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It also clarifies why people in the groups at the LeftElect conference were going on about the difficulties the Sanders campaign would pose. It made little sense to me, but maybe they had a whiff that SAlt was going to go this way. But I've had this discussion enough to know the thinking behind it. And it's the same whether we're talking about those sects wanting to run their own campaigns that'll get only a few thousand as for those drawn into the Sanders campaign because they think it will move millions. Some people would rather support a "socialist" actively building a Democratic campaign than a Green with socialist politics trying to build something independent of the corporate parties. For all the problems involved in the latter--and I can make a list longer than anyone on this list--I think that anyone who thinks the former works best in the long run--or even the short run--is sadly mistaken. I'm astonished that so many people are stirred up either way by Bernie's campaign. His declaration that he's going to support whoever wins and that Hillary Clinton's acceptable as a candidate rather takes all the mystery out of it. Perhaps the plan is for SAlt to get to the ranks of the campaign as they're becoming disillusioned. More power to them if they can, but such an approach looks easier on paper than it will be in reality. Most of the Sanders supporters I've talked with expect to go with Hillary in the end anyway and are already working on their rationalizations. Most who don't will most naturally gravitate to groups such as the Progressive Democrats of America that demand nothing of their members and--outside of very narrow subsets of the Democratic party--amount to little more than that--nothing. My advice to SAlt, if they're going to work on the campaign, is to circulate a petition among Sanders supporters asking Bernie to reconsider his stated decision not to run as an independent if he loses. That would give them a hefty database of the most well-intentioned people involved in the campaign. ML _________________________________________________________ Full posting guidelines at: http://www.marxmail.org/sub.htm Set your options at: http://lists.csbs.utah.edu/options/marxism/archive%40mail-archive.com
