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Two Weeks to Go -- and One President to Oust
Oct 19, 2004
We're at a moment in history when progressives must work together -- not with a false kind of unity that papers over differences, but instead with a candid kind of unity that recognizes and fights for a vital common goal. Our collective task is to kick George Bush out of the White House.
The thousands of African-American women and men lining up at early-voting sites in Florida are sending a profound message across this country. After nearly four years of "Hail to the Thief," we have a chance to oust the Bush-Cheney gang. We're depending on each other.
An unprecedented grassroots mobilization has been gaining momentum all year. Around the United States, massive vortexes of individuals and groups -- working on behalf of organized labor, civil rights, women's rights, the environment, gay rights, civil liberties, economic justice -- are determined to keep doing the small things that can add up to one momentous thing: the defeat of Bush. What's going on is much more than the traditional hype that sets in every election year. This time the stakes are so huge -- the specter of another four Bush years is so horrific -- that a process of immense bottom-up power is underway.
At various times, since early this year, we've heard some silly rationales for staying aloof from the battle to defeat Bush. Some have said it won't matter what progressives do, because Bush is sure to lose. Others have said it won't matter what progressives do, because Bush is sure to win. (A few polemicists have even said one and then the other.) Wrong. Wrong. (And wrong.)
The polls are showing a dead heat between Bush-Cheney and Kerry-Edwards. What we do could make all the difference.
Nothing embodies the emerging spirit of progressive unity this fall more eloquently than the article that appeared a few days ago in the newspaper Indian Country Today under the headline "Winona LaDuke Endorsement of John Kerry for President." LaDuke, currently program director of the national Native American environmental justice program Honor the Earth, was the Green Party vice presidential candidate in 1996 and 2000. Now she writes: "I am voting for John Kerry this November. I love this land, and I know that we need to make drastic changes in Washington if we are going to protect our land and our communities. I am committed to transforming the American democracy so that it is reflective of the diversity of this country. I believe in a multi-party system and a multi-racial democracy...."
More than a dozen swing states are on a razor's edge. In those states, the upcoming hard work and votes of progressives could decide the presidential election.
If Bush is beaten, we can -- and must -- immediately go on to strengthen movements for peace and social justice. One of our main tasks will be to confront President Kerry from the outset with an antiwar movement strong enough to force withdrawal of all U.S. troops from Iraq and promote an evenhanded Middle East policy that respects Palestinian human rights. Then, as now, we'll need unified progressive action to get the job done.
An Urgent Message From Our Co-Founder
Dear Common Dreams reader, It’s been nearly 30 years since I co-founded Common Dreams with my late wife, Lina Newhouser. We had the radical notion that journalism should serve the public good, not corporate profits. It was clear to us from the outset what it would take to build such a project. No paid advertisements. No corporate sponsors. No millionaire publisher telling us what to think or do. Many people said we wouldn't last a year, but we proved those doubters wrong. Together with a tremendous team of journalists and dedicated staff, we built an independent media outlet free from the constraints of profits and corporate control. Our mission has always been simple: To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. Building Common Dreams was not easy. Our survival was never guaranteed. When you take on the most powerful forces—Wall Street greed, fossil fuel industry destruction, Big Tech lobbyists, and uber-rich oligarchs who have spent billions upon billions rigging the economy and democracy in their favor—the only bulwark you have is supporters who believe in your work. But here’s the urgent message from me today. It's never been this bad out there. And it's never been this hard to keep us going. At the very moment Common Dreams is most needed, the threats we face are intensifying. We need your support now more than ever. We don't accept corporate advertising and never will. We don't have a paywall because we don't think people should be blocked from critical news based on their ability to pay. Everything we do is funded by the donations of readers like you. When everyone does the little they can afford, we are strong. But if that support retreats or dries up, so do we. Will you donate now to make sure Common Dreams not only survives but thrives? —Craig Brown, Co-founder |
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Norman Solomon
Norman Solomon is the national director of RootsAction.org and executive director of the Institute for Public Accuracy. The paperback edition of his latest book, War Made Invisible: How America Hides the Human Toll of Its Military Machine, includes an afterword about the Gaza war.
We're at a moment in history when progressives must work together -- not with a false kind of unity that papers over differences, but instead with a candid kind of unity that recognizes and fights for a vital common goal. Our collective task is to kick George Bush out of the White House.
The thousands of African-American women and men lining up at early-voting sites in Florida are sending a profound message across this country. After nearly four years of "Hail to the Thief," we have a chance to oust the Bush-Cheney gang. We're depending on each other.
An unprecedented grassroots mobilization has been gaining momentum all year. Around the United States, massive vortexes of individuals and groups -- working on behalf of organized labor, civil rights, women's rights, the environment, gay rights, civil liberties, economic justice -- are determined to keep doing the small things that can add up to one momentous thing: the defeat of Bush. What's going on is much more than the traditional hype that sets in every election year. This time the stakes are so huge -- the specter of another four Bush years is so horrific -- that a process of immense bottom-up power is underway.
At various times, since early this year, we've heard some silly rationales for staying aloof from the battle to defeat Bush. Some have said it won't matter what progressives do, because Bush is sure to lose. Others have said it won't matter what progressives do, because Bush is sure to win. (A few polemicists have even said one and then the other.) Wrong. Wrong. (And wrong.)
The polls are showing a dead heat between Bush-Cheney and Kerry-Edwards. What we do could make all the difference.
Nothing embodies the emerging spirit of progressive unity this fall more eloquently than the article that appeared a few days ago in the newspaper Indian Country Today under the headline "Winona LaDuke Endorsement of John Kerry for President." LaDuke, currently program director of the national Native American environmental justice program Honor the Earth, was the Green Party vice presidential candidate in 1996 and 2000. Now she writes: "I am voting for John Kerry this November. I love this land, and I know that we need to make drastic changes in Washington if we are going to protect our land and our communities. I am committed to transforming the American democracy so that it is reflective of the diversity of this country. I believe in a multi-party system and a multi-racial democracy...."
More than a dozen swing states are on a razor's edge. In those states, the upcoming hard work and votes of progressives could decide the presidential election.
If Bush is beaten, we can -- and must -- immediately go on to strengthen movements for peace and social justice. One of our main tasks will be to confront President Kerry from the outset with an antiwar movement strong enough to force withdrawal of all U.S. troops from Iraq and promote an evenhanded Middle East policy that respects Palestinian human rights. Then, as now, we'll need unified progressive action to get the job done.
Norman Solomon
Norman Solomon is the national director of RootsAction.org and executive director of the Institute for Public Accuracy. The paperback edition of his latest book, War Made Invisible: How America Hides the Human Toll of Its Military Machine, includes an afterword about the Gaza war.
We're at a moment in history when progressives must work together -- not with a false kind of unity that papers over differences, but instead with a candid kind of unity that recognizes and fights for a vital common goal. Our collective task is to kick George Bush out of the White House.
The thousands of African-American women and men lining up at early-voting sites in Florida are sending a profound message across this country. After nearly four years of "Hail to the Thief," we have a chance to oust the Bush-Cheney gang. We're depending on each other.
An unprecedented grassroots mobilization has been gaining momentum all year. Around the United States, massive vortexes of individuals and groups -- working on behalf of organized labor, civil rights, women's rights, the environment, gay rights, civil liberties, economic justice -- are determined to keep doing the small things that can add up to one momentous thing: the defeat of Bush. What's going on is much more than the traditional hype that sets in every election year. This time the stakes are so huge -- the specter of another four Bush years is so horrific -- that a process of immense bottom-up power is underway.
At various times, since early this year, we've heard some silly rationales for staying aloof from the battle to defeat Bush. Some have said it won't matter what progressives do, because Bush is sure to lose. Others have said it won't matter what progressives do, because Bush is sure to win. (A few polemicists have even said one and then the other.) Wrong. Wrong. (And wrong.)
The polls are showing a dead heat between Bush-Cheney and Kerry-Edwards. What we do could make all the difference.
Nothing embodies the emerging spirit of progressive unity this fall more eloquently than the article that appeared a few days ago in the newspaper Indian Country Today under the headline "Winona LaDuke Endorsement of John Kerry for President." LaDuke, currently program director of the national Native American environmental justice program Honor the Earth, was the Green Party vice presidential candidate in 1996 and 2000. Now she writes: "I am voting for John Kerry this November. I love this land, and I know that we need to make drastic changes in Washington if we are going to protect our land and our communities. I am committed to transforming the American democracy so that it is reflective of the diversity of this country. I believe in a multi-party system and a multi-racial democracy...."
More than a dozen swing states are on a razor's edge. In those states, the upcoming hard work and votes of progressives could decide the presidential election.
If Bush is beaten, we can -- and must -- immediately go on to strengthen movements for peace and social justice. One of our main tasks will be to confront President Kerry from the outset with an antiwar movement strong enough to force withdrawal of all U.S. troops from Iraq and promote an evenhanded Middle East policy that respects Palestinian human rights. Then, as now, we'll need unified progressive action to get the job done.
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