Be careful what you wish for because you just might get it. Elders teach this saying to generations of children. My father taught me a story from his political activism to ingrain this concept into my mind. During Salvador Allende’s Popular Unity (UP) government in Chile, my dad told a fellow UP supporter that he would rather see a military government than the Christian Democrats in power. The older radical reminded my papa that he had never experienced a military dictatorship and may regret those words; and he did as a political prisoner and exile.

I fear Peter Frase’s piece “Should We Welcome the Republican Party’s Descent Into Insanity?” treads along the flawed logic of my sire in his youth. Frase is not wrong to hope for a creation of a new progressive political formation. We may be in trouble, however, if this new left-wing party is caused by an exodus of the liberal-left from the Democratic Party if moderate Republicans enter the party. The last thing we want is a major right-wing populist party to exist in the United States. Even if it regional at first, it could easily become a major national political force. I also believe that if the Republicans lost their moderates and libertarians, then their populist wing could morph into a bi-racial reactionary movement.

The foundation of my fears has two facets. The first are the dangers of right-wing populism and the Republican Party leaders who feed into it. The second fear is that the Left still solely associates the ultra-right in this country with racist white Americans and fascists. I don’t think the right-wing populism of the 21st century will fall into the old molds of segregationist Storm Thurmond and American Nazi George Lincoln Rockwell that the Left historically battled.

On the first point, the defeat of Alaska Governor Sarah Palin for GOP VP was just as important as the victory of Illinois Senator Barack Obama for president. Palin’s campaign rhetoric reached out to the worst elements of American jingoism, racism, and cultural conservatism. Her presence rallied a base that viewed the election of black man as unacceptable and who saw Obama as unpatriotic and dangerous for America. Georgian congressional representative and civil rights leader John Lewis should never have had to apologize for drawing a comparison to the anti-integrationist presidential candidate George Wallace and the McCain-Palin ticket. As one-time DSA member Rick Perlstein reminded his readers in the book Nixonland that Wallace staff had to deal with voters who were unsure of voting for Wallace because he wasn’t for shooting blacks. I try to remind my left-wing friends who are wary about a centrist Obama is that the candidate can be less important than the more radical elements they empower with a victory.

Secondly, I am worried that people underestimate the ability of the Right to change to meet new social and political conditions. There has been a lot of talk that the GOP is living in the past as a party for (or at least dominated by) white males. Moreover, progressives happily point to the coming demographic shifts that will make America less white and will favor the Democrats. These two facts ignore efforts in places such as the anti-immigrant movement to become multiracial (or at least comprised of both white and black Americans).

Nationalist politics always needs an “other.” In the U.S. politics that role has historically been filled by blacks, Jews, and immigrants (especially Catholics). One of the few good things about McCain was that his moderate mainstream stance on immigration reform pitted him against the more right-wing populist Republicans. But just because we did not see heavy anti-immigrant attacks during the Presidential campaign does not mean the fault lines are not real. In addition, groups like the vigilante border patrol groups such as the Minute Men have made outreaches to African-Americans. African-Americans and immigrants have long been social adversaries in the job market in capitalism’s race to the bottom. Exploiting racial divisions to divide the working-class to lower wages is a tried and true tactic of employers. Often, undocumented workers will labor for lower wages than citizens. This directly puts blacks at a disadvantage against both more privileged whites and desperate immigrants. Anti-immigrant feelings and a faltering economy could lead a good portion of the black community under a well-pitched right-wing populist fold.

My concern grew after taking a bus through Harlem in New York City. I saw a young African-American male praise an older black woman for the victories of the civil rights movement and then turn around to viciously attack two South Asian immigrants for not speaking English. His self-serving view of social justice increased my fear that some African-Americans might find a space in reinvented right-wing nationalism. Remember, quasi-fascist French presidential candidate Jean-Marie Le Pen called upon Frenchmen of all religions to battle “immigration” (a not-so-subtle code word for Muslims). This was seen as move to push French Jews – not your typical base for fascism – to feel safe in voting for Le Pen. Don’t think the American Right wont’ use similar rhetoric to win over African-Americans as well. Even Lincoln Rockwell made overtures to Malcolm X to have a discussion on racial separation.

The American Left should be very worried about and vigilant against growing right-wing populism. We must push for a progressive and smart dialogue which shows that “divide-and-conquer” tactics have not ended and are self-defeating for workers of all colors. I hope that the immigrant rights movement and liberal leaders of the black community can work to heal old wounds. But what we must not do is wish for the death of moderate Republicanism. The only time my maternal grandfather ever voted for a Republican was for pro-Civil Rights and pro-Medicare Kenneth Keating against Bobby Kennedy for U.S. Senate. When my mother asked why, my grandfather replied that we did not want to see the end of Nelson Rockefeller (i.e. liberal) Republicans.

Today, for all intents and purposes, liberal Republicans are no more. Their demise has not created a more progressive Democratic Party on economic issues. Thirty years later, do we really want moderate Republicans to become extinct? I doubt it, but only time will tell.

I suggest people read Bill Fletcher Jr.’s “Right-Wing Populism and the Economic Crisis” for more insight.

The Man Who Should Have Been Commissioner: A Political & Baseball View On W.

By David Duhalde

Channel surfing during punditry on a very late Monday night, I found myself watching Major League Baseball commissioner Bud Selig live on ESPN. He was addressing reporters about the historic, but ultimately inconsequential, decision to suspend 2008 World Series Game Five mid-game. His presence at the press conference, with his wet hair standing up a bit and dressed in a soaked overcoat, was rather lackluster. Reflecting on it, I could not help but wish that George W. Bush was in the commissioner’s shoes instead. Bush’s charm and humor would have been more entertaining to watch than Selig’s dull and dry demeanor.

And Bush’s love of baseball is a constant theme in W., the new film from director Oliver Stone. Short fictional segments portray Bush (both in suit and baseball outfit) looking hopefully for a flyball which he never catches. Movie viewers watch the real parts of baseball in Bush’s life: living in the shadow of his father’s playing days on the best Yale team in history, a seemingly uneventful ownership of the Texas Rangers, and ultimately losing the position of commissioner to Selig. Of all the unfair gains Bush had in life due to privilege, holding the commissionership still should have been one.

Somewhat for him. Mostly for all of us.

Watching the film is painfully awkward. Not because it is bad cinema, but that it drags up contemporary events which we are still not over. As a viewer, I found myself miserably unable to stop thinking about the current election, where we have been under Bush, and what we may soon see. I think we all would have benefited from some more time to reflect on the legacy of Bush at a distance. Likely, one would see him not only as a (terrible) president, but as an unhappy product of his patrician family.

Stone’s brutal portrayal of a troubled relationship between father and son is excruciating to watch and is also the main strength of his film. This oedipal kinship makes Bush Jr. an almost forgivable character in W. It seems that Stone wants to tell Bush Sr. that all he ever had to do was to give his son a mere verbal complement or hug. The movie desires to leave you with the notion that had he and and his father a warmer relationship, George W. Bush would be a happier man – not to mention that some of the disasters of the past eight years would not have happened.

But the catastrophes certainly would not have happened if W. became baseball commissioner. Had he got the gig, he would have been free from his father’s legacy. Leaving politics to little brother Jeb, Bush could have been a personality that even left-wing partisans such as myself could have looked forward to every World Series. I will always partly remember Bush for his sense of humor. Many times we laughed at his expense, but sometimes he could make even an hardened radical chuckle. His charisma (and legacy) would have been better served chumming up the press corps after Game Five. Instead, he misled our country with life-and-death consequences.

What has been done cannot be so easily changed. As we enter the next four years with Barack Obama as president, we should remember Abraham Lincoln’s plea at the end of the Civil War: with liberty towards all, malice towards none. I don’t ask anyone to forgive Bush (nor do I expect him to want your charity), but rather that we focus our energy on the battles that lie ahead. Another powerful theme in W. is the ability for every sinner to mend their ways. So as with Bush, but for the proverbial grace of God, may go us if we are not careful with our values when we are close to power.

Either way, it’s a new day next January. So, people get ready, there’s a train a-coming.
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In between job hunting and settling into my new apartment in Somerville, Massachusetts, I watch copious amounts of mainstream news cycles about the presidential election. While far away from my radical political circles in New York City, I still hear about socialism via attacks launched by the sinking GOP presidential ticket and its surrogates against Barack Obama. The “danger” of raising taxes on the wealthiest 5% has replaced reforms such changing the ownership of industries, government-guaranteed healthcare, and free education from pre-K to college as the Red Menace in the 21st century US of A. But I have to ask myself: is it unfair, or at least understandable, that most Americans have a different image of socialism than me? Have they been lead astray or is the term the problem in itself?

Some of my lefty buddies complain that it’s unfair that socialism is being poorly defined by the media. Guess what? That’s life. That problem stems from the US never having a democratic socialist or social democratic movement comparable to those in Europe of Latin America. Most Americans learn about socialism not through political engagement or political discourse but via lectures in high school. I remember in the 8th grade being taught that socialism will make everyone “the same.” Of course, I said that was baloney. In the 10th grade I was told that Scandinavian countries were rolling back their welfare states. Proudly again, and now a bit older, I said that was bull.

Of course, in the latter case I was wrong. I didn’t understand – nor did most of my classmates – that global neoliberal capitalism was leading even democratic left parties to make a turn towards pro-market policies. But the comment I heard in the eighth grade still haunts me: only utopian socialists in the 18th century dreamt of a world where everyone would earn the exact same amount. But absent a socialist movement showing Americans otherwise, what student would take the words of David Duhalde over the all-powerful powerful teacher?

I watch on MSNBC, CNN, and (yes) Fox News as the right-wing pundits identify Obama with the next coming of Salvador Allende, Michael Manley, or Fidel Castro (all of whom, of course, had different visions of what a postcaptialist society would be). The readers of this blog are intelligent enough to know that Obama’s wanting to redistribute some tax revenue to increase the purchasing power of the middle and working classes makes him no more of a socialist than the Bush-Cheney government curtailing civil rights makes them fascists. Sharing a tenet of a belief system a true follower does not make. Proposing to “spread the wealth” doesn’t make you a socialist and increasing state power to erode individual freedoms doesn’t make you a fascist. In the end, what the pundits can’t agree on – and neither can the radical left – is what “socialism” actually means.

I laughed when former Republican congressman and talking head Joe Scarborough insinuated Obama is acting like a “eurosocialist.” It recalled my memory of as a sophomore dusting off an unread copy of the DSA promoted book Eurosocialism, with a faded fist and rose on its cover, at a college house one night. The book had probably sat there since the 1980s, well after many people proclaimed democratic socialism to be on the march in Western and Southern Europe. So, decades later, how off was my friend Joe about “eurosocialism?” Well – it depends on what you think “eurosocialism” is. As a Greek student said to me at the Socialist International conference this year, his party (PASOK) went from “socialist to social democratic to neoliberal and now back to social democratic” without changing its name. That settled for me the simple fact that the definition of what makes one a socialist is rather fluid.

Many people who call themselves socialists or belong to (big S) Socialist/Social Democratic parties around the world don’t support radical change or the overthrow of capitalism. But chances are those folks are still to the left of Obama on the role of unions in society, access to affordable healthcare, guaranteed quality education, etc. The inability for Americans to get a serious understanding of what the European left has stood for means that some US citizens will believe any liberal reform is the second coming of Bolshevism. Only in America could a candidate receive the an endorsement from Warren Buffet – the richest man in the country and a venture capitalist – and raise more money from Wall Street than his right-wing rival while still being labeled a threat to the capitalist system.

Had McCain tried this “Obama supports socialism” farce earlier, it might have stuck. Certainly the lack of education around socialism in this country helps him. However, it’s now too little, too late to label Obama as the next Norman Thomas. But despite the problem of properly defining socialism for Americans, we should thank McCain and Palin for giving us this opportunity to talk about our political beliefs. I’ve used it.

David Duhalde was National Organizer for the Young Democratic Socialists from 2006 to 2008. He currently is a member of Boston Democratic Socialists of America. This page is paid for by the Democratic Sociaists of America PAC, 75 Maiden Lane #505, New York, NY 10038; and is not approved by any candidate or candidate’s committee

For the past four years, the Campus Progress National Conference has brought together a multitude of progressive college students from around the country. The 2008 conference was no exception. Held in early July in Washington, D.C., the day long event consisted of nearly 1,000 students eager for a day of tackling issues and pushing for a year of campus activism.

The conference started off with former Sen. John Edwards giving a keynote speech about the importance of the youth vote and getting involved with the November elections. Other speakers included notable journalists, politicians, artists and policy experts such as Congressperson Linda Sanchez, Congressperson Keith Ellison and Student/Farmworker Alliance National Coordinator Melody Gonzales.

Breakout sessions centered on a variety of topics: civil rights, acting locally, hip-hop in politics, combating climate change, the LGBT and reproductive justice movements, etc., and lasted about an hour each. Outside of the sessions, Campus Progress encouraged self-expression through music, poetry, art and student publications to show that progressive activism comes in numerous forms.

It’s no secret the youth have been pushed into the spotlight this election cycle. Emphasis has been placed on the power of the youth vote and the ability our generation has to shape the future of America. Attending the Campus Progress conference made this fully apparent. The willingness and energy from students came not just from returnees, but fresh faces just getting started in the world of activism. In my first year attending the event I know my excitement was shared with many of the participants. As the youth movement continues to develop and students become more politically aware, the Young Democratic Socialists need to consider this gathering as an invitation to network with fellow activists and recruit new members.

And why is that? These are things students need to know and be acting on. As democratic socialists, we agree that education should be a right, not a privilege. If the conference would have provided information on ways to work in solidarity with our campuses to fight greedy corporate lenders and the broken school system, we would have walked away with a lot more than we did. Aside from that, I felt the sessions could have been longer as time typically ran out before the audience could get through the Q & A portion, the main time allotted for students to interact with speakers and each other.

I think YDS benefited from tabling and had a strong representation at the conference. Student traffic was high between sessions and many were interested in YDS literature. Most students were interested in learning about our political platform, main priorities and involvement nationwide. Compared to the other groups tabling, YDS helped break up the monotony of numerous “green group” clubs, each doing the same things on campus, sharing the same goals and ideology. Since YDS doesn’t revolve around one single-handed issue, we’re a more diverse and active organization.

I left the conference imagining all the activities YDS could do on campuses this year. As YDSers, we have more opportunities than ever for chapter growth by working with other groups on local and national levels. With one of our main priorities working in solidarity with the Coalition of Immokalee Workers and pushing workers rights, it’d be great to team up with organizations like Student Labor Action Project, Student Farmworker Alliance and Campus Progress to create bigger, more powerful events this year. As we learned at Wichita State, utilizing resources and attacking issues from different angles creates a more powerful message - the kind of message that turns heads and gets recognized. Since forming in 2007, my chapter, Wichita State University (WSU) YDS has turned into the largest political organization on campus, having a strong base of support and receiving regular coverage in newspapers. I’d like to see more chapters have this affect on their campuses. Also, as chapters continue to grow in numbers, it’s important that we work more internally. We need to be pushing each other, sharing ideas and giving members a chance to network with each other outside of the biannual conferences.

Young Democratic Socialists are in good position this year. We have a strong Activist Agenda, which gives us the opportunity to make a lasting impact on campuses across the nation and we have the unity and determination to make it happen. It’s going to be a great year.

Morgan Shoaff, senior in Integrated Marketing/Public Relations. PR executive director of Wichita State University (WSU) YDS, member of WSU Campus Progress, vice president of WSU Public Relations Student Society of America

Brown University: The newly founded Brown chapter held their fist event: a talk with Dr. Corey D.B. Walker titled “Untimely Socialism.” Dr. Walker, a member of the Democratic Socialists of America National Political Committee and recent delegate to the 23rd Socialist International Congress in Athens, Greece, spoke about the continued relevance of socialism today and movement for social justice in the 21st century. The discussion was attended by over thirty people. The Brown Chapter also hosted a talk by YDS national organizer, Erik Rosenberg.

Michigan State University: MSU YDS hosted an open house with the W.E.B DuBois Society, a progressive black student association. They are planning public socialist education, community service, and prison awareness for the coming weeks.

Butler University: President Dakota Manuel is currently reaching out to local groups such as United for Peace and Justice, Black Student Union, and LGBTQ alliance.

Stuyvesant High School: Members are planning an introduction to democratic socialism teach-in for new recruits.

New York City: YDS’s only community chapter continued its work off campus with an organized public hearing on the transformation of two city-wide non-profit healthcare insurers into a for-profit company. The event was co-sponsored with NYC Democratic Socialists of America, Coalition Against Privatization, Progressive Democrats of New York – CD 14, and Democracy for NYC.

Wooster College: Wooster YDS screened films, circulated the “Renegotiate NAFTA” petition as part of YDS’s national Activist Agenda, and are working towards having an event every week. The chapter actively engages with other progressive forces to mobilize against the right-wing for the presidential election in a vital swing state of Ohio.

Wichita State: This heartland chapter is busy building both YDS and the broader movement for social change. The WSU YDS hosted a talk about the Employee Free Choice Act, a law to make it easier for workers to form unions, with Maria Escobar (national coordinator of the Student Labor Action Project). They are also, working with the Kansas University YDS organizing committee, and hosted their own ice cream social(ist) – a new tradition stated by the Wooster College chapter of welcoming the new year and members over dessert.

William Paterson: The William Paterson chapter has been holding regular meetings twice a week, each attracting nearly twenty students. Because of their educational activism and engagement with the administration, the chapter successful reduced their school’s tuition increase to 5% while all other New Jersey public universities received 10% increases. The group shall host a YDS regional conference on Saturday, November 22nd. The gathering will be an opportunity for YDS members and student activists to network and strategize post-November 4th, whoever the president may be.

University of Central Arkansas: The oldest YDS chapter is set to work both on and off campus. They have plans to move against local gentrification, push for the Employee Free Choice and work for progressive victories at the ballot box this November.

In view of the seriousness of the situation and all the negative events that have been developing these days in Bolivia, the International Union of Socialist Youth supports the government of Evo Morales in Bolivia as well as its defence of the democracy, the liberty and the sovereignty of its people against those in favour of a coup and responsible for the current situation.

IUSY express its rejection to all actions the right are committing which includes violence and confrontation. This position does not respect the Bolivian people will that democratically elected and ratified the Evo Morales Government, who got the 67% of acceptance in the last referendum just one month ago.

In addition, the obvious racist attitude of the Evo Morales’ government’s opposition expressed through murders of native Bolivians and several declarations of people from the right are unacceptable and it will not drive to the imposition of any government or system. Before these circumstances, IUSY supports all related actions carried out by our youth members in Bolivia: Movimiento al Socialismo (MAS-ISP) and Movimiento Sin Miedo (MSM).

As an international organization, IUSY demands total respect for the principles expressed in the Letter of the United Nations about the sovereignty of the countries and rejects the inappropriate intervention of the United States as agent of uncertainty. While we totally support the multi lateral role of the meetings of UNASUR and OAS as mechanisms of conflict resolution which would be able to contribute to end this dramatic situation.

As a sign of our support to the Bolivian Government and with democracy in this country, IUSY will be holding our meeting of the American Committee in Bolivia from 13 to 16 November.

Note to Editors: The International Union of Socialist Youth is the largest international political youth movement in the world. It represents 150 organizations from over 100 countries.

For further information, contact any of our Vice-Presidents or write to: iusy@iusy.info

The Young Democratic Socialists are the only US affiliate of the International Union of Socialist Youth (IUSY).

The 2008 Socialist Summer Retreat held between August 8th and 10th in Wurtsboro, New York exemplified the resounding success of the work YDS and its activists have done over the past two years. Forty-five youth and students participated from places as far away as Colorado, Nevada, and Texas, including delegations of five or more from William Paterson University (NJ), College of Wooster (Ohio), and Brown University (Rhode Island). National chapter growth has resulted in an increasingly diverse YDS; this was reflected in the higher-than-usual number of people of color and working-class young people in attendance. The new seriousness of YDS members was indicated by the fact that despite the retreat site being far from any major city (with subsequent higher registration fees), this was the largest attendance at a summer conference in nearly six years!

The gathering began Friday night in the main hall with a roll call of the eight chapters in attendance. The conference then watched the documentary film Made in L.A., about the struggle of three immigrant women to win basic labor protections from a mega-trendy clothing retailer in Los Angeles. The moving story about self-empowerment and labor activism set a strong tone for YDS to continue our work on immigrant rights. Afterwards, YDS friends – both new and old – gathered around the camp fire to roast marshmallows, play the guitar and drums, and sing songs.

Saturday was a full day of political and ideological workshops in addition to fun interactive plenaries (and tons of nonpolitical activities, too). We opened with an overview of the tenets of democratic socialism by Joseph Schwartz and Michele Rossi, followed by small group discussions which focused on questions that the YDS members had to answer for themselves. This is the beginning process of creating a new YDS cadre who can be tribunes of socialism for themselves and the organization.

The day saw a good number of workshops on topics ranging from the environment and the current rise of socialist activity in Latin America to our Activist Agenda (national priorities) of student and immigrant rights. Between excellent panels and internal education one would find YDSers playing sports like soccer and waffle ball, swimming, and just relaxing with one another. The chance to be friends as well as comrades made the weekend exceptional. The only way for our organization to move forward is if we have both political agreement and loyalty to one another. Both were fostered during the retreat.

The night ended with the plenary “‘YDS and Realities of the Hope’: The Obama v. McCain presidential campaign and building towards and after Election Day.” Sarah Lawrence professor, former DSA NPC member, and veteran activist Komozi Woodard reflected on previous work by radicals in elections. He stressed how young radicals could use elections as a vehicle for building ties with local communities to create change. Joseph Schwartz touched upon the need to not focus on candidates as individuals but as policy-makers. He reminded young students that absent an Obama presidency alongside a near filibuster-proof Democratic-controlled senate, serious labor law reform such as the Employee Free Choice Act, which could bring millions of new members into trade unions within a few years, is doubtful. Both Woodard and Schwartz stressed that political change is only as potent as the strength of the movements that hold elected officials accountable.

Sunday was filled with a mixture of workshops and annual voting on documents, positions, and volunteer leadership. Elections to the Coordinating Committee posts, which have been uncontested in the past five years, saw challenges for both the Feminist Issues Coordinator and At-Large seats. Today, the committee is one spot away from being half people of color and women, a welcome change from previous overwhelming male and white leaderships.

A healthy Activist Agenda debate narrowed YDS’s national priorities to only two. It added to our existing National Immigrant Rights Project two proposals: for chapter activism around DSA’s “Renegotiate NAFTA” petition, and amplifying our socialist solidarity with the Florida based Coalition of Immokalee Workers (representing migrant tomato pickers). We also voted to continue our education and anti-student debt activism, and added a new emphasis on K-12 in addition to our existing higher education work.

Debate on the constitutional amendment to change the name from Young Democratic Socialists, USA to Campus Democratic Socialists of America concluded with the group sentiment being towards building greater ties between DSA community locals and YDS, and possibly incorporating “Democratic Socialists of America” into our name in the near future. Nearly all members, however, felt that changinga to “Campus DSA” risked alienating non-students.

A new element of the conference was the emphasis on inclusive discourse about privilege and oppression. No group, no matter how progressive, is free from societal flaws. YDS made space for queer, people of color, women, working-class, and student caucuses. Each caucus addressed personal issues and how they feel YDS as a collective could address their concerns. In addition, artist Javier Cardona led conference participants to address their own privilege and oppression through honest artistic questions and theatrical dialogue. Students enjoyed the safe spaces provided by the caucuses, which allowed them to express their feelings in private, and everyone came away having learned more about themselves and their comrades from Cardona’s theatre.

YDS members know we have come a great way from when we barely had chapters, much less could put on national coordinated actions. YDS still has a good amount of work to do, but it’s readier than ever to do serious work with DSA and the student left. This fall, YDS will hit the ground both with our own Activist Agenda and with a readiness to bring a democratic socialist viewpoint about the Presidential election to the campuses. After November 4th we’ll be working with other progressives to challenge reactionary policies coming from corporate politicians and their right-wing base. Re-elected at-large Coordinating Committee member Andrew Porter has said “my goal is to see YDS in a major newspaper before the year is out.” The sky is the limit: let’s make it happen!

I am pleased and excited to begin my tenure as Youth Organizer of the Young Democratic Socialists.   Thanks to all of you for giving me this opportunity.  As Youth Organizer, I hope to strengthen and expand YDS as an organization, a community, and a movement.

My past political activism has centered primarily on peace.  As a high school student at the Walworth Barbour American International School in Israel, I co-organized a conflict resolution committee that brought together Palestinians, Israelis, Israeli-Arabs, and Americans to discuss the conflict in the Holy Land.  After graduating, I returned to the United States to attend Wesleyan University in Middletown, Connecticut where I earned my B.A. in Government, graduating in 2008.  Throughout college I continued my work as a peace activist.  I co-founded Students for Ending the War in Iraq (SEWI) which I helped develop into one of the most prominent activist organizations on campus. I also connected SEWI with larger networks such as Connecticut Opposes the War (COW) and the Campus Anti-War Network (CAN).  I have interned with Brooklyn For Peace (formerly Brooklyn Parents For Peace), United For Peace and Justice, and served on the Steering Committee of United For Peace and Justice.  

Outside of the political realm I enjoy playing the guitar and the piano, gardening, squash, and yoga.  I look forward to returning to New York, the city of my birth, to begin my work as Youth Organizer.  

Please feel free to contact me with any ideas, comments, or concerns.  I look forward to meeting you (hopefully at the Summer Conference, if not sooner) and working to build an even better YDS.

Sincerely,

Erik Rosenberg  

 
While we understand that electoral politics are not and should not be the final stage of political action, it is still critical to protect the right to vote without coercion, ignominious errors, and trivial impediments.  It is our hope that YDSers will involve themselves in voting rights campaigns in communities of color with the firm conviction of ensuring safe and secure voting booths during the time ballots are cast and while the votes are tallied.   
As arguably the most exciting presidential race in years draws near, and as politically active youth are clearly fomented about the possibilities afforded by the coming election, it is imperative for those on the Left to seriously consider the potential political opportunities as well as the potential ramifications of this election.  We must analyze, critique, and involve ourselves in this moment.  To any observer, it is clear that Democratic presidential nominee, Senator Barack Obama has a legitimate chance of winning the coveted office, bringing about the often cited “change” that has been the hallmark and shibboleth of his campaign.  While, as democratic socialist, we understand that change only starts from the ground-up, Obama does present a political deviation from the inimical Bush years. Obama has explicitly described himself and his existence as Black.  With rapper Tupac Shakur’s famous (or infamous) statement, “although it seems heaven sent, we ain’t ready to see a Black president” resonates in the minds of not only Blacks but also other people of color, a critical question then arises for the Left, particularly democratic socialists, about engaging in this historical period in American and international politics with integrity and seriousness: what are the possible risks and impediments of people of color voting for a candidate of color at the voting booth?  Statistics have shown that Obama has 90% of the Black support, is gradually gaining more support in the Latino, Asian, and indigenous community.

During this presidential election season, being a person of color is paradoxical.  Take, for example, the conservative and at times, liberal accusation that Blacks support Obama because he is Black.  It would be precariously misguided to believe that Blacks do not take color into consideration when voting for a candidate.  But if we are to employ this racial logic, in which we should to an extent, then it is safe, and indeed accurate, to say whites vote for candidates because they are white. The extent pigment politics affect the majority of voters’ choices is questionable.  To say that Blacks support Obama because he is Black ignores the former inquires posed by the Black community in opinion editorials titled, “Is Obama Black Enough?”  The vast majority of white people and people of color seriously consider the candidates credentials and policy decisions in order to make an informed and precise decision when voting.     

Sadly, however, the Illinois senator has run a centrist campaign possibly in order to garner more votes from Americans unfortunately concerned about his torn relationship with Rev. Jeremiah Wright as well as the disturbingly fabricated notion that Obama is a practicing Muslim.  For both to be even considered legitimate debates is not only disturbing in itself, but it also reveals the penetrating damage and fear mongering conducted not only by the Bush administration, but also Reagan and the centrist Bill Clinton.  It is more than obvious that conservatives have constructed the debate in order to make liberals look like radicals and Leftists simply irrelevant.  Incidentally, it was conservative former House Majority Leader Tom DeLay who inaccurately stated “that unless he proves me wrong, [Obama] is a Marxist.”  Such a falsehood places those on the Left in a difficult position because it attempts to deem our contribution not only to the debate but also to the election as worthless.  Therefore we must destroy the inimical environment of discourse created by conservatives and liberals alike by having our voice heard on the ground; by involving ourselves and working with, not for, people of color and poor and working class whites.  This involves a committed and undying effort to make sure that we ensure and protect the voting rights of these important and often times, marginalized and ostracized groups, especially at this pivotal moment in electoral politics.  It includes being present at voting booths, making sure people of color, poor and working class whites, and the elderly get to the voting booths.  It is also about addressing the precarious flaws at voting stations–both electronic and paper ballots–and proactively presenting a case to reform the method of voting while demanding for a more democratic process.   But prior to these actions, the impediments facing these groups must be candidly addressed:

Information from MotherJones.com September 2006)

• Florida: Voter registration forms are easily lost. In 2004, for example, headlines focused on a Republican National Committee contractor named Sproul & Associates, which subcontracted with a company called Voters Outreach of America that, in Las Vegas, was found destroying forms filled out by people trying to register as Democrats. Incidents like this would seem to justify a new Florida law that imposes fines of $250 to $500 per form on anyone who registers voters and doesn’t immediately deliver the paperwork to election officials, with no exceptions for difficult circumstances or natural disasters. But since it was already illegal in Florida to deliberately delay handing in voter registration forms, and since the new legislation does not apply to the two main political parties, its only likely effect is to intimidate independent voter-registration organizations; the largest among them, the League of Women Voters, has stopped doing voter registration in the state altogether.

• Waller County, Texas: Prairie View A&M is a black school in the heart of east Texas, where the local leadership has, over many decades, worked to deny the students’ claims to being full-time county residents and thus eligible to vote. In 2003, Waller County district attorney Oliver Kitzman wrote a letter to the elections administrator and the local newspaper warning that any students who tried to vote could face 10 years in prison and a $10,000 fine. The NAACP filed suit, noting that as far back as 1979 the U.S. Supreme Court, ruling on a lawsuit brought by Prairie View students, held that students could register to vote in the communities in which they attended college. Students in Arkansas, Florida, Maine, New Hampshire, and Virginia have also been prevented or discouraged from registering; in Williamsburg, Virginia, William and Mary students were denied permission to register merely for acknowledging that they were going home on vacation.

• Atlanta, Georgia: In 2005, Georgia state legislators passed a bill requiring voters to present either a driver’s license or a state-issued photo ID that costs between $20 and $35 and is available only from Department of Motor Vehicles offices. Supporters claimed this was necessary to keep people from casting votes in someone else’s name, even though Georgia secretary of state Cathy Cox noted that her office had no evidence of this happening. Either way, the measure is likely to have a dramatic effect on who can vote. Two-thirds of the state’s counties don’t even have a DMV office; Atlanta, the state’s largest city, has just one, where waits at the ID counters often run to several hours. In late June, the secretary of state issued a report finding that more than half a million active-status, registered voters in Georgia don’t have valid photo IDs. Fully 17.3 percent of African American voters, and one-third of black voters over age 65, wouldn’t be able to cast a ballot under the law.

• Franklin County, Ohio: Like many states, Ohio theoretically requires equal treatment of voters in all parts of the state; in practice, it frequently ignores its own requirements, especially in urban, predominantly Democratic, neighborhoods. In Franklin County, for example, more than 2,500 voters in the city of Columbus found themselves crammed into a single precinct in 2004, even though the state’s guidelines call for no more than 1,400 — apparently because officials assumed that in a poor neighborhood, turnout would be low. The state only partially reimburses counties for buying electronic voting machines, so Franklin, like many poor counties, didn’t have enough machines on hand to start with. When record numbers of voters showed up, massive lines snaked toward the handful of machines. The Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law has sued Ohio; among the complainants was an elderly woman with arthritis who had to leave because no one could find a place for her to sit.

These examples simply touch the surface of what people of color see as politically insidious.  While the examples may seem like a far cry from literacy tests and grandfather clauses, what it represents is the incessant diminution of the political viability and involvement of people of color.  It is has been articulated by both Democrats and Republicans that the Black and Latino vote is extremely important.  What is crippling, however, is the unwillingness of politicians on both sides of the aisle to address the problems at voting booths or to take proactive measures of prevention concerning these discrepancies at the voting booth.  That is why it is up to us, as the Young Democratic Socialists and members of the Left, to not only address these issues, but immediately eliminate the causal root of these problems by working with people of color to find pragmatic and viable solutions. 

We should seek out and/or coordinate local campaigns that are primarily focused on protecting the rights of voters inside and outside of the voting booth.  Furthermore, YDSers should provide transportation in communities of color, particularly urban and rural areas where transportation is outrageously priced or lacking.  Lastly, we should be present during the tallying of the ballots to make sure that voting discrepancies and mishaps have not taken place. The future of a truly democratic and just society hangs in the balance.  

• Access to and Quality of Education
• Coalition of Immokalee Workers (CIW) Solidarity
• Renegotiate NAFTA
• Expanding the Fight for Economic Justice: Immigration, Foreign Policy, and Worker’s Rights
• Election/Voting