Working People, the Antiwar Movement & the 2024 Presidential Election
Vote for Jill Stein & Against the Warmongering Representatives of the Billionaire Class
By Dustin Spence
A majority of Americans want a ceasefire in Gaza and in a recent poll, 53% now want to end military aid for Israel. Yet both Kamala Harris and Donald Trump have made it crystal clear they intend to continue backing the genocide to the hilt. According to the Lancet, a horrifying 186,000 Palestinians are estimated dead as a result of the Netanyahu regime’s genocidal bloodletting. And now, Israel has launched a campaign of state terrorism in Lebanon.
From the war on Gaza to the deep cost of living crisis facing working people, the stakes of this election could not be higher. Contrary to the mainstream media outlets portraying the choice in this election as between a “Marxist” and a “fascist,” both Harris and Trump are warmongering representatives of the billionaire class.
Beyond their unconditional support for genocide in Gaza and seemingly for an even wider war in the Middle East, the Democratic and Republican Parties also have shocking commonality in their anti-worker agenda.
There has not been an election in recent memory that has shown so clearly that the two parties of capitalism do not represent the interests of working and oppressed people. Harris, as the supposedly “progressive” candidate, does not support widely popular positions like Medicare for All, tuition-free college, or a federal $15/hour minimum wage. Both Harris and Trump support the continuation of fracking, and have competed to prove which administration, Biden-Harris or Trump, extracted the most planet-killing fossil fuels. Both Harris and Trump support an ever increasing array of “border protections,” scapegoating working-class and poor immigrants who, just like native-born workers, are victims of U.S. “free trade” policies and the so-called “war on drugs” — both of which have been perpetrated by Democratic and Republican administrations.
Nowhere to be seen are the policies that the Democratic Party was forced to pay lip service to in 2016 and 2020 due to the impact of Bernie Sanders’ Left populist campaigns.
In the absence of any such pressures, with the leadership of labor unions mostly cheerleading Harris, the Democrats have swung further to the Right, adopting many of the positions of the former Trump administration, a point that Trump himself pointed out on the debate stage. With Harris more openly running as a representative of the billionaires, who are enthusiastically funding her campaign, working people who ousted Trump from office in 2020 cannot now support those same policies in Harris.
We must reject both warmongering candidates of the billionaire class and support Jill Stein — the strongest Left independent antiwar candidate in the race.
The Kamala Harris Coronation and Honeymoon
It was commented on early in the 2024 election cycle that Donald Trump was likely to have one of the shortest primaries in recent memory. This was borne out, the Republican Primary lasted only 58 days. But this was immediately put to shame by the Democratic Party, with what was the most undemocratic primary in modern history. After the initial proclamation of President Biden as nominee, a process in which there were no debates and in which he was kept out of the public eye as much as possible, the undemocratic, lightning speed pivot to Kamala Harris was unprecedented.
The 16 days between Joe Biden dropping out of the race and Kamala Harris being installed as the Democratic Party nominee made the Republican Party’s anointing of Trump seem like a lifetime. Not a single primary or caucus vote was cast for Harris. Her coronation has been marked by a stunning $600 million raised in six weeks’ time, raising in August alone triple the total amount raised by Donald Trump at the time. Harris also has the clear backing of large sections of the ruling class, including the corporate elite from Goldman Sachs, Blackrock, and Starbucks. CEOs of big corporations are said to be euphoric about her candidacy. Notably, she has also triumphantly celebrated the endorsement of former Vice President Dick Cheney, the mastermind of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, as well as other prominent Republicans.
With this level of approval from the ruling class, there can be no question whom Harris is poised to represent.
However, it is also true that the switch from Biden to Harris has drawn considerable excitement from the Democratic Party base and others who were both angry at Biden and concerned that he wasn’t capable of defeating Trump. Harris and her campaign have tried to maximize that enthusiasm by running her campaign short on specifics and long on a message of “joy,” “hope,” and “change” all but copied-and-pasted from Barack Obama’s 2008 campaign, along with matching posters by the same artist who helped popularize Obama’s message.
But in recent weeks, that enthusiasm has begun to stagnate somewhat as the initial surge of support is meeting some limits. Harris and Trump are running neck in neck, within the margin of error in national polling. This is despite Harris’ much stronger performance in the September presidential debate, which reinforced her base’s enthusiasm but did little to impact the polls.
In recent weeks Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who had been polling steadily at 5%, dropped out of the race and gave his endorsement to Trump. This endorsement has also not shifted polling significantly. While these numbers show an electorate that seems to be solidly split between the two major candidates, it must be recognized that the recent reconfiguration of the Electoral College following the 2020 census has tilted the map in Trump’s favor. Given this reality, it is all the more significant that the race, which Trump was running away with, has shifted since Harris’ entry. Seven states are up for grabs as significant swing states.
Harris, Trump, Genocide, and A Wider Middle East War
Michigan is of a particular political significance among the swing states, as the state with the highest per capita Muslim American population in the U.S.
During the DNC, the Abandon Biden coalition officially announced that it was rebranding itself as Abandon Harris and actively working to deny Harris a win in Michigan. The significance of this move is backed up by polling numbers which show that Jill Stein currently has more support than Harris in Muslim communities in the “battleground” states of Michigan, Wisconsin, and Arizona. Stein holds a particularly large September lead amongst Muslim Americans in Michigan, where she has 40% compared to 12% for Harris. As always in U.S. presidential elections, the independent Left vote is likely to shrink due to the pressures of lesser evilism and attacks from the Democratic Party, but these polls showing majorities for Stein in a key constituency are nonetheless remarkable, particularly at this late stage.
Across the country, in “battleground” states and beyond, many are choosing to support Stein’s campaign due to anger at the Biden-Harris administration over the war, the cost of living crisis, and the Democratic Party’s broken promises. Running on the strength of an unswerving opposition to the war on Gaza as well as an end to military aid to the genocidal Netanyahu regime, Stein also supports a $25/hour minimum wage, free college education, Medicare for All, a people’s Green New Deal, and more! The relative strength of the campaign compared to other Left candidates, along with the clear challenge it poses to Harris winning in the “battleground” states crucial for winning the election, is the reason that Stein now finds herself under attack at every turn by Democratic officials and their surrogates. AOC’s recent instagram video claiming Stein’s campaign is “unserious” and “predatory,” and attacks from Democratic surrogate Angela Rye on the Breakfast Club interview reveal the anxiety the ruling class feels about Stein’s campaign. It is worth noting that neither independent Cornel West nor PSL’s Claudia de la Cruz are the targets of such ire. This is because only Stein represents a material obstacle to a Harris victory. There is no possibility that Stein could win the presidency. But it is nonetheless a historic development that Stein’s campaign has the potential momentum necessary to build the antiwar and working class movements beyond the November elections.
More and more Americans see the need for a third party - a trend that reached a highpoint of 63% in a Gallup poll last year. A rejection of the Democratic Party and lesser evilism by a significant section of their base has driven the Democratic Party to viciously and increasingly attack Jill Stein, hoping to drive down her vote.
In this election, the Democrats have also significantly escalated their usual anti-democratic, legalistic attacks on her ballot access. Despite this, Stein is set to be on the ballot in 39 states, a write-in option in another 8 states, and a choice for 95% of voters overall.
World events are shaping this election cycle in ways not felt in a generation. This is the first time since the Vietnam War that a significant antiwar movement has developed under a Democratic administration. Despite the fact that economic concerns remain at the forefront of most voters’ minds, the genocidal war on Gaza has the potential to impact this election more decisively than any other issue. With the end of the summer, students returning to college campuses are exploring the next steps for the student antiwar movement. The courageous encampment protests of the previous school year are now being met with shockingly restrictive draconian anti free speech measures, reminiscent of the crackdown on the Vietnam anti war movement.
Yet even as public opinion has swung dramatically against the war, Biden, Harris and the Democrats have been unequivocal in their support for the Netanyahu regime. Congress and the Biden administration approved an additional $20 billion in military aid just last month. This aid continues to be sent despite the genocidal atrocities carried out by the Israeli Defense Force (IDF) that now include the murder of American socialist and activist Ayşenur Ezgi Eygi in the West Bank by the IDF.
In recent days, Israel’s massive escalation in Lebanon, on a scale not seen since 2006, and which has already killed over 700 and wounded thousands, brings the risk of a wider regional war to the highest level in many years. Once again, the Biden-Harris administration is fully complicit and continues to funnel arms to the Israeli state.
The Economy is The Top Issue for Most Voters
Views on the economy will also likely weigh heavily in the outcome of the election, and are behind much of the anger at the Biden-Harris administration. Inflation and the cost of living crisis continue to have a lasting impact in the lives of working-class Americans. Inflation is the top issue for most voters in opinion polls. Even as the Democratic Party insists that the economy is as good as it's ever been, receipts at grocery stores and the gas pump tell a very different story.
There is growing talk of a slowdown in the economy and recession, and this danger is reflected in steady growth in unemployment and a recent big interest rate cut by the Federal Reserve. This rate cut will do little to impact the crunch people feel now. Federal jobs reports have had a downward trend for the last several months, even leading some analysts to fear that the U.S. may already be tipping into a recession.
Economic fears and the hammering of working-class living standards as a result of inflation are a key force driving millions of people across the country to reconsider billionaire Donald Trump, even as many of those same voters are put off by his right-wing views, misogyny, and xenophobia. Anger at the Democratic Party for breaking their promises to working people and carrying out a corporate agenda are fueling the phenomenon as well. Trump and the Republicans are able to use the anger against the Democrats and the absence of any significant Left, working-class leadership, to masquerade as an alternative for “Everyday Americans,” using this as a backdrop slogan for some parts of the Republican National Convention, and having Teamster President Sean O’Brien give the keynote speech on the convention’s first day.
The breaking of the rail strike, the ending of the expanded child tax credits, the unwillingness to meaningfully support working people struggling under the weight of inflation, and more have all shown that the Democratic Party is in fact the best builder of Trumpism and the Far Right.
The Role of Labor Leadership
The vacuum being used by the Trump campaign is most starkly evident from the uncritical support of Harris by much of the labor union leadership. Despite Harris obviously being the chosen candidate of Wall Street, big banks, and the billionaires, the UAW autoworkers union President Shawn Fain declared in his Democratic National Convention speech that Harris would “stand shoulder to shoulder with us in our war on corporate greed.”
The leadership of many unions passed resolutions in support of a ceasefire in Gaza, a historic development in its own right, and a sign of the widespread American opposition to the genocide. Seven major unions, including the UAW, representing six million union members also publicly called on Biden to immediately halt all military aid to Israel. And yet, the leaders of every single one of these unions had not only already endorsed Biden, but also unconditionally endorsed Harris. Most of these endorsements were carried out without a democratic discussion or vote by rank-and-file union members.
Projections for the Election
There is no crystal ball that can predict the outcome of this neck-and-neck race, but there are general trends that should be examined. Polls have substantially shifted in Harris’ direction since Biden dropped out. This shift does not presage a Harris win, but rather is a turnaround from the almost certain crushing defeat of Biden by Trump. At the same time, a further slowdown in the economy is likely to hurt Harris. At this point, the 2024 race is far too close to call.
Since the entry of Harris into the race, Trump’s campaign has floundered, making many mistakes. Trump was widely recognized to have lost the September Presidential debate to Harris. But the boiling class rage at Biden-Harris, and the absence of a developed and militant Left, working-class political alternative, are part of what keeps Trump’s campaign in the running even as he has been unable to successfully land a serious blow against Harris.
Despite the Democratic Party’s endless attempts to portray Harris as a “change” candidate, there is no escaping the reality that she is the Vice President of the current administration or that she has doubled down on virtually all of Biden’s major policy positions.
Harris has repeatedly refused to back away from supporting the genocidal Israeli regime to the hilt, a clear indication of her unapologetic loyalty towards the agenda of the capitalists and of U.S. imperialism. The state of Israel represents U.S. imperialism’s most important outpost in the Middle East. The stability of this outpost is absolutely critical for the U.S. ruling class in continuing to advance their interests in the oil-rich Middle East, as well as in their currently escalating conflict with China. Trump is, if anything, a more openly ardent supporter of the Israeli state. Yet Harris is the preferred choice, by far, of U.S. capitalism and imperialism, because Trump has proven to be an unpredictable and unreliable tool for their interests. Unwavering support for Israel from a fully pliable and controllable Harris White House is so important to the capitalist class that they are, in a political irony, willing to risk losing in Michigan and other swing states with significant Muslim and Arab American voting blocs and potentially cost Harris the election.
This Election is Not About Finding the “Less Evil” Option: Vote Jill Stein
In every meaningful way, the two parties of the U.S. capitalist class, the Democrats and Republicans, bolster one another: with Biden continuing the Trump tax cuts for corporate elites, continuing to build Trump’s border wall, all the while carrying out attacks on working people.
A victory for Kamala Harris in November will guarantee more of the same. Harris has pledged to continue her “unwavering support” for the genocidal Netanyahu regime, ensuring the mass murder of Palestinians will continue unabated. Harris and her corporate backers have a vested interest in the enormous profits extracted from both the immigration and environmental crises ensuring that neither will be resolved. Even on abortion access, Harris’ signature campaign issue, she has offered nothing more than abstract promises, claiming that she would reinstate abortion rights on a national level if a bill was sent to her by Congress, which is itself highly unlikely. This procedural excuse to shrug off any responsibility all but ensures that any attempt to revive Roe v Wade in the near term is dead on arrival.
By contrast, the return of Donald Trump to the White House will ensure a different kind of attack on working people. While it is unlikely that the notorious Project 2025 will be enacted wholesale, the right-wing plan highlights the hopes of Trump and his backers. The rhetoric of mass deportations and “law-and-order” are certain to be a feature of any new Trump administration (though a Harris administration will also double down on attacks against immigrants). Labor unions could find themselves under increased attack. Trump would reshuffle the National Labor Relations Board, packing it with even more pro-corporate and hardline anti-union members. The populist language offered on the campaign trail will largely disappear, as Trump will consolidate his support among a section of the capitalist class, a grouping that focuses on more direct confrontation with Russia, Iran, and China.
Either a Harris or Trump victory is likely to lead to further protests, as working people come under attack and as the billionaire warmongering agenda escalates.
This election is not about finding the “less evil” option. Both Harris and Trump must be correctly viewed as so beyond the pale that neither can be supported by working people. And as Abandon Harris founder Hassan Abdel Salam has pointed out, you cannot talk about a “lesser evil” in the context of the genocide in Gaza because “there is no gentler genocide.” This means that working-class people will not win a representative to the White House this November. But this has always been the case so far. Our only option is to build the strongest possible vote for Jill Stein, as the politically clearest basis for building the antiwar movement, working-class movements, and preparing the ground for a new party for working people.
Every vote for Jill Stein is a vote against the genocidal war and the anti-worker agenda of the billionaire class. Every vote for Harris or Trump is a vote for genocide. The current anger at the two warmongering parties of the billionaire class represents potentially an important opening for a new mass party for working people. Building for the largest possible vote for Stein in this election is a key step in that direction.
Every four years, the corporate media and the ruling class tell us that this year is too important to fight for a principled alternative to the two-party system. Every four years, we are warned of an existential threat. Let this be the year that working people in the hundreds of thousands recognize that the two-party system is the existential threat that we have been warned about, and that we cannot afford to wait in order to fight back. The most effective way to fight both the right wing and the capitalist class as a whole, is to break from both these parties of the billionaires.
At the same time, we need a sober assessment of what is possible with Stein’s campaign electorally. In 2016, in the wake of Bernie Sanders’ first campaign for the Democratic Primary, Stein received 1.45 million votes. It is unlikely in the context of the strong lesser evilism in this election and the presence of other third party candidates on the ballot, that she will match or exceed this number. It is more likely that her votes will number in the hundreds of thousands. However, in a race as close as this one, each vote will carry more significance than it did in 2016, especially in the “swing states.” The votes for Stein in this election, compared to 2016 or 2012, reflect a clearer opposition to the Democratic Party and lesser evilism, and point more in the direction of the need for a new party for working people than in any election since Nader’s in 2000.
The level of support for Stein in strategically important “swing states” means that votes are guaranteed to be more than an impotent “protest vote.” Each vote for Stein, particularly under the pressure being brought to bear by the Democratic Party, shows that working class and oppressed communities are willing to fight for an end to the genocidal war on Gaza and for real political representation in the form of a new party. It is a particularly important historical development that a significant proportion of Muslim Americans are supporting Stein this close to the election. A strong Stein vote in Michigan could lead to Harris’ defeat in Michigan because of her backing of the genocide, which would send a powerful antiwar message.
If Harris and the Democratic Party lose in Michigan it will be entirely at their doorstep. Trump left office in 2020 as the most unpopular president in modern U.S. history. In a moment when the vast majority of the American population believe the country is headed in the wrong direction, particularly on the issue of support for the Israeli war machine, Harris has promised more of the same. The strategy of lesser-evil voting has utterly failed working people. Obama’s betrayals by bailing out the big banks following the 2008 financial crash gave rise to the Tea Party and Trumpism. Similarly, the slashing of COVID benefits and the breaking of the rail strike under the Biden-Harris administration has led working people to reconsider Trump. A vote for Stein, particularly one that denies a win for Harris in Michigan, will be a clarion call saying enough is enough!
With every year that passes, with every election cycle, the two-party system only makes things worse! Less than two years ago, the notion that both major parties would be openly supporting a genocide would have been dismissed by most Americans, and yet that is exactly where we find ourselves now. Protesters against Trump’s brutal policies of family separations at the border and Muslim ban would have been disgusted by Harris’ current anti-immigrant “border security” rhetoric — which demonizes immigrants and labels them as criminals and murderers. This is the same rhetoric used by Donald Trump! This continued dangerous movement to the Right is what we must fight against. We cannot wait until some distant time in the future when a new party will develop readymade for us to join. We must fight to build the antiwar movement, the workers movement, and for the new party we need now!
We must be prepared to fight back regardless of who wins in November. This is why Workers Strike Back is calling for a February organizing conference to build our movements and discuss our concrete next steps. In preparation for the conference, we encourage all who want to fight against the billionaires and their political servants to become a member of Workers Strike Back. We must build on the momentum of the Stein campaign and the Abandon Harris campaign going forward. The only way to defeat lesser evilism is to urgently break from the two-party system. The only way to break the cycle of capitalist devastation and genocide is to build a real alternative now.