------------------------- Via Workers World News Service Reprinted from the July 22, 2004 issue of Workers World newspaper -------------------------
SOCIALIST CANDIDATES ON THE BALLOT: A REAL CHOICE FOR WORKERS IN WASHINGTON STATE
By Workers World Seattle bureau
Washington State election officials announced on July 9 that Workers World Party had achieved ballot status. Workers and progressives in that state now have the opportunity to vote for WWP presidential candidate John Parker and vice-presidential candidate Teresa Gutierrez in November.
Parker and Gutierrez are workers, people of color, anti-war activists and socialists running a protest campaign. They are challenging Republican George W. Bush and Democrat John Kerry, who they denounce as willing tools of big business and the military-industrial complex.
The Workers World Party candidates say workers, the poor, people of color, women, the lesbian, gay, bi and trans communities, immigrants, youth and students, rank-and-file soldiers, and all who are oppressed need their own party--one that fights for them and represents their interests.
Among the demands in Parker and Gutierrez's campaign platform are: Bring the troops home from Iraq now, union jobs and a guaranteed income for all, same-sex marriage rights now, abolish the Patriot Act, and extend full rights to immigrants, including the undocumented.
"Washington, like all the states, has complex and challenging rules for ballot access," explained Jim McMahan of Seattle, a campaign organizer. "These regulations were designed to keep progressive, working-class parties off the ballot. But we worked hard and overcame these obstacles, because we knew poor and working people in Washington State need an alternative to the twin parties of war, racism and cutbacks."
McMahan said WWP's message would resonate with millions of workers statewide who've suffered layoffs in recent years, including more than 75,000 Boeing workers who have been laid off since 1999. "Although some who lost their jobs have gotten new ones, most are working for lower pay, with fewer benefits and less job security."
The official Voters Guide mailed to every registered voter in Washington State will include a statement from the WWP candidates.
BIG ISSUES: LGBT RIGHTS, WAR, JOBS
Parker-Gutierrez supporters gathered close to 2,000 signatures from registered voters in one week, from June 27 to July 3. The petitioning took place during WWP's statewide convention in Seattle. Many signed at Seattle's Lesbian/Gay/ Bi/Trans Pride Festival.
"People in Seattle were very responsive to our campaign and our candidates," reported Sue Kelly. "It was exciting to see how many folks responded positively to the fact that we are a socialist party. Quite a few recognized WWP.
"At Pride, our candidates being an African American man and a Latina lesbian was a huge positive. There and in general, most people were attracted by our opposition to the Iraq war. Our demand for money for jobs and human needs was the next most important issue," Kelly said.
"In the succeeding days, depending on where we were, the economic issues were often foremost. The people see the connection between the war and the economic issues. A few people--more than I expected--said they had been classified as convicted felons who had lost their voting rights, and wanted them back."
"I petitioned for two days at the Pride Festival and got a good response," said David Sole. "The hardest thing was that there are still many people who want anyone but Bush. These folks admitted that Kerry was for sending more troops to Iraq and not favorable to same-sex marriage, but still weren't ready to break with the Democrats. But it was important for them to hear an independent view.
"While LGBT rights was a big issue at the festival," he added, "the war in Iraq was also important to many who signed."
Maggie Vascassenno explained, "At the community college where I petitioned, close to the LGBT community, the response to my appeal for signatures was very gratifying--a high percentage of people that I approached were glad to sign.
"One of the most poignant moments was when I was speaking to the father of an 8-year-old African American girl. After listening closely to my rap, and repeatedly looking at the campaign literature, she asked in a quiet voice, 'Is that a Black man running for president?'"
Presidential candidate John Parker told Workers World that a July 13 demonstration by Latinos in Washington's Yakima Valley showed why WWP is running. The group was protesting government round-ups of immigrant agricultural workers in the region.
"We want to represent the interests of our fellow workers, including immigrants who are under attack, regardless of whether they can vote for us," said Parker.
He explained: "We are building a people's movement that will continue far beyond the elections."
To learn more about WWP campaign, visit www.vote4workers.org.
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