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Vol. 72/No. 30      July 28, 2008

 
SWP vice presidential candidate
participates in NOW convention
 
BY SETH DELLINGER  
BETHESDA, Maryland—Alyson Kennedy, Socialist Workers Party candidate for U.S. vice president, campaigned at the annual convention of the National Organization for Women (NOW), held here July 18-20. Nearly 400 people attended the gathering.

Speaking in a workshop titled “Feminists Unite For Immigrant Women’s Rights,” she urged participants to reject the portrayal of immigrant workers as a “suffering victim class.” Kennedy described a recent protest of an immigration raid in Postville, Iowa. Women facing deportation led the march there wearing electronic tracking ankle bracelets cops forced them to put on, proudly displaying the shackles as badges of honor. “That’s what we have to look at, because that’s what’s going to begin to change the accelerating attacks on all working people,” she said.

Kennedy called for immediate legalization of all undocumented workers. Her remarks were later broadcast on C-SPAN television.

NOW had originally supported Sen. Hillary Clinton for the Democratic presidential nomination. In a workshop on the elections, prominent women’s rights figures urged attendees to support Barack Obama. Eleanor Smeal, president of the Feminist Majority Foundation, said she was disappointed by many of Obama’s positions, but he deserved support because what “happens at the top of the ticket affects all of the ticket.” NOW president Kim Gandy and Jatrice Martel Gaiter, president of Planned Parenthood, also spoke in favor of a vote for Obama. Some NOW members said they would vote for McCain rather than support Obama.

Speaking in another workshop, Kennedy said neither Obama nor Clinton will advance the struggle for women’s rights. She pointed out that it was under the Clinton administration that the most devastating recent assault on women’s rights—the end of “welfare as we know it”—was carried out.

“Obama has been steadily moving to the right,” Kennedy told participants, pointing to his recent vote in support of legislation that will expand government spying powers. “His Middle East trip is designed to prove to the U.S. ruling class that he can be a reliable commander in chief. My campaign calls for the immediate and unconditional withdrawal of all U.S. troops from both Afghanistan and Iraq.”

Janet Post contributed to this article.
 
 
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