On November 5, voters in the United States will cast ballots to decide who will be the next U.S. president. The candidates of the two major capitalist parties are current Vice President Kamala Harris for the Democratic Party and former President Donald Trump for the Republican Party. Whichever candidate wins, the 99% of the world lose.
First and foremost, the genocide in Palestine and now Lebanon will continue regardless of the outcome of the election. Harris represents a continuation of the murderous practices of President Joe Biden’s administration. Billions of taxpayer dollars, above and beyond the $3.8 billion the U.S. sends to Israel every year, have been used to supply the Zionist war machine.
Over a year into the mass slaughter, and all Biden will do is give Israel 30 days to come up with a plan to allow humanitarian aid into Gaza — and maybe if they don’t do that the U.S. will cut off the funding.
But Trump is no peacemaker. As president from 2017-2021 he recognized Israel’s claim to Jerusalem as its capital. Previous administrations were officially neutral on that question. Trump has claimed that if Harris is elected Israel will not survive. He is trying to woo Arab and Muslim voters by characterizing himself as antiwar, while appeasing pro-Zionist voters by claiming to be the most pro-Israel.
Middle East Eye reports that “Trump received, and still continues to receive, major backing from the US evangelical Zionist movement. The Christian Zionist movement is a major force in conservative politics, experts told Middle East Eye during Trump’s presidency.” (Middleeasteye.net, October 25, 2024)
The antiwar movement will have to keep marching in the streets no matter what happens in November. Beyond Palestine and West Asia, the danger of imperialist war is every-present. The Pentagon war budget increased every year of the Trump presidency and has increased every year of the Biden presidency — it is almost $1 trillion dollars for fiscal 2024. Washington continues to funnel billions of dollars to the rightwing Zelensky government in Ukraine for the U.S./NATO war against Russia.
Elections will bring no letup to war on U.S. workers
Biden has described himself as “the most pro-union, pro-worker president in history.” (whitehouse.gov, October 15, 2024)
The reality is more complicated. Biden drew a great deal of publicity when he joined the picket line during last year’s strike against Ford, General Motors and Stellantis by the United Auto Workers union. He was the first U.S. president to ever do so. Biden has appointed members of the National Labor Relations Board who are more favorable to unions than Trump’s appointees.
On the other hand, in 2022 the president signed a bill, passed by Congress, invoking the Railway Labor Act to prevent railroad unions from striking to win a decent contract. The main issue for rail workers was the lack of approved sick days; they were literally dying because they couldn’t take time off from work to see a doctor.
More recently Secretary of Labor Julie Su, a Biden appointee, brokered a tentative agreement between the Boeing corporation and the Machinists union that would have ended the Boeing strike, now in its second month. This agreement, rejected by 64% of the union membership, did not restore the pensions that were eliminated ten years ago.
Trump is blatantly anti-worker and anti-union and makes no attempt to hide it. This was exposed when he and multi-billionaire Elon Musk — CEO of Tesla and X (formerly Twitter) and a major Trump backer — joked about firing workers who exercise their right to strike. While president, Trump appointed associates of union-busting law firms to the NLRB and appointed Postmaster General Louis DeJoy, who has earned the ire of postal worker unions.
Workers should not be duped by Trump’s mislabeled “populism.” This billionaire is not for us.
Over the past few years the working class has seen its living standards eroded by rampant inflation. Inflation is a product of the profit-driven capitalist mode of production. The outcome of the presidential election will not change that.
Xenophobia and racism — part of capitalist system
Trump is running an openly white supremacist, xenophobic, bigoted and genuinely fascistic campaign. He and his running mate, Senator JD Vance, knowingly made false statements accusing Haitian people in Springfield, Ohio, of stealing and eating pets. This vile slander was not an aberration — attacking migrants has been the former president’s “Trump” card.
Trump’s treatment of Harris, who is of Black and Asian descent, exemplifies his racist and misogynistic program. Republican Party campaign ads have made a crass appeal to transphobia.
The Trump campaign poses a threat to even bourgeois democratic norms.
But how have the Democrats responded? Have they come out sharply in defense of migrants or of the transgender community? On the contrary, in their ads the Democrats stress that they are “tough on migration.” They deny allegations of supporting trans-affirming health care for youths and being for young trans athletes playing girls’ sports.
Understandably, many working class and oppressed people want to defeat Trump and his fascist program and for that reason will vote for Harris. Even if Harris wins, however, the Trump movement is not going away — and the Democratic Party does not have the wherewithal to beat back the fascist threat. A purely electoral strategy is a losing strategy.
Only the working class can effectively push back against white supremacy, misogyny, anti LGBTQIA2S+ bigotry and ableism that the Trump campaign epitomizes. Only the class struggle — ultimately the struggle for a socialist future — can crush the right wing.
Alternatives to voting for a Democrat or Republican
Workers and oppressed people have other options besides voting for Harris or Trump. Three progressive third party candidates — Claudia De la Cruz (Party for Socialism and Liberation, votesocialist2024.com), Jill Stein (Green Party, jillstein2024.com) and Cornel West (cornelwest2024.com) — are on the ballot in a number of states. All three call for a ceasefire in Palestine and an end to U.S. aid to Israel. All candidates have a platform addressing a number of issues; De la Cruz of PSL is the only candidate openly calling for socialism.
Third party candidates have an uphill battle because the bourgeois electoral process is rigged against them. They have to get a large number of signatures, in some U.S. states an impossible number, on a nominating petition to have their name on the ballot. Coverage in the capitalist media is not equal to what the mainstream candidates receive. But voting for a progressive candidate is a way of casting a protest vote.
Working class people may also opt not to vote for any candidate, either by leaving their ballot blank or skipping the voting process altogether. The call to “abandon Harris” over Gaza is resonating with many voters, especially Muslim and Arab voters. It has a lot of support in cities such as Dearborn, Michigan, with a large Arab population.
My party, Workers World Party, did not endorse any particular candidate in this election. Nor did we call for an election boycott. What we said unequivocally is that neither capitalist candidate should get our support.
