ON NOVEMBER 8, 1988, millions of Americans must have sighed with relief as one of the most loathsome presidential election campaigns in US history finally came to an end.
The fact that Republican Vice President George Bush beat Democratic Governor Michael Dukakis was almost anti-climatic. Bush was leading in the polls right up to election day. And Dukakis, despite a last-minute campaigning surge, seemed to go out of his way to lose the election. JOSEPH RYAN
OTH CAPITALIST candidates repeople, relying instead on what has become known as "negative campaigning," that is, slick TV ads where slanderous charges are hurled back and forth and candidates are canned like a dog-food commercial. It became obvious to many people that no matter which candidate won, the working class would be the big losers.
The majority of eligible voters expressed their disgust by staying away from the polls in record numbers. Despite the best efforts of the TV and news media to play up the
AFTER TWO SESSIONS, the district court in Jerusalem decided to postpone the remainder of the trial of the Alternative Information Centre (AIC) and its director, Michel Warschawsky, to February (see IV 147). The judges did not conceal their wonder at the meagre evidence of the first three prosecution witnesses, all police. The witnesses were meant to testify about the search which took place in the Centre offices and about the written material taken. It has become clear that, due to their eagerness to present public opinion "tens of boxes filled with illegal material", the police didn't make a point of acting in accordance with accepted procedure, and all signs Indicate that most of the mate rial submitted by the prosecution has no valldity as evidence in court.
It seems that the prosecution will have to give up one of its three accusations — holding material which belongs to prohibited organizations. However, from here to the dismissal of all the legal procedures against the AIC is still a long way, and the security forces (Shin Bet) will not easily give up their attempt to at-
8
importance of the elections, 51% declined to vote. Ninety million American voters believed it made no difference who won the
In short, George Bush was elected by receiving only 27% of the votes from eligible voters — hardly a glowing mandate! In fact, it was the lowest voter turnout since 1924. But even before election day, many potential voters were already holding their noses. In an October 1988 New York Times poll, over 58% said they would prefer to vote for someone else - indeed, anyone else.
Millions of working people, the unemployed, and the poor saw no political alte:natives in this election. Significantly, Jesse Jackson was unable to stampede Black voters, who were crucial to a Dukakis victory,
December 12, 1988 • #153 International Viewpoint to the polls. The lowest voter turnout in the country was in Washington, DC, an overwhelmingly Black city.
Following Bush's election victory, many of the post-mortems and analyses in the liberal and leftwing press were filled with a certain despair. After all, many of them said, Bush's victory will mean four more years of Ronald Reagan's policies.
Publications like the left-wing magazine the Progressive found the elections "particularly disturbing. " In its December 1988 issue, the editorial board of the Progressive noted disappointedly: "The hapless campaign of Michael Dukakis provided no inspiration and leaves no solace. He failed to up-
12.0. hold the faded banner of liberalism, let alone to articulate a vision of a better America freed from the shackles of the Cold War and runaway capitalism
In its November 1988 pre-election editorial, the Progressive correctly pointed out that Dukakis offered "only the palest of alternatives — and on many crucial issues, no alternative at all." This correct but platonic assessment by the Progressive reflects the frustration of trying to build a "left wing" inside the Democratic Party.
All those who rallied around Jesse Jackson's bid to win the Democratic Party presidential nomination now have a bitter taste in their mouths. The trek from the illusions in Jackson to the reality of Dukakis must have been a painful one.
When George Bush attacked Dukakis for being "soft on defense," the Democratic Party candidate responded by being photographed while driving a new MX tank. When Bush said Dukakis was "soft on terrorism," Dukakis announced that he would support pre-emptive military strikes against "terrorist" bases. When Bush accused Dukakis of being "too liberal," Dukakis retorted, "No! I'm a moderate."
And then, only two weeks before election day, Dukakis emerged from his cocoon and became a "flaming liberal," albeit a dollar short and a day late. All of a sudden, when it was too late to matter, he started to talk about his concern for working people and the oppressed.
After all, the capitalist political party shell game had to be preserved for the 1992
Many capitalist political analysts are saying that Bush's election victory is a further confirmation of the "rightward drift" of the American people. Nothing could be further from the truth.
Polls indicate that the majority of Americans are for a cut in the so-called defense budget and an increase in funds devoted to improving social services. The majority are against US aid to the contras. The majority state they support a woman's right to abortion. They want solutions to the plight of the poor and the homeless.
But none of these burning issues were addressed by either capitalist candidate, and consciously so.
Furthermore, the looming crisis of the US economy was avoided like the plague by both candidates. Despite the victory of the Republican candidate, the stock market plunged 110 points between November 3 and 20. In doom-and-gloom language that socialists are usually accused of using, many prominent US economic analysts are wringing their hands about the future.
A refreshingly frank, but brutally apocalyptic, article published in the November 20, 1988, San Francisco Examiner begins with the conclusions of many capitalist analysts: "After six years of economic expansion built on enormous public and private debt, the faceless fear of a great American financial collapse is beginning to take on some ugly features." Economic time bombs are ticking away
Roger Robinson, former senior director for international economics in Reagan's National Security Council, believes "1989 could be the year" for an economic recession. President-elect Bush credited his Pyrrhic electoral victory to the eight years of "peace and prosperity" of the Reagan administration. Now it is revealed that the economy contains so many ticking time bombs that economic analysts fear a chain reaction of explosions.
The crisis faced by the US capitalist class and its new chief executive is many-sided. The bankrupt savings-and-loan system is collapsing, requiring a bail-out of close to $15 billion per year. Heavily indebted Latin American countries may soon be forced to cancel billions in interest payments they owe to US banks. Foreign capitalists like the Japanese and Germans might reduce their willingness to finance the US debt.
As the dollar falls on the world market, thus making US goods cheaper, the pressure to increase interest rates accelerates to attract more foreign investment. This in turn will lead to a repetition of the neverbefore-seen "stagflation" of the early 1970s — a "slowed down" economy combined with rising inflation.
And, of course, always lurking in the background is the $152 billion federal budget deficit — a budget that by edict of the Gramm-Rudman Law is supposed to be, balanced by 1993.
The US government is not the only institution that's out of money. Corporations have laden themselves with huge debts while pursuing frenzied buy-outs of other corporations. After losing over $1.2 trillion in the Oct. 19, 1987, stock market crash, any precipitous move by the government - like higher interest rates — could spell doom.
The so-called "peace and prosperity" that Bush bragged about is nothing more than a house of cards built on a foundation of sand. What economists fear the most is that one ill wind could topple the whole
During the election campaign, neither Bush nor Dukakis would address this question. That's because no matter who won the election the same program would be implemented. For example, the Farmers Home Administration delayed sending foreclosure notices to 85,000 family farmers until after the election. The money to balance the budget and pay the debts has to come from the hides of working people. The rulingclass program calls for increasing taxes on consumer items like tobacco and gasoline and reducing entitlement programs like so-
In this sense, a large proportion of working people knew instinctively that the 1988 presidential election was nothing more that the changing of the guard on the executive committee of the capitalist class. But the best laid plans of mice and men.... * Socialist Action.]
----- pull-quotes on this page -----
RECESSION USA DEFICITS FINISH LINE 92