Thread: Tens of thousands of L.A. residents vote socialist

Tens of thousands of L.A. residents vote for socialist candidates
Thursday, June 5, 2008

In County Supervisor elections, over 45,000 support "People Over Profits" message





On June 3, tens of thousands of people in Los Angeles went to the polls and declared that they were done with politics as usual, and wanted a new County Board of Supervisors that puts people’s needs over corporate profits. With less than a shoestring budget and no paid campaign volunteers, Party for Socialism and Liberation candidates Marylou Cabral and Stephen Hinze garnered nearly 45,000 votes yesterday in the race for the L.A. County’s Board of Supervisors, Districts 4 and 5. Both candidates ran as socialists, and their dynamic campaigns were covered by the Los Angeles Times, the Long Beach Press-Telegram, the Pasadena Star News, the Santa Clarita Signal and other media outlets. More importantly, their campaigns addressed the issues that affect all workers, championing people's needs over capitalist profits. This truly grassroots effort sparked the interest of many new and longtime voters and activists.

The Board of Supervisors is a body that controls the county’s purse strings. L.A. County is the 17th largest economy in the world. Although officially elected positions, the Board members control their districts like political fiefdoms—often running with little opposition and with no challenge from within the two-party system. The PSL candidates—one a college anti-war activist and the other a warehouse worker—offered a different vision for Los Angeles County, and a different look for the Board of Supervisors.

Although their campaigns are now officially over, Cabral and Hinze will remain in the streets as activists dedicated to the struggle for affordable housing, immigrant rights and against police brutality. Through their campaigns, they helped popularize these issues and met many new organizers.

“We ran in the elections openly as socialists because we knew that the people of this county were ready for a type of politics that put people’s needs first and challenged entrenched corporate authority. We knew that people wanted to see struggle-oriented campaigns,â€

Fools! They don't realize that after all the companies are gone overseas, this country is going to be too poor to be able to afford socialism.