I am a big-c Communist, registered as a Democrat.
Why? It's certainly not because Obama is a socialist-- he isn't. It's because I want things to get better for the average American, and that means the worker. American "commoners" do better under Democratic administrations than they do under Republican ones.
Registering (D) also lets me push for more progressive-- and that means better-- Democrats.
Am I kicked out yet? No? Well then, follow me under the fold...
The Democratic Party has had a problem with socialism ever since it swallowed the Populist Party, really, but the problem became acute during the Cold War. Truman was supposed to innoculate it against crazy-McCarthyite charges that it was some sort of "communist" fifth column because (D)s believed in things like Social Security. Whatever, they were crazy times, the 1950s-- the Dems set out to prove that they could be 'tougher' on 'communism' than the (R) brand (xref Cuban missile crisis, Vietnam), instead of honoring the pro-union legacy of the New Deal-- and we all got Reagan for those efforts. But not to digress.
Rather, I'd like to point out that the Communist Party of the USA is almost unique on the American left (and I mean the real left, not the liberal wing of the Dems, but people who self-describe as little-s socialist, of whatever stripe) for supporting Obama particularly, and the Dems generally. Why? There are several answers:
- The CPUSA has historically been in the leadership (daresay 'vanguard') against official American racism. We are delighted that the first African-American President is a progressive, loosely speaking.
- While they won't quite say it, the CPUSA tends to recognize that its glory days were those of the Popular Front. That means getting along with others for the sake of common goals, instead of polemicizing about theoretical bullshit.
- Unlike most of the American left, the CPUSA wants things to get better, not worse, for average people, both here and abroad-- and that means voting for Dems, even imperialist, pro-business ones like Obama. Don't believe me? Consider what the Revolutionary Communist Party (RCP-USA), the Sparticist League, and the anecdotal anarchist has to say about Obama, versus what the CPUSA has to say (for example)about him, and our support for him.
[I suppose I should go back and put some links in. I'll do so, as people proceed to kill me with a thousand horrified cuts in the comments. BTW, the first comment will be a tip jar ;-)
Finally, I want you to consider a couple pieces of evidence that I will offer now:
- CPUSA Chairman Sam Webb on Glen Beck: Obama Is Not A Socialist (But We Like Him Anyway)
- Why (oh why) was the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan evil, but the American occupation of Afghanistan is sanctified?
- I am a member of the CPUSA (as of May 2008, for those who know me, ahem), and a registered Democrat. Am I kicked out yet? Also, this is typical... as few of us as there are, anymore :-(
- Here's some bonus tracks: my kind of Communism:
The Clash
Billy Bragg
Arlo Guthrie, Pete Seeger, et al.
...Communism is a proud American tradition (see also here and here), it deserves to be honored.
More Yummy Bonus Trackage:
What if Roosevelt hadn't been afraid to intervene in Spain? But he was. Why? PS: Not all Americans were so timid... even though they were labeled and prosecuted as 'premature antifascists' later...
Extra Credit:
What if the Dems had nominated Wallace instead of Truman?
Okay, there's so much more to say, but I want to be relatively terse. So... have at me! and have a great day, or night, as the case may be... I will go add some links, while all y'all have at me in the comments...
Edit 1: More! Yummy! Links!
Edit 2: I think I finally have the title...