A number of good examples point the way for keeping up the pace that has put the drive on target and has put nearly 60 copies of the campaign books in the hands of working people and students.

Campaigners for Jason Alessio, Socialist Workers candidate for U.S. Congress in the Third District in western Colorado, set up communist literature tables at public events in Colorado Springs and Boulder where Hanan Ashrawi, a well-known spokesperson for the Palestinian struggle, spoke. They joined with students and others defending Ashrawi’s right to speak in face of attempts by capitalist politicians and others to block her speaking engagements (see article on page 9). They sold seven Militant subscriptions; three copies of New International no. 7, with the lead article "Opening Guns Of World War III"; two copies of New International no. 10, which features "Imperialism’s March Toward Fascism and War"; and other books totaling $225 worth of Pathfinder literature.

"We would have sold more books but we ran out of most of our stock featuring the history of the Palestinian people," said Jack Parker. "One person said he already had New International nos. 7 and 10 and decided to buy To See the Dawn, Baku, 1920--First Congress of the Peoples of the East, and Israel: A Colonial-Settler State?"

Four students from Northern Colorado College in Greeley invited Alessio to meet with them on their campus.

On September 7, the socialist campaigners set up a table in front of the City Market grocery store in the town of Craig. For several hours, ranchers, coal miners, and others stopped by to talk to the candidate. Three walked away with Militant subscriptions and a rancher invited Alessio to his house to talk more about the devastating effects of the drought plaguing the United States and other parts of the world.

In Twin Cities, Minesota September 12, campaigners for socialist candidates Kari Sachs for governor, Samuel Farley for lieutenant governor, and Barry Fatland for U.S. Senate set up a literature table at a teach-in on Iraq at the University of Minnesota. "The table was swamped as soon as we set it up," said Sachs. Two people bought subscriptions and some $80 in Pathfinder books was sold.

In the afternoon they campaigned at a busy intersection on campus. One student took down notes of Pathfinder titles on the Jewish question and on the Palestinian struggle. He said he had been raised a Zionist but really wanted to read "the other side." He bought a copy of the pamphlet How Can the Jews Survive? by George Novack. Two women who met Sachs came to a Militant Labor Forum the following evening.

A camera crew from a local television station visited the campus to interview students on their opinions of Washington’s war preparations against Iraq. When they met the campaigners, the crew taped a discussion at the table and ran footage on the evening news.  
 
Street debates
On September 15 Sachs and Fatland went with supporters to the Mexican Independence Day celebration in Minneapolis where they sold seven Perspectiva Mundial subscriptions and several books. One person who came by the table loudly argued that Saddam Hussein did not defend "Christian values" and had to be eliminated by Washington. He said social problems in the United States were due to the weakening of Christian values.

A number of people gathered around the table to listen to the debate with the candidates. Fatland and Sachs explained that capitalism is the source of the devastation in Latin America and the increasing assaults on the social wage and working conditions in the United States--that these problems working people face come not from fellow workers and farmers but from the ruling rich and their system of exploitation. The candidates said Washington is organizing a war against Iraq, not for a "regime change" but to strengthen U.S. imperialism’s domination of the oil resources in the Mideast.

Several workers at the Elastic Corporation of America textile mill where Susan LaMont works in Columbiana, Alabama, have offered their support to her campaign for U.S. Senate and Brian Taylor’s campaign for governor. A co-worker bought a Militant subscription and a copy of Malcolm X Talks to Young People. Two days later he was already halfway through the book and said he wanted to discuss Malcolm X’s ideas further. Another worker, who purchased a copy of Perspectiva Mundial from socialist campaigners in front of the plant, picked up a subscription after reading the copy.  
 
Young socialists’ campus campaigning
Stephanie Taylor reported on the work of Young Socialists for Warshell, Henderson, and Dutrow at the University of Texas in Brownsville. On September 11, U.S. flags were passed out on campus and students were encouraged to wear red, white, and blue. A socialist campaign table--with a sign opposing the imperialist war moves--was wedged between tables for the Criminal Justice Club that was selling patriotic-themed baked goods and U.S. Army recruitment officers in full uniform. Unfazed by their neighbors, the young socialists energetically passed out campaign flyers and sold two copies of the Militant. Young socialist campaign tables are set up on campus each week. Beginning September 18, regular meetings will be held for students who are interested in studying revolutionary books and getting involved in other young socialist activities. Special sales target weeks are set for October 5-13 and on October 26-November 5. Campaigners are urged to map out careful plans for regional sales teams, all-day sales, and other special concentrated efforts to stay on schedule.  
 
 
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