The Militant (logo)  

Vol. 72/No. 32      August 18, 2008

 
(front page)
Iowa socialist ballot drive
goes over top in one week
 
Militant/Ryan Scott
Frank Forrestal, Socialist Workers candidate for Congress in Iowa’s 3rd District, left, collects signatures in Des Moines, Iowa, August 5 to get himself and SWP candidate for president Róger Calero on the ballot in Iowa.

BY RYAN SCOTT  
DES MOINES, Iowa—Amidst a weekend of blistering heat August 2-3 supporters of the Socialist Workers Party campaign gathered 2,150 signatures to get Róger Calero, SWP candidate for U.S. president, and Alyson Kennedy, who is running for vice president, on the Iowa ballot.

“By collecting 2,150 signatures we surpassed the official requirement of 1,500,” said Joe Swanson, a veteran of socialist petitioning efforts in Iowa. “We thought it would take two weekends, but it took only one. It was the best response I have seen.”

Petitioners gathered 580 signatures, almost double the amount needed, to place Frank Forrestal on the ballot for U.S. Congress in Iowa’s 3rd District. The signatures for all three candidates will be filed next week.

Many workers signed as soon as they heard about the campaign’s perspective of organizing unions and using them to defend workers from the employers’ speedup, wage cuts, and attacks on health insurance. “We try to resist on the job for safety, or for more money, but until we get organized, we’ll stay divided,” said Abraham Cortez, a slaughterhouse worker in Des Moines.

Upon hearing demands in defense of workers and small farmers, a young man at a Des Moines shopping mall said, “I’ll sign, my dad’s a farmer. Rents are going up. It’s getting harder. I’ll support anyone who supports small farmers.”

In addition to petitioning in Des Moines, teams campaigned in Ames, Iowa City, Postville, and Waterloo.

On Saturday about 30 people attended an evening barbeque and forum to hear Calero speak.

As part of his campaign stops in the Upper Midwest, Calero and four supporters campaigned among first-shift workers leaving the Hormel meatpacking plant in Austin, Minnesota July 30. More than 100 workers took copies of the campaign brochure outlining the working-class alternative in the upcoming elections and 60 workers bought copies of the Militant.

Several workers talked with Calero about the speedup they face at Hormel and many thanked him for raising the need for legalization of undocumented workers and the other issues he is putting forward.

Natalie Morrison contributed to this article.
 

*****

BY TED LEONARD  
BURLINGTON, Vermont—“Socialist! Great! I have never voted for a Democrat or a Republican,” a letter carrier said when a supporter of the Socialist Workers campaign asked him to sign a petition to put Róger Calero and Alyson Kennedy on the ballot in Vermont. He asked for a campaign brochure to put on the bulletin board where he worked.

Kennedy, who campaigned here August 2-3, said many workers nodded in agreement when she explained that working people are the ones who feel the brunt of the unfolding capitalist economic crisis . A masonry worker told her, “I make good wages but I don’t have any health benefits.”

In two days supporters of the Socialist Workers ticket collected more than 1,200 signatures here and in Montpelier, Vermont, to place the candidates on the ballot. The law requires 1,000 signatures. Supporters will wrap up the effort next weekend.  
 
 
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