotry
demonstrated how widely they are getting out into the working
class and oppressed communities to talk to people about
fightback and revolution. [See related boxes]
WWP campaign managers Monica Moorehead and Greg Butterfield
co-chaired the rally.
Moorehead stressed, "Our candidates will be agitating about
the need to take the struggle to the streets to wrest important
concessions for our class to help to alleviate some of the
immediate suffering. Our candidates will also be talking about
a long-term solution to the ills of capitalism and that is
socialism--a system that puts human needs before profit greed.
So we hope that this rally will not only excite you about our
candidates, but will motivate you to check out our party after
the elections."
Butterfield explained, "After today's rally our candidates
begin an ambitious national tour for the next six weeks that
will take them to at least two dozen cities-- from New England
to the Midwest, to the West Coast to the Deep South. But all
that traveling takes money. We rely on contributions from
workers--like you and me."
'A cry of freedom for the workers'
Larry Holmes, a member of WWP's Secretariat and a former
party candidate, said, "We knew it would be difficult to run an
election campaign this time because the party is fighting on
numerous fronts simultaneously. But it was the right decision.
It's absolutely necessary to have revolutionary communists in
the 2004 election campaign. Our campaign is a cry of freedom
for the workers."
Holmes invited all those in attendance to take part in
Workers World Party's Nov. 13-14 conference in New York City.
"It will give us time after the election to analyze and assess
everything that has happened."
Workers World newspaper editor and the party's first
presidential candidate, Deirdre Griswold, told the rally, "Our
election campaign is just one tactic WWP uses to advance the
struggle of the workers and oppressed for qualitative social
change. Our first campaign was in 1980, when Reagan ran against
Carter. Since then, we have participated in almost all the
presidential elections, not because the vote is going to change
conditions, but in order to mobilize on a broader basis."
A dynamic young Dominican activist and organizer explained
to those gathered that as an undocumented worker, she was not
allowed to cast her vote in the Nov. 2 election. But if she
could, she declared, "I would vote for John Parker, Teresa
Gutierrez and LeiLani Dowell."
Julie Fry, a founder of FIST--Fight Imperialism Stand
Together--vowed to work to bring even more youth into
participation in the struggle campaign of Parker, Gutierrez and
Dowell. She concluded that youth need an independent,
revolutionary fightback movement to stop the attacks on their
lives and this campaign, she concluded, is just that kind of
militant vehicle for activism.
The candidates' support for the upcoming Million Worker
March was woven into several of the talks.
To find out when the candidates will be in your town, or for
more information about how you can become a part of the Workers
World campaign, contact: Workers World Party Presidential
Campaign Committee National Office, 55 West 17th St., 5th
Floor, New York, NY 10011. Call (212) 627-2994; email vote4workers@workers.org;
or visit www.vote4workers.org.
Reprinted from the Sept. 30, 2004, issue of
Workers World newspaper
This article is copyright under a Creative
Commons License.
Workers World, 55 W. 17 St., NY, NY 10011
Email: ww@workers.org
Subscribe wwnews-subscribe@workersworld.net
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