‘Leftist’ Sanders seeks Democratic nomination

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VOL. 33, NO. 6, JUNE 2015 WWW.SOCIALISTACTION.ORG U.S. / CANADA $1 If history records any gains for work­ ing people in the coming electoral sea­ son, the term “sheepdog” might well appear at the top. Its author (or at least, its popularizer), Bruce Dixon, describes with it those leftish candidates who ap­ pear in presidential primaries to corral the radicalizing or disillusioned back to the flock with soaring rhetoric and “movement” trappings. The sheepdogs have an unbroken record of losing the party nomination and then turning their followers over to a more overt representative of big business.

For decades primaries have been used Over 400 antiwar and social justice activists from 29 to help raise the hopes of working peo­ ple that the parties of their bosses have some place for their aspirations, that corporate party machines are subject to popular control, and even that they can be transformed into instruments of liberation and progress.

The expectations are inflated each cycle by a Eugene McCarthy, Jesse Jack­ son, Jerry Brown, Al Sharpton, Howard Dean, or Dennis Kucinich. Those who take the bait find themselves without any political vehicle of their own when the show is over. They move from one pragmatic step to another, finally back­ ing the next Humphrey, Clinton, Gore, Kerry, or Obama.

U.S.-based activists representing This time around, the position of sheepdog is filled by U.S. Senator Ber­ nie Sanders, who is attracting a follow­ ing with talk of income inequality, calls for economic and political reforms, a slogan of “political revolution,” and a reputation for admiring the great so­ cialist, Eugene V. Debs.

Aside from the socialist identification, there is something more routine about Sanders than his predecessors.

Jesse Jackson, remember, had worked for Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., assas­ sinated only 15 years before Jackson’s candidacy. While formally an indepen­ dent, Sanders has collaborated with the Democratic Party for decades now— Barry Weisleder / Socialist Action endorsing their candidates, shield­ ing them from social movements, taking their endorsements, their committee seats, and their cam­ paign contributions ($10,000 from Hillary Clinton’s PAC, no less!), and voting for almost every ruling-class policy.

While taking a few token votes of opposition that never blocked any­ thing of consequence, he has voted for the bombing of Yugoslavia, the war in Afghanistan, funding for the Iraq war, full support to Israel— and he recently makes a point of defending the F-35 fighter jet. Sanders has even made his nonoppositional role clear from the be­ ginning. Early on he told the press, “If I decide to run, I’m not running against Hillary Clinton, I’m running for a declining middle class.” He has repeated often that he will not be a “spoiler,” and so will not pursue a campaign outside the Democratic Party when he most likely loses their nomination. Tad Devine, a major Democratic Party strategist (who worked for Kerry, Gore, and Dukakis) is running Sanders’ cam­ paign, which indicates a blessing from the party establishment.

Nonetheless, Sanders’ campaign is winning substantial support in its be­ ginning stages, with tens of thousands pledging to volunteer, and millions of dollars in contributions coming through. With its focus on economic inequality, it is likely attracting former participants and supporters of the Oc­ cupy movement.

Working-class independence To better understand how to relate to this campaign, it is helpful to examine the principle of class independence. This principle and its mandate to firmly (continued on page 9, in “Ontario Federation of Labour in Jeopardy”)

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Capitalism and See page 6