Monday, July 28, 2014

Michigan Socialist Party Nominee Asks Sixth Circuit to Put Him on November Ballot

28 July 2014

By Richard Winger
Ballot Access News

"On July 24, Matt Erard asked the Sixth Circuit to put him and four other Socialist Party nominees on the Michigan ballot this year. The basis for the case, Erard v Michigan Secretary of State Ruth Johnson, 14-1873, is: (1) Michigan’s law discriminates against new parties, relative to old minor parties, because the number of signatures is approximately twice the number of votes for an old party to remain on; (2) Michigan barred out-of-state circulators during most of the petitioning period for this year’s election and only recently repealed the law, too late to do much good; (3) language on the petition which discourages voters from signing; (4) the six-month limit on petitioning."

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Friday, July 11, 2014

Interview with California Socialist Candidate

11 July 2014

By Mari P-A
The Red Vine

"This paper, much like the Weekly Worker, spends a lot of time discussing, criticizing and reporting on the left. It is important that organizations on the left engage in active discussions and debates to reach a common ground that leads us one step closer to unity. On that note, I interviewed Mimi Soltysik, the Socialist Party USA candidate for California State Assembly District 62 (including South Los Angeles and stretching to the Pacific) on behalf of The Red Vine:

What made you decide to run?
A few years ago, when we were organizing the Socialist Party Los Angeles Local, we set as a goal the possibility of supporting a local electoral campaign within two years. Two years later (2013), we discussed the idea again as a group, took a survey of our capacity to approach something like this, voted on the idea and decided to give it a shot. The approach was, while I would file the petitions and it would be my name on the ballot, we really wanted to use the campaign as a way for the members of the L.A. and Ventura Locals to engage in a dialogue with the community using a vehicle that had some built-in familiarity, to learn more about what our neighbors are facing, and to have an extended opportunity to listen.

We knew we were going to run an explicitly socialist campaign that pulled no punches, and thought that engaging the folks in the 62nd District with an electoral campaign might be a good way to begin this process. We had comparatively little in the way of financial resources, and we were fully aware of who and what we’d be facing as challengers, but we have a lot of hustle and determination. I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t a bit surprised about the final tally of votes. We were really pleased...."

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Tuesday, July 8, 2014

Interview with Declared 2016 Socialist Party USA Presidential Candidate Dean Capone

8 July 2014

By  Joshua Fauver
Independent Political Report

"Dean Capone recently announced his intention to seek the Socialist Party USA’s presidential nomination and has launched a campaign website. Mr. Capone agreed to an interview...."

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Thursday, July 3, 2014

US activists answer: What is patriotism?

3 July 2014
 
By Megan Fincher
National Catholic Reporter

"David McReynolds, 84, worked for the War Resisters League from 1960 until his retirement in 1999. On Nov. 6, 1965, he was one of five men who publicly burned their draft cards at New York's Union Square, merely three months after the United States declared public draft-card burning a felony. In 1980, McReynolds became the first openly gay man in U.S. history to run for president of the United States, representing the Socialist Party USA.

What is patriotism?
At 84, and having been active for many years in the War Resisters League and the Socialist Party, particularly in the struggle to end the Vietnam War, I've had much reason to think about the meaning of patriotism. My primary allegiance is not to the United States but perhaps to my own immediate community here in the Lower East Side [of Manhattan], which I can "touch and feel." It is impossible for me to feel either "loyal" or "disloyal" to the United States. There is so much good in our history that I affirm, and so much evil, which I must oppose, that I think the best definition of patriotism is loyalty to the human race, under constant threats of war and environmental devastation, not to any single nation state...."

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