Kshawma Sawant vs Frank Chopp debate,25 October

[Lenina Rosenweg]

1030 PM EST

LIVE: Watch Socialist Alternative’s Kshama Sawant Debate Democrat Frank Chopp Tonight!
by ADMIN on SEPTEMBER 25, 2012
in ACTION/APPEAL
Democrat Frank Chopp of the Washington House of Representatives’ 43rd legislative district has agreed to debate his opponent, Socialist Alternative’s Kshama Sawant. Sawant received over 10% in a blanket primary against Chopp, allowing her to run against him in the November election on a separate ticket, that of Socialist Alternative.

Their historic debate will be held this evening, September 25, at 7:30 PDT (10:30 EST) at the Seattle University Student Center.

[Crux]

Livestream. (https://new.livestream.com/accounts/1520927/events/1576564)

[Drosophila]

Let's hope she takes a radical stand that doesn't make me feel like I'm watching a Green Party candidate debate.

[Crux]

Livestream is up now.

[GiantMonkeyMan]

The debate's on youtube now but I'm not strong willed enough to watch an hour of electoral pandering. Could someone give us the highlights please? What was Sawant's approach and how did Chopp counter?

[Lenina Rosenweg]

Basically Frank Chopp tried to play the role of a left populist. He talked about "working with unions" to get increased funding for schools and social services in Washington state, He claimed to sympathize with the Ocuppy movement and emphasized his working class background.

Mr.Chopp is a head honcho in the Washington state Democratic Party.He did not mention how under the Dems there have been cutbacks to education and services. He did not mention the gentrification of Seattle and how low income people are being driven out. He weaseled around the issue of skyrocketing college tuition costs. Kshama brought up these points. Mr. Chopp became visibly uncomfortable. He actually left in the middle of the debate-all of the sudden he was "called away" to a previous engagement which he suddenly remembered. The Democrats hate any opposition from the left. The discussion continued after Chopp left, Kshama led a discussion on tactics of Occupy,the Bolivarian Revolution and Latin America and other subjects.

It wasn't a wishy washy liberal-left Green Party event. Sawant showed the guy up.Its worth watching.

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I suck at posting Youtube videos but here's the link.

Fixed the video tags. //Majakovskij

[Lenina Rosenweg]

http://seattletimes.com/html/edcetera/2019265538_left_v_left_frank_chopp_debate.html

Left v. left: Frank Chopp debates Kshama Sawant
Posted by Bruce Ramsey

Rep. Frank Chopp debated a socialist Tuesday night: Kshama Sawant, an adjunct lecturer in economics at Seattle University and Seattle Central Community College and his opponent on the November ballot.

It’s unusual for a third-party candidate to make it through Washington’s top-two primary, but Chopp is in the left-leaning 43rd district, and Sawant came in second Aug 7 as a write-in. The debate was sponsored by her group, Socialist Alternative, at Seattle University. About 100 people showed up, most of them her supporters.

Chopp is a progressive, making this debate, in the words of the moderator, SU Prof. Ruth White, “left to left.” The difference was of degree. Also position. Chopp is a big player in the system, to get things he wants from it; Sawant stands outside.

Sawant, who is a Marxist, tarred Chopp with responsibility for “enormous and horrific budget cuts” to education, early retirement for public employees, workers' compensation, etc. Those may have been Republican ideas, she said, but the Democrats went along.

“The Democratic Party has been in power for decades,” she said. “They even had a supermajority for a couple of years. What have they done with it?” Had they passed a massive green-jobs program? A statewide single-payer medical system? No.