CENTERING GORE
“They chose to close ranks instead of opening up dialogue,” California State Senator
Tom Hayden
said after the Democratic Platform Committee refused to consider progressive planks that would have committed the Democratic Party to protect workers’ rights in the era of globalization, guarantee universal healthcare and address income inequality. Pressured by Gore campaign chiefs William Daley and Donna Brazile, who worked the committee’s Cleveland meeting with a message that the Gore campaign wanted no minority reports and no dissent on the convention floor, platform writers ignored the progressive proposals. Instead, they penned a document favoring “fast-track” free-trade agreements, “Star Wars” nuclear defense initiatives and the death penalty. “It’s Al Gore’s platform,” declared Al From, president of the conservative Democratic Leadership Council. It’s certainly not the platform of
Southern California Americans for Democratic Action
, which pushed the progressive agenda. Chapter president
Lila Garrett
, a delegate who is under fire from party insiders for attempting to upset the Gore bandwagon, dispatched a letter to party leaders saying, “I do not appreciate how far to the right the party has moved. Nor do I believe the passion for centrism is anything but fear. Running on fear is running on empty. It’s a loser.” Garrett says ADA will keep up the fight during the convention, purchasing full-page “Letter to Al Gore” newspaper ads and organizing a Progressive Caucus of convention delegates. “We want to build a movement within the party to reverse the drift to the right,” she says. “We may not win at this convention, but we’ll build for the next one.”
THE GIFT OF THE MAGI
They bring no frankincense or myrrh, but the
MAGI–Ministers Against Global Injustice
, a network of African-American ministers representing congregations nationwide–will launch a campaign in LA on August 15 to organize communities of color to oppose free-trade policies that undermine African economies while weakening US inner cities. “As globalization generates growing debate, controversy and protest, our community and other communities of color–those bearing the brunt of the adverse effects of globalization–have been conspicuously underrepresented,” reads the call from activist clergy, including the
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Rev. James Orange
, a onetime aide to the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., and the
Rev. William Monroe Campbell
of LA’s historic Second Baptist Church, where the launch will be held. Featured speakers will include
TransAfrica
‘s
Randall Robinson
and Representative
Maxine Waters
.
UNWELCOME TO LA
Activist groups that will be out in force during the Democratic convention include the
National Chicano Moratorium Committee
, which will hold a “Deport the two-party system!” rally August 12. On August 13, while Democrats cavort with corporate contributors on Santa Monica’s Pier 5,
Global Exchange
and other groups plan a “Beach Party” on the sands below. “We’re having a party for the people who can’t pay to party with the delegates. We want to make the Democrats aware that people they say they represent–workers, immigrants, environmentalists–are locked out of the convention,” says Global Exchange’s
Alli Starr
.
California Peace Action
will roll fifty-foot replicas of Trident missiles–with the slogan $35 Billion for Nuclear Weapons; Pennies for Our Schools–into town on the 14th;
Critical Mass
bicycle activists will “reclaim our streets” on the 15th; and anti-death penalty and prison-reform groups will march on the 16th. On the 17th
California Students Against Sweatshops
and others will march to demand that Democrats support policies that hold retailers accountable for sweatshop conditions at suppliers’ factories. And, in an ironic bow to organizational demands, the
North American Anarchist Conference
will hold a convention of black-flag wavers that, conveniently, coincides with the Democratic gathering…. An ACLU lawsuit filed on behalf of the
D2K Convention Coalition
and others forced the LAPD to alter plans to keep protesters out of earshot and eyesight of delegates. Said US District Judge Gary Feess in his decision supporting the right of protesters to gather near delegates: “When it’s convenience versus the First Amendment, convenience loses every time.”… The LA
Shadow Convention
, like the GOP shadow event in Philadelphia, will focus on campaign finance reform, drug policy and poverty issues. Featured speakers include Senators
Paul Wellstone
and
Russ Feingold
, former presidential candidate
Gary Hart
, almost-presidential candidate
Warren Beatty
, activist
Jim Hightower
and former Labor Secretary
Robert Reich
. Says Reich, “The message that I hope will come from the Shadows is that Al Gore has got to focus clearly on the unfinished agenda. With a strong economy in place, his campaign needs to be about taking the next step toward economic justice.”
A DAILY ALTERNATIVE
The progressive
LA Weekly
will go daily during convention week, distributing 60,000 copies of special editions featuring reports from inside the hall and on the streets, as well as letters to the delegates from
Barbara Ehrenreich
and others. Poster artist
Robbie Conal
will do the paper’s covers. Says executive editor
Harold Meyerson
, “We’ll even print an advance copy of Gore’s acceptance speech–with what he should be saying.”
