Nat'l Cmte. CPUSA, March 29th – On the Party and Press Building

Elena Mora, organizational director of the Communist Party, delivered this report. She began by arguing that the Communist Party's "role is bringing to life our strategic policy of building the labor-led movement to defeat the extreme right."

Specifically, she stated, our goal is to build a bigger communist contingent in the labor-led people's movement.

What is this movement? This movement is composed of a diverse and widespread group of forces and organizations and communities that are gathering around this election struggle to defeat the Republicans, she said. Many of these forces are new, and many others are more traditional.

Mora also questioned whether it is possible for the labor-led people's movement to struggle for change, to succeed in changing our country without our own party from being changed? No, I don't think so, she said. Our party can only get bigger as we engage with the labor-led people's movement to defeat the Republicans in the 2008 elections and win social progress after the election.

Speaking directly to the Communist Party's organization, Mora said, "growth is not automatic. Our party is growing, but not steadily, and we're still a long way away from achieving steady growth everywhere."

What are some ways to achieve this growth?

"Communists have to be foot soldiers in the labor-led people's movement in order to meet the other foot soldiers in the movement. They're our people," she said. Working with others and being open about thier party affiliation, communists will win others to our party, she indicated.

Mora also reported that the People's Weekly World, the weekly newspaper of the Communist Party, sold 700 new subscriptions in its recent subscription drive at the tail end of 2007. But, she said, "We have to adjust our minds to the idea that this paper can be a mass circulation newspaper." We need not view it as exclusively a newspaper for communists or the left.