National Committee Election Report

In her political report to the national committee of the Communist Party, Political Action commission Chair Joelle Fishman, today, described the Nov. 4th election as "an extraordinary and history-making election."

She pointed out that the election of Obama and larger majorities of Democrats in Congress created "new conditions" and allowed the people's movement to "shift gears and move forward."

Obama's electoral victory was built around a social movement based on the working class concept of "yes we can" and si se puede." It was no single factor like the economy that caused this outpouring of people's support for Obama; it was a combination of many factors from the economy to the demand for democratic rights to a call for ending the war.

The cornerstones of Republican Party electoral victories failed, Fishman said. Racism and red-baiting simply did not work. The working class and especially the organized component of the working class in the labor movement successfully fought racism, and this contribution cannot be underestimated and can lay the basis for building the majority for more people's victories and the next elections.

"In this election," Fishman said, "the politics of bigotry and hatred did not prevail."

The consensus among labor and the people's movement, Fishman emphasized, is that the election is not the change that we need by itself, but it gives us the chance the make the change we need.

The ultra right and the capitalist class have fought to under state the meaning of this election in order to manipulate the outcome and the future agenda.

Fishman emphasized the unity of the various working class constituencies in the election victory form African Americans, youth, women, Latino voters, and many whites.

The Communist Party, Fishman concluded, has to develop the correct tactics and strategy to build on the election victory and strengthen and deepent the movement that puts the wind at Obama's back.

Fishman pointed to passage of the Employee Free Choice Act, the creation of universal health care, economic stimulus that creates new jobs, expansion of democratic and civil rights, and the end of the war in Iraq as the change we need.