Some more thoughts on the election Tuesday

First, thanks to BJ Lawson for his note after my prior post.

 

For governor, Bev Perdue is no choice, because she is attacking undocumented immigrants in a cheap ploy to win, like Kay Hagan. Besides, she doesn't take bold progressive positions to outweigh her effort to keep undocumented immigrants from getting higher education.  Libertarian Mike Munger (www.munger4ncgov.com) takes some progressive positions, against the "War on Drugs" and the death penalty, and for civil unions, but his website provides too little information.  He does not go into enough detail on his economic positions to know how much damage his libertarianism might do if he won.  Munger has to get at least 2% of the vote, or the Libertarians will again lose their ballot access.  I obviously don't agree with libertarian economic and political theories, but it is unjust to decertify "third parties" this way and force them to waste effort and money getting ballot access every few years.  Republican Pat McCrory must not be that much of a 'greater evil' if Carrboro's Mayor Chilton can endorse him.

 

I don't know much about Democratic candidate for lieutenant governor, Walter Dalton (www.walterdalton.org).  The Republicans make the progressive case for him, by saying that Dalton supported undocumented immigrants attending community colleges.  On the other hand, though the Durham People's Alliance (www.durhampa.org) endorsed him, their website says "we are assured his homophobia is not sincere."  

 

For the Council of State and other offices I will probably vote for the Democrats, except for Attorney General Roy Cooper, because I don't trust him on civil liberties and other things, his actions on the community college issue, and his support for the death penalty.  Only for commissioner of insurance is there a Libertarian choice, Mark McMains (www.markmcmains.com). 

 

I'm still researching the judicial elections.

 

For soil and water commissioner I will go with the PA and vote for Kathryn Spann.

 

I will probably also vote for the prepared food tax. 

 

In saying how I will vote and supporting some candidates, I am recognizing that there are substantial differences between candidates, and I like talking about politics - the issues, not so much the 'horse race.'  I don't think now is the time for a blanket boycott of all voting, as some advocate.  It is clear, though, that these are all pro-capitalist politicians, whether Democrat, Green, independent, Libertarian, or Republican.  They only offer some reforms and whether they want to or not, they serve capitalist class rule.  The Greens will try to restrain the most reactionary wing of the capitalists, but they cannot fix the problem with their left small capitalist and reformist ideology, if they can even become a 'second party.' 

 

The American working class and other working people need a red revolutionary working class party that will serve and empower labor's interests, not those of capital.  I think only Marxist-Leninist communism provides the ideology that can create such a party and help lead the working class to fulfill its historic mission, to end class exploitation and the drag on production and creativity imposed by capitalist property relations.  Unfortunately, for now conditions in the US and the world and mistakes by the communists themselves prevent the re-creation of such a national party, with deep connections to the working class, despite the existence of many groups and Marxists, even in "red state" North Carolina.