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ELECTION 2024: A CHESS MOVE, NOT A VALENTINE  
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Rand Wilson
June 26, 2024
Stansbury Forum
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_ All Americans are impacted by attacks on democracy and can be
rallied to work for imperfect Democratic candidates to block
authoritarians like Donald Trump. While it’s tempting to cast our
votes based on emotion it is too risky. _

, Photo credit: Elvert Barnes/Cause and Effect

 

When I heard that Bernie Sanders was going to run for president in
2015, I became a “born again Democrat.” Through my experience of
the Bernie campaign, I have completely embraced Tom Gallagher’s
“Primary Route
[[link removed]]”
political strategy of working inside the Party to move it to be more
oriented to labor and the left.[1]
[//6C15EC81-0956-4E1C-882B-7425FB240176#_ftn1]

But being a Democrat doesn’t mean I always support the party — far
from it. I’ve been a vocal critic
[[link removed]] of
the conduct of both the national and state parties.[2]
[//6C15EC81-0956-4E1C-882B-7425FB240176#_ftn2]

Despite the Democrat’s progressive platform
[[link removed]] and
rhetoric,[3] [//6C15EC81-0956-4E1C-882B-7425FB240176#_ftn3] the party
rarely mobilizes its huge base to win on key working class issues.
Party leaders spend most of their time raising money from the
well-to-do, and as the old adage says: “follow the money.”
That’s who they are accountable to.

So despite the party’s generally progressive platform, for far too
long it’s been all talk — and no action. Working people are
understandably fed-up, and it is that deep frustration that has
brought us to the brink of fascism. 

NO DAYLIGHT BETWEEN THE CANDIDATES?

It’s understandable that many fellow labor activists want to use the
November presidential election to show their frustration with
Biden’s foreign policy. The administration is supporting one of the
most horrific wars of our time. 

I came face-to-face with this sentiment at the June 2 Massachusetts
Democratic state convention
[[link removed]] where I was an
elected delegate from Somerville.[4]
[//6C15EC81-0956-4E1C-882B-7425FB240176#_ftn4] When I learned that
DSA was going to hold a rally in support of a cease fire outside the
convention, I was excited to take a break from the endless speeches
and attend the rally. 

Outside the convention was a small but dedicated group of DSA members
marching in a circle with signs and banners calling for a cease fire
in Gaza. I enthusiastically joined in on chants like, “cease fire
now”, “stop the genocide”, and (with much less enthusiasm)
“from the river to the sea, Palestine will be free.”  

But soon the chanting shifted to “Don’t vote blue,” clearly
aimed at support for Biden. I thought seriously, what are these people
thinking? Who could possibly imagine that U.S. imperial foreign policy
could get better under Trump? 

Waiting for a pause, I shouted, “I’m voting for Biden!” Suddenly
things got quiet. Although there were a few heads nodding, most of the
protesters were shocked by a voice in support for Biden.

I went over to a long time union leader and labor activist I
recognized and asked him about the chant. He said, “Voting for Biden
doesn’t matter in Massachusetts because, it’s a safe state.”  

“Yes, that’s true,” I replied. “But in this election, the
popular vote will be especially important. If Biden wins, he’ll need
a popular vote majority to help counter the ‘Biden and the deep
state stole it’ narrative. And if — God forbid — Trump wins,
we’ll need a popular vote majority to further discredit our
outdated, undemocratic, and racist electoral college system while
making the case that a majority of voters don’t support his
election.”

My old friend disagreed, “That doesn’t matter because, in good
conscience, how could anyone cast a vote for Biden who is responsible
for genocide in Gaza?”

Later I spoke with a much younger DSA rally organizer. He told me,
“There isn’t any daylight between the candidates. We gave the
Democrats a chance, they blew it.”

Yes, the outrage on the left about Gaza is justified. But the “Never
Biden, don’t vote Blue” responses I heard are concerning. Thinking
of your vote as an act of personal consciousness misses the point. As
I wrote with Peter Olney last March, in “Labor’s Political Dilemma
[[link removed]],”[5]
[//6C15EC81-0956-4E1C-882B-7425FB240176#_ftn5] “_Voting is not a
valentine. It’s a chess move._“[6]
[//6C15EC81-0956-4E1C-882B-7425FB240176#_ftn6]

Pretending there isn’t “any daylight between the candidates” is
a serious miscalculation of the moment we are in. Conditions for
Palestinians will be made much worse with Trump and the left’s
environment to influence foreign policy would be seriously diminished.
People of color, immigrants, and other vulnerable folks are likely to
suffer serious consequences if Trump is elected. I was tempted to say,
“Your white, male privilege is showing!”  

OUR “MARGIN OF EFFORT” WILL BE KEY

Despite the horrifying situation in Gaza, the Biden Administration’s
domestic achievements  – particularly for labor — are
considerable. The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law
[[link removed]],[7]
[//6C15EC81-0956-4E1C-882B-7425FB240176#_ftn7] the Inflation
Reduction Act
[[link removed]],[8]
[//6C15EC81-0956-4E1C-882B-7425FB240176#_ftn8] and the CHIPS and
Science Act [[link removed]][9]
[//6C15EC81-0956-4E1C-882B-7425FB240176#_ftn9]investments in
infrastructure and manufacturing has already provided for thousands of
jobs.  Beyond the new jobs and massive investments in
infrastructure, other positive accomplishments like the Butch
Lewis pension protection legislation
[[link removed]][10]
[//6C15EC81-0956-4E1C-882B-7425FB240176#_ftn10] and NLRB
appointments
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strengthened the labor movement’s power.[11]
[//6C15EC81-0956-4E1C-882B-7425FB240176#_ftn11]

Indeed, as Peter Olney and I have written before
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so much of the upswing in labor organizing and successful contract
campaigns have been supported by the Biden administration’s
pro-labor policies.[12]
[//6C15EC81-0956-4E1C-882B-7425FB240176#_ftn12] Biden walked the
UAW’s picket lines during the successful standup strikes against the
Big Three auto manufacturers. His appointment of Jennifer Abruzzo
[[link removed]]as
NLRB General Counsel[13]
[//6C15EC81-0956-4E1C-882B-7425FB240176#_ftn13] who has aggressively
fought for decisions upholding the original intent and purpose of
the National Labor Relations Act
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foster unions and collective bargaining.[14]
[//6C15EC81-0956-4E1C-882B-7425FB240176#_ftn14] The Board’s
recent CEMEX decision
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a streamlined path for workers to gain union recognition.[15]
[//6C15EC81-0956-4E1C-882B-7425FB240176#_ftn15] The Labor
Department’s recent directive
[[link removed]] on
what constitutes an independent contractor shines a spotlight on the
phony and exploitative employment schemes of the giant gig platforms
like Uber and Lyft.[16]
[//6C15EC81-0956-4E1C-882B-7425FB240176#_ftn16]

That’s why labor and the broader progressive community need to
support Biden despite his support for the Israeli war against
Palestinians.

Are the Biden Administration’s policies and investments enough to
carry the majority of union members to vote for Biden? We sure hope
so! However, despite the efforts of labor leadership, union members
make their voting decisions based on competing sources of information
and with concerns that transcend their economic life. 

That’s why we can’t count on print, video, or social media to win
working people to support Biden. It will take an unprecedented
member-to-member, worker-to-worker, and face-to-face campaign. Winning
this election will involve a massive effort to get people to recognize
what political strategist Michael Podhorzer
[[link removed]] has often pointed out: While
Biden’s poll numbers are dismal, in the end it will be a matter of
“margin of effort, not the margin of error.”[17]
[//6C15EC81-0956-4E1C-882B-7425FB240176#_ftn17]

In addition to the GOTV work in key battleground states, I believe
that the popular vote for Biden will also be critical because we need
to show — as we did in 2016 — that Trump is not supported by the
majority of voters despite the result in the electoral college. And of
course, in addition to the presidency, it’s imperative that
Democrats recapture the House by winning just a handful of seats. For
instance, seven seats in California are possibly winnable for
Democrats. If they are flipped, it would be the margin to retake the
House. 

Union members, like all Americans, are impacted by social legislation
and attacks on democracy. They can be rallied to work for imperfect
Democratic candidates to block authoritarians like Donald Trump. While
it’s tempting to cast our votes based on emotion, leaving the door
open for a Trump victory is too risky. Instead, let’s get out on the
doors in the battleground states and congressional districts to defeat
Trump and his ilk in 2024.

[1] [//6C15EC81-0956-4E1C-882B-7425FB240176#_ftnref1] The Primary
Route: How the 99% Take on the Military Industrial Complex, Tom
Gallagher 2015,
[link removed]…
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Reviewed by Peter Olney,
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[2] [//6C15EC81-0956-4E1C-882B-7425FB240176#_ftnref2] “Why Our
Revolution Is Fighting To Make The Mass Democratic Party More
Democratic,” by Rand Wilson and Henry Wortis, originally published
in Organizing Notes, newsletter of Our Revolution Massachusetts on
Nov. 28, 2023.
[link removed]…
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[3]
[//6C15EC81-0956-4E1C-882B-7425FB240176#_ftnref3] [link removed]

[4]
[//6C15EC81-0956-4E1C-882B-7425FB240176#_ftnref4] [link removed]

[5] [//6C15EC81-0956-4E1C-882B-7425FB240176#_ftnref5] Labor’s
Political Dilemma
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In These Times, March 27, 2024,
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[6] [//6C15EC81-0956-4E1C-882B-7425FB240176#_ftnref6] Quoting Rebecca
Solnit:

[7]
[//6C15EC81-0956-4E1C-882B-7425FB240176#_ftnref7] [link removed]…
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[8]
[//6C15EC81-0956-4E1C-882B-7425FB240176#_ftnref8] [link removed]

[9]
[//6C15EC81-0956-4E1C-882B-7425FB240176#_ftnref9] [link removed]

[10]
[//6C15EC81-0956-4E1C-882B-7425FB240176#_ftnref10] [link removed]…
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[11]
[//6C15EC81-0956-4E1C-882B-7425FB240176#_ftnref11] [link removed]

[12] [//6C15EC81-0956-4E1C-882B-7425FB240176#_ftnref12] “Can Labor
Seize Its ‘Movement Moment’? by Peter Olney and Rand Wilson,
Convergence Magazine, April 7,
2023, [link removed] and
“Wake Up, Everybody! Midterms are Almost Here,” by Rand Wilson and
Peter Olney, Convergence and The Stansbury Forum, February 25, 2022,
[link removed]…
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[13]
[//6C15EC81-0956-4E1C-882B-7425FB240176#_ftnref13] [link removed]…
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[14] [//6C15EC81-0956-4E1C-882B-7425FB240176#_ftnref14] See NLRA
Section 1:
[link removed]…
[[link removed]];.

[15]
[//6C15EC81-0956-4E1C-882B-7425FB240176#_ftnref15] [link removed]

[16]
[//6C15EC81-0956-4E1C-882B-7425FB240176#_ftnref16] [link removed]…
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[17] [//6C15EC81-0956-4E1C-882B-7425FB240176#_ftnref17] Podhorzer
citations: [link removed]

_Rand Wilson has worked as a union organizer and labor communicator
for more than forty years, most recently as Chief of Staff for
SEIU Local 888 in Boston. Wilson was the founding director of
Massachusetts Jobs with Justice. In 2016 he helped to co-found Labor
for Bernie and was elected as a Sanders delegate to the Democratic
National Convention. He is an elected member of Somerville's Ward 6
Democratic Committee. Wilson is board chair for the ICA Group and the
Fund for Jobs Worth Owning. He also serves as a trustee for the
Somerville Job Creation and Retention Trust._

* elections
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* Donald Trump
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* Joe Biden
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* political strategy
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