BY NORTON SANDLER
Dear Mr. Tisdale,
We are writing in response to the slanderous and highly misleading article “Vulnerable voters deceived by socialist workers candidate,” by Barbara Harris, that appeared on page 1 of the August 5-11 Advocate.
Instead of contacting unnamed sources and the FBI, Ms. Harris could have easily found answers to her questions about Róger Calero and Arrin Hawkins, the Socialist Workers 2004 presidential ticket, by reading the candidates’ biographies which were sent by fax to the Jackson Advocate and e-mailed to Ms. Harris, or by contacting their national campaign office located in Miami.
As the biographies explain, “Róger Calero, 35, is an associate editor of the Spanish-language magazine Perspectiva Mundial and a staff writer for the Militant.” “Arrin Hawkins, 28, is a garment worker in New York. She was the Socialist Workers Party candidate for Lt. Governor of New York in 2002.”
In addition to being sent to the Jackson Advocate, thousands of copies of the biographies, along with clear statements on what the socialist candidates stand and fight for, were distributed to Mississippians by campaign volunteers who petitioned in Jackson as well as in Meridian, Natchez, Pascagoula, and Tchula. Far from deceiving anyone, the 2004 Socialist Workers Campaign wants everyone to know what our campaign represents.
As Ms. Harris herself explains, we “support raising the minimum wage to union scale, a very popular issue with the working class and those entering the workforce.” Is this something we should try to hide? Especially when no other candidates are raising this demand?
Other demands that we stand and fight for include:
We take issue with Ms. Harris’ expressed opinion that there is something wrong with demands that speak to the interests of the working class. Our campaign’s message is “It’s not who you’re against, it’s what you are for! Vote Socialist Workers in 2004.” Our candidates got an excellent response in Mississippi not by deceiving anyone, but by explaining what we stand for.
There is a name for the type of article Ms. Harris’ wrote: red-baiting. This type of smear is used against civil rights advocates, democrats, dissidents, and freethinkers of all varieties, as well as socialists and communists. By making all kinds of insinuations and hints at devious methods on the part of the Socialist Workers Party, she hopes to keep readers from objectively considering the ideas and proposals the socialists are raising.
In compliance with Mississippi law, the 2004 Socialist Workers Campaign filed over 2,100 signatures with the Secretary of State. Our candidates also appeared on the ballot in Mississippi in the 2000 election by collecting 2,400 signatures.
The Socialist Workers Party has run candidates in every presidential election since 1948. Due to undemocratic election laws in virtually every state, which make it difficult and in some cases impossible for small working-class parties to gain ballot status, the Socialist Workers Party petitions to get on the ballot.
The Socialist Workers Party opposes laws that prevent working people from putting forward the candidates that they choose. We oppose laws that take away the voting rights of working people who have served time in this country’s enormous prison system. We oppose all laws making it difficult for citizen-soldiers to vote and engage in political activity protected under the constitution. Our response to these undemocratic attacks on our rights is to turn the onerous requirements forced upon us into an opportunity to hit the streets with our campaign program and talk with thousands of working people around the country. This year, we are campaigning to be on the ballot in 14 states and Washington, D.C. This is not a “claim,” as Ms. Harris asserts. It is a fact. From New York to Wisconsin to Mississippi, our campaign has gotten a serious response from working people and youth.
Because Róger Calero and Arrin Hawkins—whose ages are printed on the first lines of the campaign literature—are under the constitutional age requirement, there are stand-in candidates who are over 35 years old who will be on the ballot in states where that is required, including Mississippi. The stand-in candidates are James Harris and Margaret Trowe. Mr. Harris was the party’s presidential candidate in 1996 and 2000. Ms. Trowe was the SWP vice-presidential candidate in 2000. Harris and Trowe appeared on the Mississippi ballot during the last presidential election and their names were clearly printed on the petitions that more than 2,000 Mississippians signed this year.
For many workers, farmers, and young people, Calero and Hawkins, who are young fighters for workers’ rights, are attractive candidates. If the majority of people in the United States elected Calero and Hawkins, the fact that they are too young would be a minor problem to solve. Election laws like all other laws can be changed, including the laws in the U.S. constitution.
Ms. Harris attempts to use the fact that Róger Calero is an immigrant to criminalize him. She states that the “Immigration and Naturalization Service failed in their attempt to deport Calero after his felony conviction.” But this is not accurate.
Calero and all those who supported him scored an outstanding victory, not only for immigrants but for all working people, when the U.S. government moved to end its deportation proceedings against him last year. We have proudly used his victory as a weapon so that others can press for their rights, in this country and around the world. The federal government dropped its case against him because of the widespread support he won for his fight, from unionists, immigrant rights activists, and others. He fought back, proudly and publicly. He refused to be intimidated and that is why the government backed down. In the words of the INS, the “circumstances of the case had changed.” Indeed.
Sincerely,
Norton Sandler
SWP National Campaign Director
The article below was published in the August 5-11, 2004, issue of the weekly newspaper Jackson Advocate under the headline “Vulnerable Voters Deceived by Socialist Workers Candidate.” It is reprinted by permission.
BY BARBARA HARRIS
Workers, black farmers and young adults, beware of wolves in sheep’s clothing!
Monday, the Socialist Workers Party filed the required amount of signatures with the Mississippi Secretary of State’s Office to qualify their candidates to be on the November ballot for President of the United States.
However, the Advocate’s research has found that neither the presidential candidate Roger Calero nor his vice presidential running mate Arrin Hawkins meet the qualifications to run for the respective offices.
The Socialist Workers Party collected more than 2,100 signatures across the state to meet the 1,000 signature guideline to appear on the ballot, Initially, more than 200 signatures in Hinds County, collected primarily from local college students, were rejected.
However, the Hinds County Election Commission reversed its decision last week and the signatures were allowed.
Calero, whose biography suggests he is only 33-34 years old, was born in Nicaragua and automatically does not meet the U.S. native requirement. In addition, Calero has a 1988 felony conviction for sale of marijuana, another disqualification.
Though she was not willing to make a specific statement, a spokesperson of the Jackson FBI office said Wednesday that this writer’s research is most likely correct.
She referred the Advocate to a Houston radio station whose news department reported the U.S. Immigration and Naturalization service failed in its attempt to deport Calero after his felony conviction.
A news director at KPFT in Houston told the Advocate she remembers the story but did not know many specifics because though she lives in the city, she was not employed at the station at the time.
According to the Advocate’s research, Calero is not even a naturalized citizen. He is a green card-carrying permanent alien, journalist for The Militant and former meat packer.
On the other hand, Arrin Hawkins, an African American woman, is also apparently constitutionally ineligible to run for the nation’s second highest office. Hawkins claims she is 24 years old -- far too young to meet the minimum legal age requirement for the office.
The best research—relying on acquaintances’ recollections—put Hawkins’ age at “somewhere between 28 and 30,” still to[o] young to run for vice president.
A presidential or vice presidential candidate is required to be at least 35 years old; be born in the United States or one of its territories or possessions; and live in the U.S. or one of its territories or possessions at least 14 years.
The Mississippi Secretary of State’s Office confirmed that they had received the petitions and filing papers, but no decision has yet been made.
“The election board meets in September and we will submit all the information we’ve gathered to them. The decision will be made from that,” SOS spokesperson David Blount said. “Thank you for bringing this information to our attention.”
The Socialist Workers Party issued a press release claiming to be on the ballot in 15 states, including Iowa, Utah, Vermont, Colorado, New Jersey and Washington state.
The party’s platform claims to support raising the minimum wage to union scale, a very popular issue with the working class and those entering the workforce.
Therefore, college students, including those at Jackson State University, and black farmers across the state are vulnerable voters.
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Hundreds in Delaware register socialist to put SWP on ballot
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