QWhy does the CPUSA support Democratic Party candidates for the presidency instead of running their own candidates?
AThe Communist Party does not endorse candidates from other parties, but we are deeply involved in mobilizing people to participate in the elections.
The presidential election is not just about candidates themselves. It is about choosing what direction the country will go in. So, we work with allies in the union movement, in immigrant rights and civil rights and environment and organizations of women, LGBTQ, youth, and retirees with the goal of stopping extremists like Trump and building enough “people power” to win better jobs, education, healthcare, equality and peace.
Trump's agenda is threatening to working and poor people and our entire planet because it is based on hatred, racism, bigotry and looking out only for the .1%. But stopping Trump is not enough.
Big changes are needed to put people's needs before profits in our country. We organize at the local level. We run in local elections, especially non-partisan. We have run presidential candidates in the past. When the labor and people's organizations are strong enough to route the extremist corporate right wing, and when we have gained more strength at the local level, we may well decide to run national candidates again.
The presidential election is not just about candidates themselves. It is about choosing what direction the country will go in. So, we work with allies in the union movement, in immigrant rights and civil rights and environment and organizations of women, LGBTQ, youth, and retirees with the goal of stopping extremists like Trump and building enough “people power” to win better jobs, education, healthcare, equality and peace.
Trump's agenda is threatening to working and poor people and our entire planet because it is based on hatred, racism, bigotry and looking out only for the .1%. But stopping Trump is not enough.
Big changes are needed to put people's needs before profits in our country. We organize at the local level. We run in local elections, especially non-partisan. We have run presidential candidates in the past. When the labor and people's organizations are strong enough to route the extremist corporate right wing, and when we have gained more strength at the local level, we may well decide to run national candidates again.
Author
Joelle Fishman chairs the Connecticut Communist Party USA. She is a Commissioner on the City of New Haven Peace Commission, serves on the executive board of the Alliance of Retired Americans in Connecticut and is an active member of many economic rights and social justice organizations. She was a candidate for Congress from 1973 to 1982, maintaining minor-party ballot status for the Communist Party in Connecticut's Third Congressional District. As chair of the CPUSA Political Action Commission, she has played an active role in the broad labor and people's alliance that defeated the ultra-right in the 2008 elections and continues to mobilize for health care, worker rights and peace.
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