Vol. 73/No. 11      March 23, 2009

“Is there one city that has solved the capitalist crisis?” asked Harris. “The answer is no. That’s because the problem is the capitalist system itself. There are no Los Angeles solutions. That’s why our campaign presents a revolutionary program that defends the interests of the working class worldwide.”

Harris, who works as a meat packer and is a member of the United Food and Commercial Workers union, advocates a revolutionary struggle for measures to defend working people against the spreading capitalist crisis. Among these are organizing and strengthening unions and shortening the workweek with no reduction in pay in order to fight unemployment. Harris calls for a mass public works program to put millions to work at union scale to build the schools, hospitals, transportation systems, and other facilities workers need. In the course of this fight, Harris says, working people need to take political power out of the hands of the capitalist rulers.

The Political Science Student Organization sponsored the debate, which included Harris and seven of the other candidates for mayor. These were independent Walter Moore; Republican Party candidates Phil Jennerjahn and David Hernandez; Party of Socialism and Liberation candidate Carlos Alvarez; Craig Rubin, who calls for revoking laws against marijuana use; blogger David “Zuma Dogg” Saltsburg; and write-in candidate Stevan Torres.

The most hotly debated questions were the capitalist economic crisis, Israel’s recent attacks on Palestinians in Gaza, and immigration.

Responding to a question on the lack of affordable housing in Los Angeles, Jennerjahn said the solution is to “unleash the power of the free-market system. Capitalism doesn’t oppress you, it makes life possible.”

“Put people before profits,” Alvarez countered. “The richest banks and corporations in Los Angeles should pay their share. I’m demanding an immediate moratorium on foreclosures.”

“We are living through the unleashed force of the so-called free market system and the product is a capitalist crisis that is battering working people around the world,” said Harris. “I am campaigning for the working class to take political power out of the hands of the capitalist class and to reorganize society—putting our interests as a class first.”

As Alvarez answered a question from a student about Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa’s support of the Israeli government, three of Jennerjahn’s campaign supporters jumped to their feet. “I’m not going to stand for this!” one of them yelled. “When you attack Israel, you’re going against Judaeo-Christian values,” Jennerjahn added.

“I challenged Mayor Villaraigosa to a debate on this issue. We hand-delivered a letter to his office,” Harris said. “My campaign has participated in many of the demonstrations demanding that Israeli troops withdraw from Gaza. We campaign for a democratic, secular Palestine where Arabs, Jews, Christians, and non-believers can live as equals.”

Moore’s campaign targets immigrants as its central issue. Los Angeles is “turning into a Third World dump,” he states on his campaign Web site. “It’s time to fight back. It’s time to make L.A. a great place to live and do business, the way it used to be,” Moore says.

A sharp exchange took place between Moore and Harris when Moore explained that if elected he would repeal Special Order 40, which prevents the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) from investigating the immigration status of an individual or reporting it to federal immigration cops. He also suggested that he would hire Joe Arpaio, the immigrant-bashing sheriff of Maricopa County, Arizona, to head the LAPD.

“The first thing that I will do if elected is prosecute to the fullest extent of the law the cops who rioted against the May 1, 2007, peaceful protest in MacArthur Park for immigrant rights,” countered Harris. “My campaign supports legalization of all immigrants, without conditions, which is in the interests of all working people,” he continued to both applause and boos.

Socialist campaign supporter Luis Cueto, one of several workers who accompanied Harris to the debate, said that Moore supporters’ T-shirts caught his attention. “They said ‘no more Antonio,’ referring to Mayor Villaraigosa. But they mean no more Mexicans. I learned a lot from this experience.’’

In the final week of the campaign, the Los Angeles affiliates of ABC and NBC TV, as well as the Los Angeles Times, the campus radio station of California State University at Los Angeles, and KPFK radio covered the Socialist Workers campaign.  
 
 
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