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politics and politicians Title: Stewart Alexander, Socialist Party USA candidate for President February 23, 2012. Murrieta, Calif. From his central California campaign headquarters, Presidential candidate Stewart Alexander has already begun his run for the White House. With little funding and even less name recognition, the official candidate of the Socialist Party USA knows he has an uphill battle ahead of him. And unlike so many other sincere and passionate non-politician candidates these days, he’s actually up for the task. Alexander secured his party’s nomination for President on October 15, 2011 when the Socialist Party USA held its nominating convention in Los Angeles. Since then, the candidate has been fighting the traditional mainstream media black-out of independent and third party campaigns. But with the assistance of indy-media outlets across the country like this National Independent Examiner column, Stewart Alexander has slowly but surely been getting his message out. This author recently sat down with Stewart Alexander, Socialist Party USA’s candidate for President. Below is a transcript from that interview. February 22, 2012 interview between Examiner’s Mark Wachtler and Socialist Party USA’s Presidential candidate Stewart Alexander. Mark Wachtler: Thank you so much for taking a moment to sit down with Examiner readers nationwide. This column specifically covers the subject of independent politics and has a reader demographic that consists overwhelmingly of independent and third party voters. So while not all our readers may be supportive of all your positions, they’re at least sympathetic to your struggle as a third party candidate. It’s no secret among our readers that the two major parties and the national corporate news media have a long-standing and deliberate agenda to black-out the campaigns of independents and minor party candidates like yourself. Stewart Alexander: Thank you. I appreciate the opportunity to sit down with Examiner’s readers and get our message out. As you’re aware, media exposure and ballot access continue to be a huge problem for third party candidates. Mark Wachtler: That seems to be one of the things all independents and third parties have in common, being victims of the corporate-owned national news media. With that said, what are the main differences between yourself and the two major party’s candidates, issue-wise or otherwise? Stewart Alexander: Being a socialist on the campaign is so very different from the candidates of the parties of the one percent – Democrats and Republicans. They have to go out and convince people that the system works and will work better with the few tweaks they offer. Socialists, on the other hand, need to have the courage to speak the truth to power by empowering people to take control of their lives. On November 6th, we will be asking people to vote Socialist. On November 7th, we invite these same people to join the movement for a Democratic Revolution. You won’t see Obama or the Republican nominee out there with protest movements demanding change because they’re dedicated to maintaining the status quo. Mark Wachtler: What are your most passionate issues or positions? Stewart Alexander: Having a military background in the U.S. Air Force, I think that our positions on the Military Industrial Complex are the most important. The Socialist Party USA is not only anti-war, we are anti-militarist. This means that we call for an end to foreign wars and occupations. We call for the closing of foreign military bases and we demand a 50 percent cut in the military budget. We do so first, because we think that it is criminal that almost 50 percent of the annual Federal budget is spent on funding the military, paying for current wars and paying off previous wars. We also think that US military aggression is a major force of oppression in the world and, with this country’s massive stockpile of nuclear weapons, a threat to the very existence of humanity. We think things can be different. The US can become a symbol of peace by pulling back our troops, reducing the Military Industrial Complex and responsibly disposing weapons of mass destruction. This is the message I’m taking onto the campaign trail this year. Mark Wachtler: What are some of the ideas you have to turn this country around, financially, socially and otherwise? Stewart Alexander: As a democratic socialist candidate, I also want to talk about civil rights. Socialists have always been vigorous supporters of civil rights. Today, although we have civil rights on paper, many people wonder what they are worth in a society dominated by corporations. How, for instance, can a regular person exercise their right to free speech when five corporations control more than three-quarters of all media outlets? We may be able to speak in public, but only those with power and privilege have the ability to project their voice into public debates. We want to ensure not only that people have the right to free speech, but that their use of free speech is meaningful by creating grassroots access to media. The Occupy movements have modeled this and could be a platform for the re-birth of publicly controlled media. Mark Wachtler: Speaking of free speech, how have you been treated by the government and national news media considering the double standards for ballot access and the fact that third party candidates don’t get much notice or coverage? Stewart Alexander: Thus far, fairly well. Thanks in part to the Occupy movement and to deflation of “Obama-mania”, people, especially young people, seem genuinely interested in finding out what democratic socialism is. Of course, this has mostly taken place on smaller political blogs, internet radio stations and some smaller print media outlets. We are still being almost entirely shut out of the larger mainstream media outlets while Obama and the Republicans continue to enjoy easy access to all the major news sources. This is another demonstration of the role of money in politics – big money buys easy access to the media. We are running something of a guerilla media campaign – trying to use free media outlets like Facebook, Twitter, indy-media, the Socialist WebZine and our own site to get the message out. Mark Wachtler: Based on your anti-war stance, how would you, as President, handle an attack on a current US military ally like Israel, the UK or Saudi Arabia? Stewart Alexander: I think our stance requires a serious re-thinking of the relations between the US and other countries in the world. Right now, the US plays a large role in creating antagonistic relations between countries – as a result dividing countries into allies and enemies. Former President Bush’s ‘axis of evil’ was only the latest ludicrous demonstration of this failed and dangerous policy. By massively reducing domestic spending on the Military Industrial Complex, we will also be launching a peaceful goodwill initiative throughout the world. We think that people all over the world will be attracted to a global movement that calls for a society organized around solidarity, compassion and justice. We should spend far less time worrying about the strategic interests of Israel, the UK or Saudi Arabia and more time thinking about how we might end global poverty or curb global warming. This is what my campaign is all about. Mark Wachtler: The nation is begging for jobs. How, where or what kind of jobs would you be able to create in large enough numbers that it would make a dent in the country’s unemployment problem? Stewart Alexander: The mass unemployment that we have experienced over the past three years is the clearest evidence that capitalism is a broken economic system and that we need a democratic socialist alternative. The only point of comparison to today in American history is the Great Depression. This time, we intend to make a democratic transformation of the economy to guarantee that it works for the 99 percent by guaranteeing the right to a good job, democracy in the workplace and economic freedom. This is what the Alexander/Mendoza campaign is all about. It will take a radical plan to turn this crisis around – a plan that strengthens and empowers the working class. Mark Wachtler: As an independent, this author is often run over in the battle over labor issues. Independents tend to support the right to collective bargaining, but oppose the rampant fleecing of taxpayers. What would you do about the problem in city’s like here in Chicago where the taxpayers are going bankrupt paying multi-million dollar pensions for the government’s union employees who only worked one day on the job, but because of their union connections or appointments, qualify for a taxpayer-funded pension for life, sometimes two and three pensions? In one case, a union boss worked one day for the public schools and now collects over one hundred thousand dollars per year. Another union boss here in Chicago also worked only one day for CPS and now takes home over a million dollars per year in his pension. Stewart Alexander: The problem in Chicago is not the Teacher’s Union or their pensions. Chicago, like other cities throughout the country, should have more than enough money to provide top quality education for its students and proper compensation, include full pensions, for its teachers. However, Democrats and Republicans have systematically refused to properly tax the richest 1 percent. For years, Illinois legislators, and I focus on the state because Chicago has no city tax, sought to paper over budget deficits by increasing the regressive sales taxes. And even after the 2008 economic crisis increased the deficit, they maintained their commitment to an increased, but still regressive flat tax on personal income. As a result, things like the teacher’s pensions seem like important issues, but it really comes down to the rich monopolizing the resources in society. Chicago is a fabulously wealthy city. Squeezing teacher pensions is the wrong way to approach the budget deficit. Mark Wachtler: Our counterparts in Brazil recently included your campaign in one of their recent reports. This column’s article, ‘Questions from Brazil, are US Elections Fair?’ republished that article in English. From that discussion, it’s obvious the independents and political underclass seem to identify with you there. Do you feel you identify more with socialists from around the world or with political outsiders here in the US such as the Tea Party, Libertarians and Greens? I guess another way to phrase the question is, is your personal effort part of a global struggle or an American struggle? Stewart Alexander: We are definitely part of a global struggle, but we are also very connected to an American socialist tradition. We see our organization and the political organizing we are carrying out as closely connected to the global movement for political change – the Occupy movements, the Arab Spring and other anti-capitalist movements. Simultaneously, we are proud of our American Socialist tradition. In fact, this year is the 100th anniversary of the monumental Presidential campaign of Eugene Debs. Debs gained nearly 1 million votes in that election and provided the most powerful electoral challenge every mounted against American capitalism. We hope to build upon these foundations. Mark Wachtler: Would you ever be willing to join together with all other third parties and their Presidential candidates for one nationwide primary election to choose one single candidate to take on the two main parties on behalf of all of us independents and third party voters? Stewart Alexander: Today, I think we should take a hard look at third parties. I would say that an organization like the Green Party is not our “enemy.” Yet, there are still some significant differences between the SP-USA and the Greens. We want to transform the relations of property in this society so that the needs of the 99 percent are satisfied. This is what we call the democratic revolution. We do think that this idea of a democratic transformation of society is broad enough to one day create the possibility of a United Left electoral candidate. We would love to be a part of that process since so many of our members have experience running independent socialist campaigns. Mark Wachtler: I just want to give a special thanks to the Socialist Party USA’s Presidential candidate Stewart Alexander for taking some time out of his busy campaign schedule to sit down and talk to us today. For more information on Mr. Alexander and his candidacy for US President, visit the campaign’s website at StewartAlexanderForPresident2012.org or visit the Socialist Party USA’s website at SP-USA.org.
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