November 2000
They’re bringing in the heavy artillery

by Ed Felien

The Gore campaign is starting to sweat. The latest Minnesota poll shows them at 38 percent, with 41 percent for Bush, and 10 percent for Nader. They’re going after the Nader votes with everything they’ve got. They sent Tom Hayden to our offices to try to talk some sense into us.
Tom Hayden was one of the Chicago 8, tried for insurrection in Judge Hoffman’s chambers in Chicago along with Bobby Seale, Dave Dellinger, Abbie Hoffman and Jerry Rubin. Mayor Daley wanted someone to blame for the demonstrations at the 1968 Democratic Convention. Hayden was also one of the charter members of SDS (Students for a Democratic Society).
The man is a walking legend, and, besides, he was married to Jane Fonda.
He said, “My ideal scenario is that Gore wins and Nader getes five percent, enough for him to qualify for $12 million next time.”
I said, “If they’re worried about carrying Minnesota, then they’ve already lost it.”
He agreed.
“And, if Nader’s going to get five percent nationally, then he has to get a lot more than that in Minnesota,” I said.
He said he supported the Democratic Party because he had consituencies. He had labor unions, blacks, gays, women who were depending on him to provide basic services, and he couldn’t risk that by campaigning for someone who was trying to wreck the Democratic Party.
I said I could respect that, “But not all the people coming through your office are representing people out in the street. Some of them are just representing themselves. They’re poverty pimps, using someone else’s misery to advance their own interests. And that’s what’s wrong with the Democratic Party. It’s shot full of opportunists and party hacks who care only about getting themselves re-elected.”
Hayden agreed, “That’s what happens to all political parties eventually.”
Hayden said this fight between Gore and Nader is too much like some macho contest, “We have no right to jeopardize the lives of working people just to gratify a couple of male egos.”
I said, “I don’t see it like that. I think it’s like my wife described at lunch this afternoon. It’s like a woman who’s been in an abusive relationship for years. She’s packed her bags and she’s standing at the door, and he turns to her and says, ’Is something the matter?’ And she turns to him and says, ’It took you this long to figure out something’s wrong?’”
“But isn’t that the time to sit down and negotiate?” asked Hayden.
“Why now? Why has it taken this long for the Gore campaign to take take the Nader campaign seriously?”
“They got bad advice at the start.”
“What about capital punishment, the war on drugs (which you know is a war on young black men and leftists in South America), and sanctions against Iraq that are killing 4,000 children a month?”
“Nader didn’t take a position on the war in Vietnam,” Hayden said.
“He’s on the right side of those issues now.”
“Sometimes it’s just best to leave and shut the door,” I said. “Minnesota hasn’t always had a Democratic Party. In the twenties and thirties the Farmer-Labor Party was the second party against the Republicans, because most people knew the Democratic Party was just made up of professional politicians and lobbyists. We believe the Green Party can someday become a major party in Minnesota.”
After 50 minutes of spirited discussion, he had to leave.
We shook hands, but we didn’t tell each other, “Hang in there and keep the faith.”

October 2000

  by Ed Felien

What’s the difference between George W. Bush and Al Gore on the big issues.
Abortion Rights: This is the number one issue, the one that scares liberals the most. Bush opposes a woman’s right to an abortion, and Gore says he favors it, even though he opposed it when he was first in Congress. So, some think, “If Bush gets in, he’ll overturn Roe v. Wade and make abortions illegal.” Supposedly, he would do this by making very conservative appointments to the Supreme Court. But we already have the most conservative court in history, and they’ve upheld Roe v. Wade on numerous occasions. The court, public opinion and most government officials seem, finally, to recognize a woman’s right to control her own body. It is very unlikely this will change no matter who is the next President or who sits on the Supreme Court.
Knee-jerk feminists should remember the race between Rudy Perpich and Arne Carlson for Governor. Perpich said he was pro-life, and Carlson said he was pro-choice. Feminists deserted the DFL and voted en masse for Carlson. Perpich had appointed more women to the Minnesota Supreme Court than any other Governor, and it was the most progressive court in the state’s history. Carlson appointed a woman who was pro-life and opposed to a woman’s right to an abortion.
Politicians always talk whatever talk they think you want to hear. You have to watch them walk the walk. And, as far the Presidency goes, no one’s going to walk the abortion issue very far out of town.
Taxes: Of course Bush is going to give more money to the rich, but it’s surprising how little difference there is between their proposals for tax relief to families making less than $30,000. Gore’s proposal would get them $123 more than Bush’s, but in an election year that’s only slightly more than a dime’s worth of difference.
Killing People: They’re both in favor of it. They both favor the death penalty. They both favor a continuation of the war on drugs, which is a war on young black men in this country and on insurgent rebels in Colombia. They both favor a continuation of sanctions against Iraq, which is killing 5,000 children a month according to the U. N.
It’s not really a choice between the lesser of two evils (they’re both about equally evil); it’s a choice between dumb and dumber.
There is another alternative. You can vote for Ralph Nader.
Nader has a perfect record on abortion, and he’s great on gay rights. He would tax corporations and guarantee every family a basic income that would lift them out of poverty. He would stop the killing. He opposes capital punishment. He understands the horror of the war on drugs, and he would end it. He would stop the sanctions against Iraq.
Nader probably can’t win in 2000, but it is possible for the Green Party to get five percent nationally and, thereby, qualify for federal funds next time around.
But some people say, “Sure Nader’s great, but Bush is so bad, and a vote for Nader is a vote for Bush. Wouldn’t you feel terrible if you woke up the next morning and Bush had carried Minnesota and won the election?”
If Gore has to worry about carrying Minnesota, then he’s already lost the election. In the Nixon landslide of 1972, Minnesota held on until 11 p.m., the last state to go for Nixon. Only Massachussetts and Washington, D.C. went for McGovern. Minnesota’s been safely in the Democratic column ever since. If Bush were to get a majority of the votes in Minnesota, that would indicate Bush was going to win big in the rest of the country. If, in a three way race, Bush or Nader were to get a plurality of the votes and win the state’s 10 electoral votes, the strength of the Nader vote would suggest a strong turnout of progressive votes, and that would mean Gore should do well in other Midwestern states with a much larger electoral total. Gore is already piling up large margins in Michigan, Illinois, Ohio and Pennsylvania.
So, there is really no reason not to do the right thing and vote your conscience.
There’s another reason to go to the polls November 7th. There really is a significant difference between the two candidates for U.S. Senate.
Rod Grams is probably (along with his close colleague Jesse Helms) the most reactionary member of Congress. He wants to privatize Social Security, replace the progressive income tax with a flat tax, and continue the insane war policies on drugs and Iraq.
Mark Dayton would keep social security sound, make the income tax even more progressive, and moderate the wars on drugs and on the children in Iraq.
Most other races are uneventful. The DFL will probably win back the House at the Legislature because of the high turnout, but it’s hard to see what difference that would make. There have been no issues raised in this campaign. The only thing you can be sure of is that both parties stand for getting elected.
There is one legislative race that is different from the others. Holle Brian is running against longtime DFL incumbent Wes Skoglund.
Wes has been a family friend for over 20 years. His roots run deep in South Minneapolis. His uncle ran a butcher shop at 3200 Chicago where we now have our offices. He is a very good man, but we need new ideas at the Legislature. We need alternative sources of energy. We need alternative methods of decision-making. We need an alternative to a two party system that is really just one party in favor of the status quo. Jesse Ventura has shaken things up as Governor, maybe Holle Brian can do the same in the Legislature. She deserves a chance. Incumbency shouldn’t go on forever. It’s not good for democracy.
There are school referendums in Minneapolis and St. Paul to raise taxes. They should, and probably will, be supported. We investigated what happened to the “temporary” excess levy in Minneapolis when it first raised more money to hire more teachers and, thereby, lower class size. We found that, while it did lower class size a little, most of the money went to give teachers a time out. The percentage of teachers actually in the classroom dropped dramatically. It would be wonderful if the Minneapolis School Board would agree that the new $42.5 million would go to hiring new teachers, and those new teachers would go to work alongside existing teachers, and the money would not just be spent to give the older teachers time out planning at a desk somewhere. There are many children in our schools in the inner city that need one on one attention. Our schools have to be the place where they can get it. There is no doubt our schools need more money, but we should watch to make sure they spend it wisely.