La Botz Senatorial Campaign

[RED DAVE]

Hopefully, we can keep the sectarianism down on this and have an actual political discussion.

(Yes, I know that Dan and all members of Solidarity eat live kittens for breakfast and that Dan bought an "Eisenhower for President" button in 1952 and often has sex with his ferret.)


On the Campaign for Justice

I want my Senate race to be a campaign for justice. We must create a society where all of our people find good jobs at a living wage. A society where everyone enjoys the right to publicly funded health care and education. We need to make America the leader in peace and in creating a world where all nations and peoples enjoy the share in the common abundance possible on this planet.

We can only do this by building a new consciousness where we take responsibility to support each other, ‘a solidarity consciousness.’ This is the idea, for example, that I will help take care of your grandmother and know that you will do everything you can to help take care of mine. We all know the expression, ‘It takes a village to raise a child.’ That’s the concept. I will help you with your problems, and expect that you will help me with mine. The strong help the weak, and even the apparently weak will in their way help the strong. We do this now among friends and neighbors and we must learn to do this as a nation and then as a world.

We cannot get to that place, however, except through the common work, the common struggle of ending the power of those in our society that stand for selfishness, for greed, and for the neglect of everyone but themselves. The central obstacle to a better society is the corporation, an institution that stands in the way of morality, of social progress, and of fairness. We need a country where the majority—not an economic oligarchy—control our country’s resources. Working people—steelworkers and nurse, bus drivers, waiters and teachers–make the country run, and working people—not the banks and corporations—should run the country.

To bring that about, we will have to fight to take the corporations and their wealth, bring it under our society’s democratic control, and redirect its resources to the issues of housing, health, education, and peace.http://danlabotz.com/

RED DAVE

[chegitz guevara]

Hopefully, we can keep the sectarianism down on this and have an actual political discussion.

Well, that keeps me out.

[Zeus the Moose]

Hopefully, we can keep the sectarianism down on this and have an actual political discussion.

Well, okay. Do you have anything to contribute analysis-wise to get us rolling? I have my thoughts, but I'd like to hear from a non-SP member first.

[Lolshevik]

I'm a non SP member and I have some pretty strong criticisms of the SP.

Here's what I think about the LaBotz campaign.
1. He's running on a class basis, and takes clear proletarian and socialist positions on all the key issues of the day.
2. If I'm not mistaken, his platform calls for the formation of a broader socialist / workers' party - not realizable in the immediate term of course but the educational effect is there.
3. He took the initiative to get together the Socialist Contingent for the October 2nd Jobs March; which to me is a testing ground for a future broader socialist unity that can take place on principled grounds.
4. Ferrets are sexy.

I'd say if you live in Ohio you should put yourself into this campaign; you should give him your vote.

[apawllo]

His platform seems decent, and I'll take 5 minutes out of my day to vote for the guy. But in the end, he'll get 1% of the vote and 0% of the publicity, rendering this a waste of time and money. Not too sure what SP-USA is trying to accomplish here...

[Zeus the Moose]

His platform seems decent, and I'll take 5 minutes out of my day to vote for the guy. But in the end, he'll get 1% of the vote and 0% of the publicity, rendering this a waste of time and money. Not too sure what SP-USA is trying to accomplish here...

You're probably right about the percentage of the votes, but it seems like the campaign has been generating a fair amount of local media attention.


I'm a non SP member and I have some pretty strong criticisms of the SP.

Here's what I think about the LaBotz campaign.
1. He's running on a class basis, and takes clear proletarian and socialist positions on all the key issues of the day.
2. If I'm not mistaken, his platform calls for the formation of a broader socialist / workers' party - not realizable in the immediate term of course but the educational effect is there.
3. He took the initiative to get together the Socialist Contingent for the October 2nd Jobs March; which to me is a testing ground for a future broader socialist unity that can take place on principled grounds.
4. Ferrets are sexy.

I'd say if you live in Ohio you should put yourself into this campaign; you should give him your vote.

On point two, you unfortunately are mistaken. In terms of what he calls for, he says "we need an independent, progressive third party with an anti-corporate agenda. (http://danlabotz.com/issues1/organizing-for-change/independent-politics/)" In my eyes, this is not calling for a broader socialist party, but something like a left-wing of the Green Party will some sort of mass support (or perhaps something along the lines of what the CMPL is trying to build.) This has been one of my biggest problems with his campaign, that he- like the vast majority of Solidarity members- pulls his punches when it comes to the questions of what type of party is needed.

To his credit, he does acknowledge that "[d]emocratic socialism has nothing in common...with those Social Democratic parties that merely manage capitalism without transforming it, (http://danlabotz.com/issues1/capitalism-and-socialism/socialism/)" and I would argue that, while the message put forth by the campaign puts him on the center-right of the Socialist Party, his campaign has for the most part been a positive thing. Still, as far as political content goes there's a lot of room for improvement.

[Lolshevik]

Oh, damn. I could've sworn he called for a socialist party... I mean, his formulation is compatible with my party's to be sure, but in times like these given the low level of class consciousness and the role of the campaign to raise it, such unclear formulations can only lead to confusion.

I still stand by the other three points though. has he got the endorsement of any other socialist or activist orgs. in the state?

[RedTrackWorker]

On point two, you unfortunately are mistaken. In terms of what he calls for, he says "we need an independent, progressive third party with an anti-corporate agenda. (http://danlabotz.com/issues1/organizing-for-change/independent-politics/)" In my eyes, this is not calling for a broader socialist party, but something like a left-wing of the Green Party will some sort of mass support (or perhaps something along the lines of what the CMPL is trying to build.)
[snip]
while the message put forth by the campaign puts him on the center-right of the Socialist Party, his campaign has for the most part been a positive thing. Still, as far as political content goes there's a lot of room for improvement.

Why has it been a positive thing despite hiding not just the party, but what the party's for? The central question facing the world working class is how do we get rid of this rotten society and all its problems? The only answer is socialist revolution. The means: building the world party of revolutionary workers. Strategy and tactics flow from that. La Botz's campaign is reformist--reforms won in struggle are good, reformism as an ideology is a counterrevolutionary threat to the workers' struggles. The German SPD in WW1 should be example enough of that. Campaigns like this, and for all the different variations of new reformist parties (see link in signature), are obstacles to the struggle workers need.
This isn't about sectarianism, it's about putting the interests of the worekrs first, instead of basing a campaign based on a cynical view of what can be done.

[apawllo]

You're probably right about the percentage of the votes, but it seems like the campaign has been generating a fair amount of local media attention.

The only attention I've noticed recently has been the coverage of the complaint he filed with the FEC about not being included in the debates, the majority of which makes him look like the insane third party fringe candidate, as you'd expect.

[blake 3:17]

But in the end, he'll get 1% of the vote and 0% of the publicity, rendering this a waste of time and money.

LaBotz is a pretty smart dude, principled and articulate. I'd guess he'd get a tad more than 0% of the publicity...

[apawllo]

LaBotz is a pretty smart dude, principled and articulate. I'd guess he'd get a tad more than 0% of the publicity...

Like I said he has a decent platform. There isn't a lot to hate in regards to his positions on the issues. And yes, he's well spoken.

However, as long as the mainstream media is controlled by billionaires and giant corporations while he's running on a working class/anti-corporate platform, any publicity will likely reach no further than his established supporters. Aside from those few articles that paint him as the loony fringe candidate, of course.

[syndicat]

to give Dan credit, he constantly emphasizes that change comes from the building of the working class based social movement. if the point to these electoral exercizes is to get publicity for socialism, it's not clear how much good it does. for one thing, the act of pursuing such a strategy emphasizes the role of elections as the center of "politics". but the electoral charade is what we need to move away from. we're not going to obtain the kind of change we want through the electoral process.

that said, if i were living in Ohio, i'd vote for him.