Vote Nov. 3! Your life could depend on it

By Gus Hall

This article was reprinted from the October 10, 1998 issue of the People's Weekly World. For subscription information see below. All rights reserved - may be used with PWW credits.

In the last few months the political and electoral scene has shifted even more to the right. With the partisan vote by the House Judiciary Committee for unlimited, wide-ranging impeachment proceedings, your vote on Election Day is even more critical.

At this moment in our country, public enemy #1 is the Newt Gingrich-led, Republican right wing, which has a stranglehold on Congress.

An even bigger Republican majority in Congress and a veto-proof Senate will bring about a sharp turn to the right in the political direction of our country. It will transform the ultra-right danger into a political reality. For this reason, this election is different than any other. The stakes are higher. The politics, forces and issues make this perhaps the most important election in U.S. history.

Anthony Lewis' column in the Sept. 29 New York Times shows how widespread is the view that "there is an effort underway to bring about a fundamental change in the political direction of this country, effectively changing the results of our last two national elections. It would be a coup d'état."

Polls show that millions agree with Clinton when he said that "the Republican majority in Congress has its priorities wrong: Partisanship over progress, politics over people."

Yet, in spite of public sentiment, Newt Gingrich, Trent Lott and & Co., right-wing Republicans, the religious right and some right-wing Democrats with the most reactionary sector of the U.S. ruling class pulling the strings - are out for blood.

To defeat the Democrats in November, the Republicans are counting on public disgust and preoccupation with the right-wing vendetta against Clinton. That is why they are going full-speed ahead with impeachment proceedings.

The witch hunt to destroy Clinton, demean the presidency and trample on the Constitution has escalated. The Republicans, led by the extreme right wing, have decided to ride roughshod over public opinion and bring down the Clinton presidency by forcing resignation or, more likely, impeachment "by any means necessary."

The all-consuming Republican drive to impeach Clinton based on "sex, lies and videotape," is the work of a "right-wing conspiracy," masterminded and managed by Newt Gingrich.

Even after the release of the mountains of "evidence," the majority of people are still convinced that Clinton's personal conduct is not grounds for resignation or impeachment.

In spite of the relentless propaganda and pornography oozing from every pore of our capitalist society, most people are still more worried about the political danger from the ultraright than the danger from Clinton's sexual misconduct.

Although many people disapprove of Clinton's behavior, and even his policies, they understand the real danger and that the alternative to the Clinton administration would mean a nightmare in their future.

That's why right after the grand jury tapes were released, Clinton's ratings shot back up to 68 percent, with 95 percent of African-Americans supporting him. Starr's popularity plummeted to 12 percent.

However, with a public-be-damned arrogance and abuse of power, the Republicans are brazenly defying the will of the people.

Our position was, is and will continue to be that we do not agree with or defend many of Clinton's actions and policies, nor do we approve of his personal behavior.

When we disagree with his politics we say so, both on domestic and foreign issues. Like all U.S. presidents in our capitalist society, Clinton is a representative of corporate America. But, the Clinton administration is not the same as a Reagan administration. There are big differences.

The Republicans believe that they can even overcome a public backlash against their dirty politics by getting their conservative, Christian right, core constituency to the polls. They think if they can keep the public diverted and disgusted enough, maybe less than half of the electorate will vote.

On the other hand, the situation is now very fluid. Because of public opinion it is possible to reverse the curent political direction.

It is only possible, however, if labor and the left and progressive forces convince millions more working class and trade union families to register and then vote.

If just 25 percent of unregistered union households vote and the Democrats hold their own, we can defeat the Republicans.

Why vote? First and foremost, your lives and livelihoods may depend on it.

The 1998 elections will literally decide our future - whether our country will move forward in a more progressive, democratic direction or keep shifting more to the right, even in a dangerously fascistic direction.

The elections will decide whether we will have a Contract on America II or a reversal of the anti-trade-union, anti-working-class, anti-people policies of the Republican majority in Congress.

The November elections will decide whether the most cold- blooded, cutthroat, ultra-reactionary and fascist corporate sectors will rule. If they win, they will be even more arrogant, more aggressive and more reckless in their attacks on our quality of life and democratic rights.

This fight against the right wing is part of a basic struggle for democracy. The great majority of Americans firmly believe that the federal government must play a role in improving and protecting people's lives.

They know all the talk about "big government" is nothing but an attempt to slash and burn entitlements and shred the safety net.

What we need is whatever size government it takes to restore cuts, meet people's needs, put restrictions on the global monsters, increase taxes on the rich and corporate America and create millions of new jobs. To accomplish this we must defeat the right wing.

Last year's shutdown of the government by the Gingrich forces produced a sharp public backlash. "Starrgate" has provoked another.

This backlash is more widespread and deeper because the people have already been burned and understand the "clear and present danger."

The growing backlash against the right-wing for their conspiracy to destroy the Clinton presidency could prove to be fatal for the Republicans - if we can get the voters to the polls.

The ultraright is out to continue their anti-labor, union-busting drive. They are out to eliminate every civil rights law and roll back every economic and political step toward equality.

They are out to cripple the working class, continue downsizing and force the remaining workers to bear the brunt of U.S. capitalism in crisis.

Thus, who gets elected will determine under what conditions the class struggle will be conducted after the elections.

Politics in the U.S. are more and more a reflection of the new role and power of the global corporations, the new level of state monopoly capitalism. This is the essence of the right-wing danger.

The latest fascist-like political developments and the corporate merger-mania are related. The racist murders and racist violence are related to the corporate mergers, globalization and the more undemocratic characteristics of capitalism today.

The new gigantic concentration of wealth and power is related to the ultraright and to the rise of the extreme right fascist-fringe - the militias, hate groups and the religious right. The global corporations are the support base for ultra-right forces.

The struggle for democracy and the struggle against fascist-like politics are closely related. In a sense they are two sides of the same coin.

The religious right, led by the Christian Coalition, is linked to the Republican Party's right wing. In fact, the Chrisian right and arch-conservative forces are threatening to withdraw their support from the Republican Party if it doesn't move even more to the right on issues like abortion, school prayer and school "choice."

More and more, the Republican Right is using religion for reactionary political purposes.

Make no mistake, a Gingrich-led Congress will take no heed of protests, marches, public opinion polls or pressure from the grassroots. The only way to stop them is to vote them out of power.

The fascist-like leanings of the Republican right wing was evident in the the new federal budget. The Republicans introduced a more reactionary anti-people budget, which Congress ultimately passed.

Welfare, health care, Social Security and public education are under severe attack. If the Republicans win a bigger majority and the extreme right gains more power, we will see a "Contract on America II" in our future.

The Republicans' original Contract on America caused great hardship and suffering. It threw millions into poverty, out of jobs, off welfare, onto the streets. Think what another Contract would mean!

A victory for the right this year will mean more attacks on trade union, human and civil rights. It will mean the end of affirmative action everywhere and more officially-condoned racism.

It will mean higher taxes on the working class and less taxes on the rich and corporations.

It could mean severe political repression of unions, of people's movements, an increase in racism and inequality and a resurgence of anti-communism.

The survival of millions of retirees will be in jeopardy if Social Security is put on the Wall Street auction block. It will mean stepped-up privatization, globalization and a freer hand for the corporations and Wall Street to plunder for profits.

It will mean fast track on the job-killing trade agreements. It will mean a soaring military budget to produce even more deadly weapons of mass destruction.

The election results could literally mean the difference between life and death for millions. It will mean the difference between hunger or food stamps, more layoffs or a massive public works jobs program, public education or school vouchers, union rights or union-busting.

On a world scale, if the fascist-leaning sector of the U.S. ruling class gains the reins of power, including the possibility of taking the presidency in 2000, the deepening global economic and financial crisis will get even worse.

The election of a U.S. government dominated by the ultra- right would be contrary to the dominant trend in Europe. With the election in Germany - including the election of Communists to Parliament - and the return to power of the Communists in the Russian government, all but two of the European countries are governed by center or center-left coalitions.

The defeat of the ultraright in the U.S. would mean less power and influence for monopoly capital and U.S. imperialism, the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank, which have brought chaos and untold suffering to many millions around the world.

Labor, the communities of the racially and nationally oppressed, women, the left and progressive people have historically used the Democratic Party to express their political will. That's a majority of the American people.

However, in 1996 almost half of the voting age population decided to stay at home. We have to convince that majority to come out on Election Day.

To change the balance of forces in Congress we have to work to defeat the whole Republican Party, not just the right-wingers. Voting on issues like jobs, education, housing, Social Security, welfare, Medicare and Medicaid means voting against all Republicans.

Defeating Republican Party candidates is the only way to get rid of the ultra-right and fascist danger and stop the reactionary right from taking over the government. To boycott the elections is a vote for the Republicans. To vote for any Republican is a vote for the ultra-right.

Urging people to vote for candidates who are acting as "spoilers" is a vote for the ultra-right.

The only winning tactic is for left and progressive forces to get involved, join in coalition with others, convince new voters to register and vote, and then do everything we can to get the electorate to the polls on Nov. 3.

The challenge is to awaken the sense of anger and urgency reflected in the public opinion polls; to translate the growing radicalization, militancy and working class unity - Black, Brown and white - into voters who "vote like a worker."

Gus Hall is national chair of the Communist Party USA and a four-time candidate for president.

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