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The Black Commentator

Here are a few quick thoughts on the November 4th election.

(1) There is almost always a low turnout during a midterm election and the party which controls the White House tends to lose.  This is definitely true but should not let us off the hook.

(2) The Democratic base largely stayed home except in certain important races, such as in North Carolina.  I think that we have to face the reality that the base that would be expected to vote Democratic was dis-spirited.  It is not just the ads that the Republicans ran.  The Obama administration has not led in a progressive direction.  There are certainly some major accomplishments, but there had been great expectations by many that after the 2012 election he would come out swinging.  I never had such expectations, but many people did.  Instead the administration continued to be stuck in various crises but also was not articulating a clear direction.  The Republicans were able to make Obama out to be the problem despite certain important facts, e.g., the economy has improved; troops had been pulled out of Iraq.

(3) Though the economy has improved, the condition for the average working person has not.  Yes, unemployment is down but we are still dealing with structural unemployment that is weighing on everyone.  The damage from the foreclosure crisis is far from over. And the rich are the ones who are benefiting from the improved economy.   To turn any of this around masses of working people need to be organized to fight for a division of the wealth.  Yes, that means building and supporting labor unions.  But when the President does not make that a clarion call-except when speaking with union members-he has no answer to the public that is asking for their share.

(4) Race, as always, was a factor.  The Republicans had sufficient codes to make it clear that race was an issue in the election.  Discussions about Obama allegedly being prepared to open up the flood gates to immigrants is a case in point.  But there were many other messages.  Once again, the Republicans have positioned themselves as the "non-black party."  Race arose in some additional and odd ways.  The Ebola crisis, for instance, was tinged with a racial cover.  The fear and panic associated with it and blaming it on Obama!

(5) This election was about money.but also not:  This was the most expensive midterm in history.  Yet it was not a guarantee that one would win if there was money on the table. The Democrats, in various races, sunk in a great deal of money.  So, we cannot put it all on that.  Money, however, plus motivation can make one VERY bit difference.

(6) The Democrats keep falling back into running technocrats.  While this was certainly not the case in every election, it was striking that there is this default position of channeling Michael Dukakis '88 and suggesting that one is a good candidate because one can run the trains on time.  Instead of positioning as an advocate for the people, and especially the people who are being squeezed, too many Democrats were running as technocrats and bi-partisan healers.  Yet this, in part, relates to money.  If you cannot run a campaign without goo-gobs of money, it is more difficult to run as a progressive populist.

(7) Progressives need to support and create organizations that are fighting for political power at the local and state level.  We need formations (which i have called "neo-Rainbow") that can identify and train candidates; build bases; take on initiatives and referendums; and run our candidates either in Democratic primaries or as independents, depending on the tactical situation.   This brings with it a series of major challenges not the least being accumulating resources.   There is no easy answer to the resource question but one thing that is certain is that building the sorts of organizations i am referencing, e.g., Virginia New Majority, Florida New Majority, Progressive Democrats of America, will necessitate around the clock resource accumulation, including but not limited to fundraising.  We will NEVER have the funds of the Koch brothers so we need to get over that and think about the strategies, tactics and organizational forms necessary and appropriate to an asymmetric situation.

Campaign for America's Future

Debacle. Bloodbath. Call it what you will. Democrats, as expected, fared poorly in red states in an off-year election. Worse, unpopular Republican governors survived. This was ugly.

Yes, the electorate was as skewed as was the map. Many Republicans won office with the support of less than 20 percent of the eligible voters. Voters over 60 made up a stunning 37 percent of the electorate (up from 25 percent in 2012 or 32 percent in the last bi-election in 2010). Voters under 30 were only 12 percent of the electorate, down from 19 percent in 2012. Democrats won women, but lost white men big. Republicans lost ground with Hispanic voters, but in most of the contested states, they weren't much of a factor....(Click title for more)

What To Make Of Electoral Politics 2014?

How Much of a Difference Did New Voting Restrictions Make in the Close Races?

By Julian Coppens

November 7, 2014 - Links International Journal of Socialist Renewal -- About 8000 members of the new organisation Podemos packed the Palacio Vistalegre in Madrid on October 18 and 19, 2014, for the final stages of the Citizens' Assembly "Si se puede" (Yes we can). The assembly, with 150,000 taking part online, discussed draft documents for the foundation of the Spanish state's newest and fastest growing political force.

In the two weeks since the assembly membership has grown from 150,000 to 215,000. The latest opinion polls shows Podemos rising from third in direct voting intention to first, displacing both the governing right-wing People's Party (PP) and the Spanish Socialist Workers Party (PSOE) -- Spain's main social-democratic party with more than 100 years of history.

In one of the greatest examples of spontaneous organisation anywhere in recent decades, more than 900 Podemos circles (local branches) have been formed throughout Spain.

Behind this phenomenon lies resistance to draconian cuts to the public sector, devastating unemployment and a seemingly unending series of corruption scandals. These are the results of the economic and political crisis that has gripped Spain since 2008.

This resistance achieved international attention when people occupied public squares in hundreds of Spanish cities in the lead-up to the 2011 general elections -- the so-called indignado or 15M movement.

It also includes other social movements, such as the campaign for a minimum income for the nearly 2 million jobless who are ineligible for any kind of benefit. Other movements include the Camps and Marches for Dignity, the campaign to stop evictions carried out by the banks and the white and green "tides" defending public health and education against severe cutbacks.

Since 2008, more than 500,000 people have been forced out of their homes amid an official national jobless rate of around 25% (over 50% for the under 25s). Big banks, meanwhile, have been bailed out with billions of euros of public money with no strings attached.

In this context of ongoing social and economic crisis, corruption scandals keep erupting. These include the theft of public funds by members of the royal family through dummy foundations; inflated public contracts for friends and family of the PP, as well as the payment of monthly bonuses in undeclared cash to the upper echelons of the PP for more than 20 years -- paid for by illegal cash party contributions from large corporations, many of which received lucrative government contracts; and the theft of hundreds of millions of euros worth of funds destined for redundant workers by members of the PSOE and major trade unions.

Two corruption scandals have blown up in what has now become known as "Black October" - the month when 141 politicians were charged with corruption.

The first is the use of "black" credit cards by members of the board of Caja Madrid, a publicly operated Madrid building society, which was bailed out with billions of euros in public money. These credit cards allowed representatives of political parties and unions nominated to various positions in the bank to spend unlimited amounts of money -- unaccounted for and undeclared to the tax office. All up, 83 politically appointed directors spent more than €15 million on "black" credit cards.

Jose Antonio Moral Santin, former leading member of the United Left (IU) in Madrid, spent €465,000 on his card on top of his €500,000 annual salary. An IU regional MP for eight years, Moral Santin became a director as a result of a political deal between the United Left and the PP.

Since Podemos's October 18 assembly, the uncovering of another network of corruption in Operation "Púnica" has led to 140 politicians at various levels of government being charged with corruption related to bribes and tender fixing for €250 million worth of government contracts. Those charged are directly connected to and were appointed by the governing PP leadership and encompass all levels of government. However, politicians from the PSOE are also implicated, indicating bipartisan contamination....(Click title for more)

Solidarity, Carl Davidson, CCDS