Posted November 1, 2024
IN THE 2024 U.S. election, Solidarity is not adopting a formal position on the presidential contest. There are various viewpoints in our organization, as there are throughout the socialist and progressive U.S. left. AGAINST THE CURRENT published several opinion articles covering a range of positions:
* WHY SOCIALISTS SHOULD DEFEAT TRUMP, BY DAN LA BOTZ
Why Socialists Must Defeat Trump – Against the Current (https://againstthecurrent.org/atc232/why-socialists-must-defeat-trump/)
* SOCIALIST SUPPORT FOR THE GREEN PARTY, BY HOWIE HAWKINS
Socialist Support of the Green Party – Against the Current (https://againstthecurrent.org/atc232/socialist-support-of-the-green-party/)
* WHAT QUESTION ARE WE ANSWERING?, BY KIT WAINER
What Question Are We Answering? – Against the Current (https://againstthecurrent.org/atc232/what-question-are-we-answering/)
* A MARXIST CASE FOR VOTING FOR KAMALA HARRIS, BY CLIFF CONNER, posted online:
A Marxist Case for Voting for Kamala Harris – Against the Current (https://againstthecurrent.org/a-marxist-case-for-voting-for-kamala-harris/)
Following this,we polled our membership, inviting comrades to choose among several options. To be sure, the November election is about more than just the presidency. Not only are there Congressional, state and local races, and critically important ballot referenda especially on abortion rights, but also the threats of rightwing voter suppression and attempts to overturn election results, even the possibility of chaos and constitutional crisis — which may turn out to be the most important events of the election and afterward. But for immediate purposes, we asked members to “voice your choice” on the options in the presidential election.
The following are the results of the poll.
OPTION 1: In view of the extreme character of the far-right Christian nationalist threat represented by the Trump-Vance Republican ticket, socialists should support a vote for the Harris-Walz Democratic ticket. 24%
OPTION 2: Socialists should support a vote for Harris-Walz in the “battleground states” where the outcome is likely to be closely decided. In other states socialists should support a vote for the Green Party Stein-Ware ticket, or Cornel West’s independent campaign, where they’re on the ballot or waging an organized write-in campaign. 24%
OPTION 3: Socialists should support building an alternative through a vote for the Green Party ticket wherever it’s on the ballot (or failing that, Cornel West or any progressive alternative to express our advocacy of independent politics). 40%
OPTION 4: Other (please specify. This would include, for example, abstaining on the presidential vote and concentrating on down-ballot or referenda, etc.). 12%
Whatever the electoral results may be, of course,the crises of U.S. society and the political system will persist. Along with the forces of the U.S. left and progressive movements, we face massive tasks and responsibilities in the next period. Our priorities must include the defense of democratic rights, and resistance to potential attempts to overturn the election that may entail rightwing intimidation and violence. Of course, in the wake of any electoral outcome, mobilizations will increase against the continuing Israeli-U.S. war of extermination in Gaza, ethnic cleansing in Palestine, bombing of Lebanese cities and looming war with Iran. Repression of pro-Palestinian activism will also escalate, as Israel’s own assault on dissent extends internationally — including into the United States.
We also see the continuation and possible expansion of labor struggles. as in the East Coast longshore dispute, the Boeing strike, potentially at Stellantis, and others.
November 5 is the end of a long electoral cycle but not, by any means, a resolution of U.S. domestic and global conflicts, as well as an ever-intensifying ecological and climate catastrophe.
— The Solidarity National Committee
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