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An Open Letter to the Antiwar Left
Why we shouldn't ignore Ron Paul's candidacy...
By Joshua Frank
12/11/07 "ICH" --- - The left wing of the antiwar movement has
very some serious problems, mainly our inability to recognize
that the antiwar sentiment in the United States is resonating
far beyond the confines of the so-called "left."
We cannot step back and effectively analyze the failures of the
antiwar movement without peering under the hood of John Kerry's
campaign in 2004. In essence, I think the majority of the left
made a huge mistake on this issue by not opposing the Democrats;
the movement supported a pro-war position by not opposing Sen.
Kerry, who promised to continue the occupation of Iraq. There
was no pressure on Kerry to alter his position on the war. No
bird-dogging protests along the campaign trail. No outrage over
his flip-flopping-let's-send-more-troops-into-battle rhetoric.
Silence during election season is complicity. So let's be loud.
Despite his good intentions, Dennis Kucinich also failed us four
years ago as well by abandoning his antiwar platform in favor of
Kerry's pro-war candidacy. There is little reason to believe ol'
Dennis won't do the same thing again this year if Hillary is the
nominee. It was party politics before issues. Kucinich,
unfortunately, wasn't an activist but a pawn in the Democrat's
game. And the antiwar movement, or at least those who supported
his bid, felt the damaging tremors for months afterward.
Kucinich has been running in Iowa for almost nine years and is
barely pulling in 1% of the vote. So what's the point?
The backlash to the Iraq war in this country is much larger than
Kucinich's fan club, yet there is no real visible "moving"
movement on the ground to end it. In many ways this is our fault
as we are not willing to reach out to antiwar folks across the
lines. A movement will never move forward with archaic sectarian
factions or unyielding adherence to entrenched political
philosophies. We must overcome our unwillingness to collaborate
and collectively organize.
Case in point being the most visible and enthusiastic antiwar
candidate in the country, which we consistently ignore: Rep. Ron
Paul. Whether we agree or disagree with Paul's libertarian
solution to every problem, we cannot disregard that his campaign
is exploding owing to a broad coalition of people who oppose the
war on terror. Paul has built a viable campaign, one that must
move beyond the Republican primaries and into the general
election. We can't let Paul become Kucinich of '04. The more
independent antiwar voices we have running against the war
machine the better we'll all be. And Paul has millions in his
coffers to push an antiwar agenda.
This is not about Rep. Paul as an individual per se, but about
his grassroots following. He's exciting many newcomers to the
movement and that must be welcomed. We certainly don't share the
same views with all who have latched on to his campaign, but on
the issue of the Iraq war we are in total agreement. One doesn't
not have to be a member of the left to oppose empire.
As a movement that allegedly grew out of WTO protests in
Seattle, which was an unimaginable coalition of interests
(labor, environmental, protectionist), one would think the left
would be at the forefront in calling for such an alliance again
today.
Whether we're beer-drinking rednecks from Tennessee or pot
smokin' hippies from Oregon, we need to come together. And
working to keep the movement away from supporting a pro-war
candidate like Hillary Clinton is an important endeavor. One we
shouldn't shy away from over the course of the next 11 months.
Rep. Paul's call to end the war needs to be supported. We need
to monkeywrench the war issue so the media and the big party
candidates cannot ignore it. There is a lot of work that must be
done and we cannot be locked in the logic of old if we are to
succeed.
Ending the war in Iraq will take substantial pressure from all
sides of the political spectrum. From conservative veterans to
radical peaceniks. Let's embrace this new reality. The antiwar
movement is larger than the left, in fact so much so that we may
be at the whim of a real grassroots resistance instead of at its
forefront. And if that means bringing this ugly war to a
screeching halt, I'm all for it.
Joshua Frank is co-editor of DissidentVoice.org and author of
Left Out! How Liberals Helped Reelect George W. Bush (Common
Courage Press, 2005), and along with Jeffrey St. Clair, the
editor of the forthcoming Red State Rebels, to be published by
AK Press in March 2008.
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