Action Alert #6

Action Alert #6

Published by the National Organizing Department, CPUSA
October 23, 2002

IN THIS ISSUE:

• NOVEMBER 5 ELECTIONS: REFERENDUM ON BUSH AGENDA
• GOTV!
• LETTER TO THE EDITOR
• EVERY READER, ANOTHER READER: BUILD THE PEOPLE'S WEEKLY WORLD
• OCTOBER 26th PEACE DEMONSTRATION
• PEACE BUTTONS

NOVEMBER 5 ELECTIONS: REFERENDUM ON BUSH AGENDA

These are not ordinary times. And November 5th -- Election Day -- is no ordinary day.

This election more than any in recent memory offers voters an unparalleled opportunity to strike a blow against the extreme right and for peace, progress and sanity.

Its outcome will be a referendum on the policies of the Bush Administration.

On one side of the struggle is gathered organized labor, the racially and nationally oppressed peoples, women and other democratic forces, and on the other, the Bush Administration and its reactionary supporters.

Not for a long time has an administration been so aggressive, militarist and eager to go to war, so deaf to the crying need for jobs and health care, so contemptuous of the rights of African Americans, Mexican Americans and other racially and nationally oppressed peoples, so scornful of women and immigrants, so ready to dispense with our democratic traditions, so callous towards the environment, so hell-bent on turning our public schools over to private corporations, and so determined to raid the collapsing pension system -- and all the while looting the public treasury and protecting corporate profits and corporate thieves.

It is no exaggeration to say that the Bush Administration and its right wing counterparts in Congress present a clear and imminent danger to everything that we as a people hold dear and consider just. They constitute a menace to our nation's well being and the well being of our world. The future of our country turns , to no small degree, on which Party ends up with control of Congress on the evening of November 5th.

Bush and his advisors appreciate this fact, and are calibrating everything they do towards regaining control of the Senate and adding to their majority in the House. Labor and its allies must approach these elections with no less determination.

With less than two weeks before the polls open, political pundits are calling the election a dead heat. Thus, between now and November 5, a full national mobilization of voters is imperative. A crusading spirit must infuse the ranks of the people's movement. To squander this opportunity would be a tragic mistake. People's rights, livelihoods, and lives are at stake. This sounds ominous, and it is. But at the same time it should be an incentive for everyone to engage the battle to defeat right-wing Congressional candidates on Election Day. Such a victory won't guarantee that the flood tide of economic insecurity, democratic denial and senseless death and destruction stemming from the policies of the Bush Administration will be immediately reversed. But it would represent a first and important step in that direction.

All out for November 5th!

HELP GET OUT THE VOTE ON ELECTION DAY:

WE STRONGLY URGE everyone to take Election Day off and help with get-out-the-vote efforts, starting with what Labor 2002 is doing, or other GOTV campaigns.

SAMPLE LETTER TO THE EDITOR:

Although time is short, it's still possible to get letters to the editor about the critical importance of the elections into local newspapers. Here's a sample; do what you can.

To the editor: The upcoming elections are absolutely critical for determining in which direction our nations will move in the near future. These elections must be seen not as a number of individual races, but as a national referendum of the Bush administration. The administration itself realizes this, and that is why Bush has been all over the country campaigning for local Republicans.

The Republican ultra-right is a great danger to our nation, to peace, and to democracy. It came into existence through an attack on our democratic principals in Florida, and it has used the horrible tragedy of September 11 as an excuse to attack civil rights. It has began a new era of unending war, the most recent excursion into war being the planned overthrow of Saddam Hussein, which would certainly ignite a powder keg in the Middle East and lead to untold numbers of casualties.

Back here at home, the Bush administration is leading an all out attack on the labor movement: Bush is the first President in a quarter century to invoke the anti-union Taft-Hartley act, which he used against locked out longshoreman. According to the LA Times, the Republicans are already considering union-busting legislation for the next Congress.

It is clear that, given the highly dangerous nature of the ultra-right, everyone who cares about peace, democracy, and civil and workers' rights must get out and vote on November 5!

Sincerely,

EVERY READER, ANOTHER READER: BUILD THE PEOPLE'S WEEKLY WORLD

We are beginning a campaign to get new readers for our wonderful paper. Below is the new circulation committee's proposal for goals.

2002 People's Weekly World Circulation Drive -- 1000 new subs by the end of the year!

Can we do this? We think so. The People's Weekly World is not just a great publication, full of important news and analysis, it's also an organizing tool and an inspiration to the many broad movements that are engaged in struggle against the right.

The PWWis appreciated. It is sought after. People way beyond our Party's ranks read it, and increasingly, write for it and even distribute it.

And adding readers will in turn make fund raising easier -- another reason we need lots of new subscribers. Now's the time to talk with friends, neighbors, co-workers, fellow activists in the labor and people's movements, about subscribing to the paper.

We're proposing that each area set their own goal, according to this rough formula: 1) Every member get 1 new subscription. 2) Every club get 5 new subscriptions. 3) Every district get at least 20 new subscriptions.

These can be free trial subs (new sub blank enclosed) or, even better, full subs. When we reach the goal, we will move on to converting the trials to full subs.

The most important thing is that every area decide on a concrete goal and a plan for achieving it. If this formula doesn't fit your situation (too low or too high), you should adjust it and then let us know what your goal is.

OCTOBER 26TH PEACE DEMONSTRATION:

We will have lots of papers to distribute at the demonstration in Washington this weekend, as well as our new buttons to sell (see below). We know it's late, but if you can help, please email Tina ASAP (clpwheeler@aol.com) for info re: where to meet.

PEACE BUTTONS -- ORDER THEM NOW!

We have a new button: "No War for Oil," and have reprinted old buttons ("Peace is the Way" and "No War, No Terror").

To simply shipping process, please order a minimum of 10 buttons, and in multiples of 10.

We won't send your order without the following information, which should be emailed to Dan Margolis (dmargolis@cpusa.org) and cc'ed to Carolyn Rummel (crummel@pww.org).

No War for Oil ________ (how many) Peace is the Way ________ (how many) No War, No Terror ________ (how many)

Ship to: Name, address, phone, email address