[Marxism] "socialism now"

[Joaquin Bustelo]

Dbachmozart asks, "I sympathize with the conundrum of whether or not to
support an individual Black Democrat like McKinney who was fighting for the
same things we  were and was opposed by her own party's machine, but where
is the  line drawn so that a negative precedent is not established, one that
can be  exploited across the board by opportunists or misunderstood by not
too  sophisticated activists to support ALL Black  Democrats?"

Well, the concrete way that the McKinney issue presented, it was more akin
to a defense campaign than a normal election, and I think that is how the
argument should have been pitched -- opposing the manipulation of the open
primary to deny the Black community the choice it wants in November.

It isn't exactly a straight-up *endorsement* of the particular candidate;
the main thrust is defense of the right of the Black community, the majority
in the 4th CD, to choose the member of congress they want by not
artificially preventing their well-established and well-regarded
representative from appearing on the November ballot. In McKinney's case it
did not require a ton of disclaimers about how I don't agree with her on the
war or on abortion or on immigration because on the top issues on people's
minds, she had absolutely righteous positions, which is, of course, why she
was under attack by a cabal of both party's machines. It made everything
much simpler. In another case that might be different.

My *impression*  from talking to some people active in the Black movement in
the South is that there have been a fair number of cases, mostly downticket
for example around school boards. Often it hasn't taken the form of a
gang-up on a particular candidate in a primary or election but rearranging
districts, or going from elections by district to electing several or all
members at large. 

Each situation has to be examined at a sufficient level of detail to
determine what is really at stake.

Joaquin