The Iraq war is very unpopular -- yet it continues unabated. Every day the human toll increases with still more deaths, injuries and anguish in Iraq and the United States. Meanwhile the economic consequences here at home are staggering. Most political analysts say the war could be a huge albatross for Republicans going into the fall elections -- but it's unclear how much traction the war issue will actually have on the campaign trail. What are the key political dynamics of the war as an issue in this election year, and how can Democratic candidates be more effective in calling for an end to the war?
The California Democratic Party’s Progressive Caucus is proud to present:
Politics and Campaign Strategies in a War Economy
A conversation with:
Norman Solomon
(Author, War Made Easy, 6th AD Delegate)
Phyllis Bennis
(Fellow, Institute for Policy Studies)
Tim Paulson
(Executive Director, San Francisco Labor Council)
and
Fred Pecker
(Secretary-Treasurer, ILWU Local 6, Oakland)
Saturday, JUNE 14
6:30 – 8:30pm
at
The Westin San Francisco Airport
1 Old Bayshore Highway
Millbrae, CA 94030
We will begin the program with a short clip from the documentary War Made Easy, narrated by Sean Penn and based on the book by Norman Solomon.
The Premise:
- Express our strong support of the position promoted by the Out of Iraq Caucus in Congress on the issue of war funding and troop withdrawal.
- State emphatically and discuss why we disagree with the prevailing wisdom of taking the war off the table as a campaign strategy during the elections. .
- We want to be able to tell anyone running for office and any Democrat in a leadership position when it comes to policy that this issue is the one that will WIN the White House – it is not something we should be running away from or downplaying to other issues. A few months ago, Arianna Huffington wrote an article titled “If the Democrats Remain Silent on Iraq Now, They Will Pay a Stiff Price in November.” Other articles to come out recently say the same thing - lately, it has been noted that the GOP has suffered an attrition of their own base because of their position on the issue:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/tom-hayden/its-about-war-and-peace-n_b_102789.html
- The occupation has affected all aspects of our economy, and that will not be difficult to talk about. However, by bringing it back to a discussion about the occupation itself, we will be able to demonstrate that it is impossible to separate foreign policy from domestic issues. Perhaps, by beginning and ending that part of the conversation with an emphasis on that connection, our case will resonate more strongly with our audience.
