CPUSA Online - "No mandate, no surrender": A Second Look

CPUSA Online - "No mandate, no surrender"

I took a second look at the above, and have a few additional comments to make, despite the concerns I've already expressed:

So the Communist Party believes there was no mandate. I must admit, I don't agree, but I'm impressed. There's no doubt the final results of the past election were close, but they tilted in favor of Republicans at almost every level of government. Mister Webb chooses to ignore the comprehensive reach of the results, even if the results themselves displayed no large victory taken in single.

But, equally, I think Mr Webb makes his case very well. His description of the nature of the setback:

At the same time, we should not be Pollyanna-ish. The election was undeniably a setback. It rearranges to some degree the political furniture across the country for the time being. It alters the terrain on which labor and its allies fight right-wing reaction. It shifts in a quantitative sense the balance of forces in a rightward direction.

I have to give Mr Webb a bravo for that. I could not disagree more vehemently with his politics. But I think both the above, and:

Among the main constituencies of the progressive movement, a clear-cut majority voted for Kerry. Union households voted 68 percent for Kerry in battleground states and 63 percent in non-battleground states. Nearly nine of ten African Americans cast their votes for Kerry. Roughly two of three Latino voters picked Kerry. 55 per cent of Asians voted for Kerry -- up considerably from Gore's vote in 2000.

both of these do a great deal for Mr Webb's case. Read it for yourself. Decide. He wouldn't get my vote, but he did get my attention.

-RØß-