Here we have more controversy in the Obama campaign...big surprise. When I conducted my own research, here is what I found connecting Obama and socialism.
First, some history on the issue.
"The SP [Socialist Party] focuses on grassroots activism in addition to electoral politics. It has conducted "Socialist Summer" campaigns in recent years to address issues such as counter-recruitment and fighting to end the military-industrial complex; promoting socialized health care; supporting immigrant workers and battling persecution of immigrants following the September 11, 2001 attacks; and promoting civil liberties and civil rights.
The Party's principles and platform call for the elimination of the power of big business through public ownership and workers' control, production for use instead of profit, and the establishment of a classless society.
...favor a more radical or revolutionary transformation of society from capitalist to socialist"--according to Wikipedia.org
The Social Democratic Party and part of the Socialist Labor Party merged to create the Socialist Party of America.
The Democratic Socialist Organizing Committee was founded by the Socialist Party of America.
The Democratic Socialist Organizing Committee merged with the New American Movement to form the Democratic Socialists of America.
Two Other Socialist Party factions went on to form Social Democrats USA and the Socialist Party USA.
The Democratic Socialists of America established The New Party.
The New Party became the Working Families Party.
"The New Party was founded in the early 1990s by Daniel Cantor...as an effort to break with the largely unsuccessful history of left-leaning third parties in the United States.
...the New Party built modestly successful chapters in several states. Some of these chapters — such as those in Chicago and Little Rock — had their main bases of support in the low-income community organizing group ACORN, along with some support from various labor unions (especially ACORN-allied locals of the Service Employees International Union).
...Several chapters — initially, those chapters not connected with ACORN — disaffiliated. ... Cantor and other key staff members left to found the Working Families Party..."--according to Wikipedia.org
See the connection? Cantor left the New Party and founded the Working Families Party.
"New Party members and supported candidates won 16 of 23 races, including an at-large race for the Little Rock, Ark., City Council, a seat on the county board for Little Rock and the school board for Prince George's County, Md. Chicago is sending the first New Party member to Congress, as Danny Davis, who ran as a Democrat, won an overwhelming 85% victory. New Party member Barack Obama was uncontested for a State Senate seat from Chicago."--according to the November 1996 Progressive Populist magazine
"Here are some of our key races:...
Illinois: Three NP [New Party]-members won Democratic primaries last Spring and face off against Republican opponents on election day: Danny Davis (U.S. House), Barack Obama (State Senate) and Patricia Martin (Cook County Judiciary)."--according to New Party.org
"The Chicago New Party is increasingly becoming a viable political organization that can make a different in Chicago politics....
Secondly, the NP's '96 Political Program has been enormously successful with 3 of 4 endorsed candidates winning electoral primaries...Barack Obama, victor in the 13th State Senate District, encouraged NPers to join in his task forces on Voter Education and Voter Registration."--according to the July/August 1996 edition of the Democratic Socialists of America fourth story down at this link
Now, here is some documented history regarding the Working Families Party (WFP).
"The Working Families Party (WFP) is a minor political party in the United States founded in New York in 1998. ...
New York's Working Families Party was first organized in 1998 by a coalition of labor unions, ACORN and other community organizations, members of the now-inactive national New Party, and a variety of public interest groups. The party blends a culture of political organizing with unionism, 1960s idealism, and tactical pragmatism. ...it has won notable policy gains at the city, county and state level by piggybacking on Democratic or Republican candidates.
The Working Families Party currently endorses Senator Barack Obama (D-Illinois) for the 2008 presidential election.
The party's Co-Chairs are Sam Williams, UAW Region 9 CAP director; Bertha Lewis, ACORN's executive director
The intensely activist union is known to contribute more than $100,000 a year of the party's $1.4 million annual budget."--according to Wikipedia.org
"...the party's large-scale canvassing effort may have been a decisive factor. Officials say its paid workers and volunteers knocked on 40,000 doors in the Brooklyn and Lower Manhattan district, identified 9,000 likely supporters of the candidate...
"They run a very, very effective field operation," a chief political strategist for the Senate Democrats, Douglas Forand, said. "In a low-turnout election, what's most critical is identifying and turning out the vote."...
...Working Families Party officials say their role in the elections gives them significantly more leverage to mold policy to the party's liking.
"We don't want just a change of parties. We want a change of policies," a spokesman for the party, Daniel Levitan, said. "We want to flip the Senate..."
Their endorsements have also gone to candidates who support raising taxes...
For the unions, the party offers them a place on the ballot, a sophisticated piece of political machinery to enforce their platform...
...The party also allows them to lobby the Legislature..."
--according to the New York Sun
"The Working Families Party was formed in 1998 ... The plan at the time was not to cut ties with the Democratic Party but to be a force to prevent the Democrats from continuing what the group’s leaders described as a drift to a more conservative agenda."--according to The New York Times
"...the Working Families Party may have illegally funneled nearly $32,000 to ACORN, the left-wing group accused of voter fraud in several parts of the country." --according to the New York Post
"...promoting ACORN-friendly candidates. Unlike conventional political parties, WFP charges its members dues -- about $60 per year -- a policy characteristic of ACORN and its affiliates.
According to the party's website, WFP is a coalition founded jointly by ACORN, the Communications Workers of America, and the United Automobile Workers. However, ACORN clearly dominates the coalition. New York ACORN leader Steven Kest was the moving force in forming the party, and WFP headquarters are located at the same address as ACORN's national office, at 88 Third Avenue in Brooklyn, New York.
"The [Working Families Party] was created in 1998 to help push the Democratic Party toward the left," noted the Associated Press in 2000. In pursuit of this goal, WFP runs radical candidates in state and local elections. Generally, WFP candidates conceal their extremism beneath a veneer of populist rhetoric, promoting bread-and-butter issues designed to appeal to union workers and other blue-collar voters, Republican and Democrat alike.
...Thus when Hillary Clinton ran for the Senate in 2000, she ran both on the Democratic Party ticket and on the Working Families Party ticket.
"Candidates know that when they're on our line, they're committed to certain things," explains Bertha Lewis, who moonlights as WFP co-chair and New York ACORN Executive Director. Speaking days before Mrs. Clinton won her Senate seat in 2000, Lewis noted, "Hillary knows that if she wins, we're going to be knockin' on her door. She won't be able to hide."--according to Discover The Networks.org
"The WFP's platform almost exclusively promotes kitchen-table economic positions, such as supporting higher wages, preventing outsourcing and expanding health care.
So, for example, Hillary Clinton in 2000 received 102,000 votes for U.S. Senate on the WFP line, meaning 102,000 people sent her a message that their support was contingent on her supporting the WFP's agenda. According to WFP Executive Director Dan Cantor, this message gets louder down the ballot. "We brand our endorsed candidates right on the ballot so that voters who might not know the candidate still know how to vote on the important issues," he says.
Voters then rated the party on a scale where 1 was extremely liberal and 9 extremely conservative. Fifty-seven percent of voters labeled the WFP at 5 or above."
So, if you were wondering if Obama is connected as a socialist in America, you need not wonder anymore. If you were wondering if your taxes are going to be raised if Obama becomes the next U.S. President, you need not wonder anymore. If you wonder if there is a hidden agenda behind Obama's populist rhetoric, you need not wonder anymore. He is not driving only his own agenda but that of the WFP as well. I have issue with this being okay with people in America!
Sources:
www.workingfamiliesparty.org
The New York Sun
Wikipedia.org
wfpjournal.blogspot.com (The Official Blog for the Working Families Party, New Party)
The New York Times
The New York Post
Working Families Party on MySpace
Discover The Networks.org
Working Families Party on Facebook
New Party.org
November 1996 Progressive Populist magazine
July/August 1996 edition of the Democratic Socialists of America
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