Vote your conscience, vote DSA endorsed candidates

Election Day is this Tuesday. Twin Cities DSA has endorsed two candidates, one in a local race and one in a statewide race.

Andy Dawkins, who was a DFL State Representative from 1987 to 2002, is the Green Party endorsed candidate for Attorney General. He is facing incumbent Lori Swanson, who has a number of marks against her progressive record. See Andy's campaign site for all the information. There will be an election night party for Dawkins supporters 8pm, November 4, at O'Gara's Bar and Grill in Saint Paul.



Captain Jack (CJ) Sparrow is running against long-time DFL incumbent Peter McLaughlin for the position of Hennepin County Commissioner, District 4. Besides being an almost 30-year local activist in anti-poverty and homelessness issues and a 40-plus-year supporter of economic democracy in the form of cooperatives, CJ is a member of the DSA Local. His excellent campaign platform is propounded on his blog, Occupirate. He only wears the pirate costume for special appearances and demonstrations, by the way.

From the National Blog

In The Left and Voter Turnout, Duane Campbell argues that getting out the vote can be a vital part of our organizing efforts. He says

We need to select and engage in some electoral battles. Our selection could be based upon whether:

•  It is an important issue. 
• Our allies are working on it. 
• There is a democratic socialist thread in the campaign. 

 

Here is news from the Altlanta local of DSA, which is launching a movement called Moral Monday/GA, pushing an expansion of Medicaid. Note that this is not a blog, but is sort of treated like a blog. However, the individual articles don't have permalinks. Therefore, if you wait too long, the article about Moral Monday may have moved off the top spot or been deleted. Apart from that, nice website, and they are doing a lot, including working with Occupy Atlanta, which is also doing a lot.