The Kind of Letters I Deal With Regularly

Mike, Good Early Morning to Yourself,

Please forgive the perfunctory nature of the previous responses to your inquiries. You have provided an excellent overview of yourself and your goals. I will attempt to respond with equal depth. When I joined the Socialist Party, USA in 1972, the Party was in the midst of a major crisis. Within several months of my joining the Party, the name was changed to the Social Democrats, USA. Two groups split from the SD,USA immediately. Both rejected the majority view that saw the SD,USA as an interest group rather than a political organization, The first group sought to reconstitute The Socialist Party, USA, The Socialist Party of Pennsylvania was one of the five state parties to participate in "re-founding" the Socialist Party, USA. The Democratic Socialist Organizing Committee, the other split off, wanted to work in the Democratic Party while running candidates as open Socialists in Democratic primaries. The SD, USA retained the majority of the
members and generally considered itself the rightful, legal inheritor of the organization's lineage. The SD forced the reconstituted SP, USA to change its name to the Socialist Party of the United States of America.

I stayed a member of the SD,USA until the national office closed and I remain active in reviving the SD,USA today. I also joined both of the split off groups. In 1974, I joined the Democratic Socialist Organizing Committee which after a merger with the New American Movement became the Democratic Socialists of America. At one time three members of Congress the mayor of New York City and a variety of assembly people and city council members were proud DSA members. Today the group shies away from partisan politics n favor of issuing statements and participation in website coalitions.

The Socialist Party of the United States of America for most of its existence attracted members of the Peace movement. That is how I came to join it in 1978. Unfortunately today a majority of the Party's National Committee are self styled "revolutionists" who like to talk about the violent overthrow of the government of the United States and are completely ineffectual. While what a friend and comrade has termed the Trotsky-droids are harmless, they make running for office seriously a hardship. I am not sure that even if elect the vestiges of the anti-Communist acts would allow one of them to serve. They have chosen to suspend the Socialist Party's national constitution in an effort to expel the Socialist Party of PA. It remains a mystery how we can be expelled us from a group that we helped bring into existence. The Socialist Party of PA predates the Socialist Party of the USA by 72 years and I am sure we will be around when the SP of the USA finds some other small Trotskyist sect with which to merge.

I bring all this up because this is another time of crisis in the Socialist movement. Attached please find a letter to me from David McReyonlds the SP of the USA's best known member. I asked David to write a letter to the 155 members of the Socialist Party of PA who left over the last two years to avoid the machinations of the current Trotskyist dominated central committee. I think his response says a great deal about the state of current Socialist movement. When David uses the initials SPA he is referring to the revived SD, USA -Socialist Party, There has already been a good deal of discussion among the Trotskyists of expelling David, so I understand his unwillingness to help the Socialist Party of PA. I however, cannot think of anything more pressing than recruiting to the Movement.

Mike, we truly need you, brother. This is a time when a person of your skills can do great things in the Party. I also believe we can be of practical service in your desire to run for office. We will be having a convention in Philadelphia on Labor Day weekend. The Socialist Party of PA will sort out its affairs, as will the Social Democratic Party of PA. Whether either joins the revived Social Democrats, USA-Socialist Party will be decided by democratic vote. It is possible to win election running as a Socialist. I have done it, both running as a Democratic and as Socialist and I expect to win running as a Social Democrat. I invite you to call me at 814 410 2542. Afternoons are best.

I will send a copy of your message to Don Busky, the editor of the Red Penn and to Steve Weiner the editor of the Torch and Rose the national publication of the revived Social Democrats, USA -Socialist Party. We need good writers. We already have two declared candidates in PA for 2009. We could use one at your end of the state. We hope to have downloadable campaign materials and a national PAC for contributions. It sounds like you could help us mightily with this effort. We have one stipulation. We ask comrades to run for offices they can win, not necessarily on the first or even second try. As Trotskyists have no desire to be elected they run candidates to wave the "red flag" We want actually enact Socialist programs.

In Solidarity,
Gabriel McCloskey-Ross, assessor Richland Township, PA ( S.D.), chair, Socialist Party of PA, acting executive director Social Democrats, USA -Socialist Party




---
> Good evening,
> I had wrote before and expressed an interest in
> joining the party and hopefully running for office here in
> Philadelphia. I received a generic email response which
> involved absolutely zero thought. I am young, incredibly
> intelligent, a college graduate and passionate, and I
> would think that that is exactly what the Socialist Party
> needs given the fact that all of PA has only had one
> candidate even run for office in PA, and they lost. The
> Socialist Party has a stagnant and old reputation and I am
> here to change that. If people only knew what it stood
> for and what real change it could bring they would easily
> be brought on board.

> Don't get me wrong, I'm not some young punk
> anarchist who hates the government and idolizes Hitler.
> I am a college graduate from St. Josephs with a degree in
> Political Science and a 3.0 GPA. I have worked on and
> volunteered for several campaigns. I know what it takes
> and I know I can do it with your assistance.
>
I live in Philadelphia, and I am out to make a change
> in this pathetic attempt at government and freedom we
> claim to live under. I am sick of hearing the same
> rhetoric and the same nonsense and watching my ignorant
> citizens lap it up because they do not know any better.
>
I will make a difference, starting here in Philadelphia,
> and since my political views are much in line with those of
> the Socialist Party, I feel it would only make sense to
> join forces and fight together. If you are interested,
> please email me back, if not, thank you for your time and
> you will hear about me again.
>
> Sincerely,
> Mike Handley

-- On Sun, 6/22/08, David Mcreynolds wrote:

>>.The Debs list seems about the only current discussion list since >SocialistsUnmoderat ed seems to have vanished(which I regret).

>>Regarding the "100" members that left the SP in Pennsylvania, I seriously doubt >that figure. I do NOT question the fact that a number of folks left the Socialist >Party - some (but not all) then joined Gabe Ross' group. But I think the figure of >100 members leaving is very high. It would be nearly a tenth of the entire SP. I >realize that, sitting in New York City, I don't really know what is going on in >Pennsylvania, except as I occasionally hear from my old friend Rob Tucker. >Maybe it was 100 - but I just don't think so.

David, please prove me wrong. I will send you the list of people who were members when I was elected chair of the SP PA, all 139 of them. In addition, I will send you the names and addresses of the 30 new members we gained in those two years time. To the best of my calculations, there are 14 people, including me, who still count themselves members of the SP PA. Please prove me wrong! If you will write a letter to these 169 comrades that were members, especially 155 who left, telling them why they should have stayed members of the SP PA, I will pay, to mail it. As the elected chair of the Socialist Party of PA, the SP PA is "Gabe Ross' group".

If you want a smaller task to start out with, I will send you the names and addresses of the 14 members of the James Connolly local who quit. Convince them they should not leave the SP. I certainly feel very lonely as only member here.

Or, how about this, write to just the members of the State Executive Committee of PA who formally resigned from the SP over the last two years because they were tried of being bullied by Pason, Erard & Co. That is more than ten people, or using your own math, one per cent of the national membership,

Here it is my turn to doubt. I doubt that the SP of the USA has 500 members nationwide. My doubts are based on my every day conversations, by email and phone, with people who regularly handle state and national mailings. There is no joy in the convictions I have developed. It simply seems apparent to me, that the SP of the USA and DSA are websites and email lists with occasional bursts of activity in various locations. Together they don't have 100 activists.

You can pillory those of us who want to move out of cyber-activism and into the real world all you like. Until you offer something better, please don't be upset if we don't take what you have to say very seriously,

As tomorrow is the second anniversary of Susan's passing. I am sure she would be pleased to see her hard work was not in vain. If not for me, the Party or yourself, write to the 155 members in PA who left the SP and convince them to come back. If you can't do that, then for the love of God, stop pontificating on things you know nothing about.

Gabe


Gabe,

With regrets, I am not going to spend ten minutes writing even one person in Pennsylvania on this issue.
We both, surely, have more to do.

I am convinced that the SPA is primarily an Internet movement and has no real local base except there
where you are (and I take Rob Tucker's word for it that you are an excellent organizer).

It's also not important to argue the number of SP members - members of the SP NC would have better
info on this. I don't. What is most troubling is that there are no democratic socialist groups that have
a solid base of members, whether we mean the SP, DSA, CCDS, Solidarity. The more rigid Leninist
groups have even fewer members but are much better organized (after all, what is a cadre organization
for if not to give the impression that a handful of hardworking people are really several thousand). This
applies to groups such as Workers World, the SWP (which seems to have become a cult), etc. The CP,
which is not nearly as "Leninist" as it once was, probably has no more members than the SP and isn't
very vanguard.

We struggle at the local level. In Chicago there is a good, active Chicago Socialist Party which is independent
of the SP. In NYC there is a good active local which is in the SP. There is certainly a group in Boston. But
I'm not on the NC, I only know we are all fragile in numbers and this particular debate is fruitless and
sad.

And yes, even your group seems to be involved in its own purges - i. e.., that of Michael Marino, which I
was sorry to hear about. But Oregon is three thousand miles from Manhattan and I cannot judge the
reality of what happens locally. Let each of us organize locally as best we can, function as democratically
as possible, hold in view the values of democratic socialism.

Fraternally,
David McReynolds