Independent Antiwar Intervention in the 2008 Election Campaigns
http://carldavidson.blogspot.com/2008/02/getting-organized-getting-engaged.html
February 12, 2008
By Carl Davidson
February 13, 2008
If our peace movement wants to make some far-reaching gains in the
2008 election cycle, it doesn't have much time to waste. Super
Tuesday is over, the remaining campaigns will end in November, and
critical events are moving at a rapid pace.
Most important, ending the war in Iraq needs to be a greater part of
everyone's political decisions in 2008 than it is now.
In mid-February, we're down to four main candidates, plus the
Greenstwo Republicans who promise to win the war, whatever the cost,
even if it takes decades, and two Democrats who promise to end it,
with less than desirable timelines and qualifications.
Large numbers of Americans critical of the war have decided to enter
this arena in one way or anotherbut they are not necessarily part of
the one million or so who have taken to the streets to date. Most
have not. The most obvious is the insurgent wave of youth taking up
Barak Obama's cause, seeing him as their favored instrument to end
the war and advance other progressive causes. They may make other
choices later, but they have chosen to enter the fray this way,
whether anyone else thinks it's the best way or not.
Yet we, the more seasoned core of the antiwar movement, are not as
engaged as we could be. Tom Hayden has elsewhere argued
forcefully'After Super Tuesday, Time for Peace Movement to Get Off
the Sidelines'--on why the peace and justice movements need to deploy
more of its forces. At the risk on repeating some of his points, I'll
focus on some of the key ways it can actually be done, although just
about any way would be better than doing nothing.
Political Intervention. With all the various 'plans' regarding Iraq
being floated, it's important that the peace movement stake out its
position, and the one shared by the antiwar majority among the people
themselves, of immediate withdrawal of all US forces from Iraq and
their return home. Every candidate of every party needs to be
directly confronted with this at every public forum. While there are
important differences among them, not one of those remaining
completely shares this perspective. They are either lagging behind
the electorate or opposing it. Those who claim to want to end the
war, at whatever level they are contending, need to be openly
informed that they only gain support by taking a stronger stand.
Ballot Intervention. We can also directly put issues on the ballot,
as well as into the discussion. Near West Citizens for Peace &
Justice, for example, put a cutoff of funding for the war on the
ballot at its township level in a working-class suburb of Chicago in
the recent primary, where it won by 77 percent. Since electoral law
varies, this may not be practical in some areas, but wherever it can
be done, it's a great nonpartisan, non-endorsing tool to bring
antiwar votes to the polls.
Expanding the Electorate. This is already shaping up to be an
historic election with a record-breaking turnout, if for no other
reason than the likelihood of the 'White Guys Only' sign being taken
from the Oval Office. Growing numbers want to be part of that
history, and not just watch it. Still, the sharper the differences
are drawn with the unabashed defenders of prolonging the war, the
greater the potential turnout. But it has to be organized. Some new
voters register themselves, but many do not until they are
encouraged, especially among young people. The antiwar movement has
everything to gain from registering voters in a nonpartisan fashion,
so that the contact list with the new voters belong to it, rather
than any party. Most states make it easy for volunteer organizations
to get new registrations on their own and turn them in. There's
nothing standing in our way but our own lack of initiative.
Shaping and Informing the Electorate. A few years back the average
voter was a 60-year-old retired economically liberal but socially
conservative blue collar woman in a 'white' working-class suburb. But
everything changes, especially in times of crisis, and there's no law
of the universe or even demographics that says it has to remain that
way. Expanding the electorate comes in many flavorsthe promoting
more war and injustice crowd certainly works on expanding it in their
direction, and there's no reason we can't do it our way. Moreover, an
electorate more educated on the wardisabused of notions that Iraq
caused 9/11 and other such lies and illusionsis more likely to vote
rationally on the war, and to make educated selections among the
candidates on their own, with an assist from wide distribution of
candidate position survey and score cards, candidate night debates, and so on.
Identifying the Antiwar Electorate. Knowing that a majority of the
electorate is critical of the war is one thing. It's quite another to
know all the names and addresses of voters in your precinct who are
opposed to the war, support the war, or waver in between. The
additional information is empowering to those who hold it, and
there's no reason it shouldn't be in the hands of our
neighborhood-based peace and justice groups. But you have to do
old-fashioned, door-to-door organizing to get it. Fortunately, a
voter registration drive in an election cycle is an excellent way to
do it. And it's an additional plus that the same information is more
than useful for mass mobilizations and other projects beyond Election Day.
Mobilizing the Electorate. Potential voters who are registered and
antiwar but don't make it to the polls don't help much. There's no
reason we can't organize nonpartisan GOTVGet Out The Voteevents,
not only ourselves, but with all our allies among churches, schools
and unions. This way the relationships and ties belong to you after
the election, not to any party. No one's campaign reaches far enough
into every corner; there's always work to be done in areas where it's
not crowded but important to us nonetheless. Again, you can get your
antiwar voters to the polls without endorsing anyone. They'll figure
out what to do.
Protecting and Securing the Vote. Perhaps I'm biased by my years in
Chicago, but, yes, this is crucial to know how to do. Getting all
sorts of voters to the polls doesn't help much if you can't get a
fair and reliable count. There's lots of justified concern about
electronic machines these days, but in the 1980s, I went through an
excellent three-hour training on '100 things to watch for' to prevent
stealing the vote when all the ballots were paper. (One was to look
for long, sharpened fingernails on those handing out ballots. A wink
from the precinct captain would get an unfavorable person's ballot
'nicked' for later removal). It's definitely worthwhile getting a
number of people trained and positioned as poll watchers and election
judges, for the future as well as the present.
Staking Claim to the Vote. It's not very convincing to politicians or
anyone else for us to claim a positive gain from an election we had
nothing to do with, save for cheerleading on the sidelines. But to
the degree we can reasonably claim responsibility for favorable
results and turnouts in one battle, it enhances our independent
'clout' in future battles, inside and outside the electoral arena. It
enhances our ability to 'counter-spin' the outcomes and post-election
battles from those who would marginalize us. Most important, no
matter who is elected, the need for an ongoing, independent and
election-savvy organization is going to be more needed than ever in
the dangerous 'end game' to Bush's disaster in Iraq.
There are different sets of rules for doing all the above, depending
on whether your local group or coalition is a 501C3, a 501C4, a
straightforward public interest group with a bank account and no tax
exempt status, or just an ad-hoc group of volunteers. If you are in
doubt as to what can or can't be done, and have a status that needs
defending, consult a lawyer with some experience on the topic. But
don't fall for the claim that you can't do anything.
There's a lot that can be done, preferably completely independent of
any party or campaign. If your imagination fails, you can always get
to the organizations of the candidates or party of your choice, but
do it now. You don't want to tell your grandchildren that you sat on
the sidelines in the Election of 2008.
---
[Carl Davidson is author, together with Marilyn Katz, of 'Stopping
War, Seeking Justice,' available at lulu.com/changemaker. He was
founder and director of Peace and Justice Voters 2004 in Chicago, and
a member of the steering committee of United for Peace and Justice.
See carldavidson.blogspot.com for more information.]
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