The economic crisis along with the reaction to it by the Obama administration and the Congressional Democrats are preparing the ground for some vigorous independent campaigns in the midterms and then in 2012…if the challenge is met. Buckeye Socialist Dan La Botz is meeting the challenge and has a new website up for the November Ohio Senate election. Dan, being a serious guy, has gotten an early start. The site has event announcements and a slew of ‘issues’ statements up; further updates are promised. Dan is running as an proud and open socialist – a real one, not the confused epithet of the right- attempting to reclaim the term. In my opinion, part of the reason “socialist” can be currently used as a term of obfuscation is that the socialist left haven’t embraced, and helped define, “socialism” enough. Here’s to Dan for naming the alternative and placing workers’ issues at the center of his campaign. We’ll be keeping an eye on this campaign and hopefully we here in Michigan can lend a hand, Ohio is just down 75.
Here’s Dan speaking on “Who Owns Cincinnati?” breaking down the power structure of The Queen City. Dan is a skillful activist and educator; bringing this kind of perspective to the Ohio Senate race is going to be a real strength. Ohio has felt the recession as hard as any place, like the rest of the Rust Belt it never recovered from the last recession(s). My guess is that the candidates running from The Two Parties to replace the retiring bore Voinovich will avoid debating Dan like the plague. They would lose and the last thing the Duopoly wants in times like these is for any alternative to be posed. It will take a strong voice to get heard.
Rustbelt Radical 