>>> [EMAIL PROTECTED] 08/10/04 3:16 PM >>> At 1:07 PM -0400 8/9/04, Michael Hoover wrote: >nader people might be of greater help to polity in general (of >course, this is electoral campaign which, by definition, has narrow >focus) by highlighting unequal/unjust ballot access procedures, >state by state rules are clear violation of 14th admendment equal >protection...
The best way to highlight unequal/unjust ballot access procedures is to actually run a campaign that runs afoul of them -- then, there is a practical struggle. Who cares if ballot access procedures are unequal and unjust if there is no candidate other than the Democratic and Republican ones to begin with? <<<<<>>>>> of course, my point was that nader people have not - and will not - raise equal protection matter (although they'll - no doubt, and rightly so - complain about being exluded from prez debates)... At 1:07 PM -0400 8/9/04, Michael Hoover wrote: >carcasses of 'minor' parties across u.s. political landscape Minor parties -- the Liberal Party, the Free Soil Party, etc. -- are destined to die, but they are among the important political arenas through which people network, gain experience, and accumulate knowledge, and I'm interested in what individuals who are trained in struggles that cannot immediately achieve their goals learn and what they will do with what they have learned. We need to keep learning from major failures and minor successes until we encounter objective conditions that may allow us to make use of our experience and knowledge. <<<<<>>>>> neither of parties cited above would seem to be good examples of your explanation (wonder how many folks are even familiar with either)... free soilers (1848-54) were northern elite splinters from dem party who had come to oppose slavery for economic reasons (in contrast to moral abolitionists), they desired 'free land' for homesteading (19th century economic elites often manipulated egalitarian rhetoric of homesteading for financial gain by paying people to occupy land for them) while southern slaver class needed more land to perpetuate slave-based planatation system... free soil platform was ambivalent document in which anti-slavery plank was followed by statement that congress did not have authority to interfere with slavery within state boundaries, but then party slogan 'free soil, free speech, free labor, free men' was contradictory... interestingly, some complained that martin van buren's (former u.s. prez, 1837-40) 1848 prez campaign played 'spoiler' in splitting dem votes - van buren received about 10% of 'popular vote') and allowing whig zachary taylor to be elected (taylor died in office under somewhat suspicious circumstances, his body was exhumed within last decade to look into possibility of arsenic poisoning, test results said no, but michael parenti (that cper/milosevic supporter/conspiracy theorist!) suggests otherwise in _new political science_ article a few years back)... 1850 compromise weakened cause, party got about 5% of vote in 1852 prez election, dissolved itself shortly after, members dirfted into newly formed rep party... re. liberal party, suppose you mean new york liberal party as it is only one of any significance (if one considers it as such) that i'm aware of, origins in american labor split at end of ww2 over whether or not commies should be allowed to play a role in alp, anti-commie labor leaders opponents of such a role founded liberal party, so party had organized labor (of a cold war sort) support early on which manifest itself in endorsement of truman in 48 made possible by new york's 'fusion' ballot status... ny liberal party went on to endorse/nominate dem party candidate in every prez election except 1980 when it supported john anderson, party also gave endorsements to dem candidates for u.s senate from ny except for its support of 'liberal' republican jacob javits, some suggest that party's support of javits - who lost to alphonse d'mato in rep primary - split dem/lib vote in 1980 between javits and dem elizabeth holtzman allowing d'mato to win... what are lessons... At 1:07 PM -0400 8/9/04, Michael Hoover wrote: >reform party line is absolutely irrevelevant in states where party >has ballot status save two - florida and michigan (drum roll please >- so-called 'battlegrounds') It would be ironic if Cobb/LaMarche are on the Green Party ballots in one-party states and Nader/Camejo are on the ballots in battleground states. Yoshie <<<<<>>>>> greens have prez ballot line in florida, parties have to hold national nominating convention to qualify, state went from most difficult access law in country to one more equitable a few years ago via initiative vote spearheaded largely by libertarian party with help from some other minor parties, including green, reform, socialist... however, my point was that nader's use of reform endorsement is politics as usual... michael hoover -------------------------------------------------------------- Please Note: Due to Florida's very broad public records law, most written communications to or from College employees regarding College business are public records, available to the public and media upon request. Therefore, this e-mail communication may be subject to public disclosure.
