BY JIM POLLOCK
The following article appeared on the front page of the
October 1 issue of the Des Moines Register under the headline
"Alter committed to his beliefs - Socialist Workers Party
candidate is a revolutionary."
REGISTER STAFF WRITER
Thomas Alter, the Socialist Workers Party candidate for mayor of Des Moines, is only 23 years old, which suggests that he does not have a lot of political experience. But he has not exactly been sitting around the dormitory either.
In recent years, he visited Cuba three times; campaigned door-to-door in Houston for Michael Dukakis; stood up for fellow students against the administration of a big high school; got arrested at an anarchist demonstration at Indiana University; and helped organize a Young Socialists chapter in Iceland, of all places.
So, while he may be tilting at windmills with his campaign for mayor of Des Moines - previous Socialist Workers Party candidates have drawn just a handful of votes - he comes across as very serious about politics.
In the hallowed socialist tradition, he's working for a revolution.
"People used to think we were always going to have kings; they used to think we were always going to have slaves," he said. "I can see a time when everything is not based on the almighty dollar."
Alter grew up in Fort Wayne, Ind., a city not too different from Des Moines. His father, also named Thomas, was a lawyer and an active member of the Democratic Party.
The family moved to Houston when the younger Tom was 12 and his father taught there. When Tom was 17, the Alters returned to Fort Wayne.
Now his dad is the superintendent at Catholic Cemetery in Fort Wayne, and his mother, Maryanne, teaches second grade at a Catholic school. He has a younger brother and two younger sisters.
His great-great-great grandfather served on the Fort Wayne City Council, as did his grandfather. His dad worked for Robert Kennedy's presidential campaign while attending the University of Notre Dame. So, "He's following in the family tradition," said his father.
"Basically, I think the Democrats and Republicans are the same, so I started looking around," Alter said.
"I was attracted to anarchy a little bit, but I didn't see that as realistic. I was attracted to the labor movement during the Caterpillar strike in 1994, and at the same time I was learning about Cuba."
In Houston, according to his father, Alter wrote an article critical of the administration of his high school over the suspension of some students. This was a school with an enrollment of more than 4,000; another high school of similar size sat nearby.
"There were 8,500 students in one block, ready to walk out, and Tommy was leading the charge," his father said. "The school backed down. I thought that was pretty good."
At Indiana University, Alter claimed to be the only member of the Young Socialists for a while. He said he was arrested during a demonstration there while trying to protect a friend from police during a scuffle.
Alter graduated from Indiana last year with a bachelor of arts degree in history.
"He really had a very sincere interest in the problems we discussed," said one of his history professors, Phyllis Martin, who taught him in a seminar, "Imperialism and Decolonization in the 20th Century."
"He's committed to working out his beliefs in society, not just in an ivory tower," she said. "He wasn't there to get a grade and move on to a job."
She wasn't surprised to hear her former history student is employed in a meatpacking plant.
Alter works at the IBP plant in Perry, making $7.45 an hour, and belongs to the United Food and Commercial Workers Union, Local 1149. In other words, he's living the life of the workers that his political party wants to help.
"I wanted to be a history professor, originally. I started a novel; I did some painting. But I couldn't be at peace with myself. You have to take the times you're born into and be a part of it," Alter said.
He's trying to win votes in Des Moines while talking about defending the Cuban revolution and canceling the Third World debt, rather than focusing on local issues. "There are a few voters who are starting to get it," he said. In his party, "We don't see ourselves divided along borders."
It already has been an interesting year for Alter. He married Maryanne Russo, 22, in July. She's from Boston and they met in, naturally, Cuba. Earlier this year, they got away with nothing worse than bruises when their car rolled as they came off the freeway.
Now he has at least a few more days of campaigning as one of three mayoral candidates. After the Oct. 7 primary, just two will remain.
Alter has lived in Des Moines only since January, after stops in Chicago and Minneapolis. He won't get specific about his future. "I plan on being active in politics in Des Moines for a while," he said.
He is a meatpacker and a mayoral candidate, but he said, "My real job is as a professional revolutionary."