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It is important to notice the fact that the 2008 campaign has already begun. It is earlier then usual. It is more competitive then usual. It will be costlier then usual. The question is: Will the campaign be more definable then usual in terms of the change needed in this country and in regards to proposals that will have real significance for the future.
When Bill Clinton got elected we saw little change in this country. What we did see was not beneficial to people in general. We saw NAFTA come in and promotion of trade agreements. We saw NATO exercising its military power in Yugoslavia. We saw the social safety network dismantled. And we saw Kyoto abandoned and left hanging while other nations implemented it. When G.W. got elected we have seen lots of changes and we have not demonstrated a real capacity to reverse them, or more appropriately to successfully implement our own ideas.
I do presuppose here that the political objectives and goals of the Democratic Party have been demonstrated consistently enough to be able to reach some conclusions regarding them. I also have come to a conclusion that repeating the same tactics and strategy in the campaign of 2008 will not produce any more positive results in the future then they have in the past. This includes the tactics of: running an ultra-liberal in the Democratic primary, focusing on ABB as a means of discrediting third party and independent efforts and adopting a political agenda that is difficult to distinguish from the Republican Platform.
There is needed within the discussion of 2008 the issue of structural electoral changes, foreign policy Constitutional changes and public infrastructure investment within the US. There is underlying these matters profound changes that the nation remains to address in 2008. And yet there remains no sense of urgency in the media or the current campaigns. How can such obvious and profound matters escape public inspection?
One significant answer to that question is that there is no real political leadership that is prepared to address the historical tasks that are incorporated in such tasks. It is easier to be an underachiever in politics then it is to seize the reins of history and define the era in which we live.
The fear that has so easily paralyzed political leaders when all is said and done is only an illusion. We fear because we face the world alone. The remedy is to face the world in unity with the masses who endure the same fate as our own. In the last 20 years we are the ones who have taken the masses out of the mass struggle and instead choose to look to activist-heroes to come to our rescue.
Here we should learn from the model of the Kurdish people and begin to define our political strategy with our mass efforts. To date, we have wandered, trying to fit into our own precepts whatever appears in the electoral arena and rely solely on a short-term strategy, instead of looking what is growing and defining our programme and strategy based on increasing support and achieving definable goals. We have tailed behind politicians who have no principles, instead of forging together what is important to us. Likewise, we have failed to establish our own identity and our own organization as the Kurds have. We need to work together and not presume there is understanding where there is none.
To write a column is one thing; to move forward in a common direction and define an untapped political potential is another. As someone who has worked within a third party for 15 years I am familiar with the very real difficulties inherent in such a task. But, I know that it will never be done by denying the need for it. There has already been too much energy expended in trying to let others define our agenda, in letting others decide what is important, in letting others speak for us. Our organization is stunted, our voices are marginalized, our future is decided by others and our alienation from our fellow countrymen continues to be more discernible by those who use it to their own advantage.
Breaking from the past requires a vision for the future. It is our task to mold that new vision. Reconstruct what has fallen apart. Redefine what it is that defines us. Leadership requires new direction and movement together in that direction. Now is the time for us to prepare in real ways for 2008. We find there are new opportunities for us to explore beyond the confines of the existing Republican-Democratic. There are people with the resources who can support the change needed, but it is not enough. There are organizations with the constituencies who can support the change needed, but this is only a start. There are public officials and political figures who can provide us a platform, but that will only make a new voice heard.
The current dispute between UFPJ and ANSWER is not the model that will build. It will only divide. This is not a new struggle but a continuation of our own misperceptions and illusions that we can continue things as they have been in the past without paying a price for it. First, comes the unarticulated perceptions of what we lack. Next, comes the conscious application of the lessons learned to the tasks ahead. Following that, comes our willingness to translate our vision into reality. If we fail, we fail our children and their future as well.
The task ahead is enormous, our responsibilities enormous. But our ears need to hear the voices muffled for so long. Our eyes need to see a new sunrise that presents a new day. Our hearts need to once again beat with the rhythm of hope and opportunity. The power and meaning these words need to take root in each person's heart if they are to mean anything. From the spring of ideas that flow forth will come the understanding and foundation for our journey. There is work to be done and little time in which to do it.
A former public school teacher in Albuquerque, NM who wants to see real change in his lifetime.
