Vol. 72/No. 11      March 17, 2008

“The campaign and the Militant make the actions against the raids and deportations visible,” he said. Kennedy also spoke with professors at Drake University, met with farmers, campaigned among meat packers, and granted an interview to the Des Moines Register as part of her February 28-March 1 tour in Iowa.

At the ISU meeting Daniel Sardinas, 22, asked Kennedy her opinion on Venezuela, where he is from. She said she would use the world influence of the office of vice president to support popular struggles there for land, education, health care, and improved living conditions. She said that a socialist administration in the White House would end all threats against Venezuela and stop collaborating with the ruling class there in its efforts to roll back gains workers and peasants have won.

“If elected one of the first things we would carry out would be to cancel the Third World debt,” she told a campaign event in Des Moines. “This is something you don’t hear at all from Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama, John McCain. You never hear them talk about conditions and interests of toilers in the world.”

“I tell other farmers that the socialists are for creating jobs and keeping farmers on the land and they support rights for immigrants,” said retired farmer Larry Ginter at a meeting for Kennedy at his farm. George Naylor, a leader of the National Family Farm Coalition, also attended. “The capitalist class has not proved it cares for working people, all you have to do to see that is that troops are still in Iraq, recession and loss of jobs, and their response to Hurricane Katrina,” said Ginter.

Kennedy also campaigned outside the Tyson meatpacking plant in Perry, Iowa. More than 15 workers were introduced to her and talked about the difficult working conditions and racism they experience in the plant. The majority of the workers are immigrants from Mexico and Africa.

Joe Swanson contributed to this article.
 
 
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