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A Tale of Two Elections

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So last night, there were two major local elections in the U.S. In the first case, Rahm Emmanuel, he who is friend to all humanity, won re-election against progressive challenger Jesus “Chuy” Garcia 56-44% (on 40% turnout), in an election that was nationally touted as a showdown between the corporate and progressive wings of the Democratic Party. The secret of Emmanuel’s success:

It wasn’t just humility that propelled Emanuel to a second term; he was aided by deep-pocketed supporters in Chicago and around the country. He raised nearly $24 million for the race, much of it coming from wealthy individuals and business interests, including $800,000 in contributions from just a handful of donors in the last three days of the campaign.

Emanuel was able to bombard Chicago television viewers with thousands of ads, most of which attacked Garcia as unprepared to handle a looming city financial crisis. The incumbent mayor’s enormous financial resources dwarfed the $6 million Garcia raised, much of which came in the last few weeks from the Chicago Teachers Union, other labor groups and progressive organizations including Democracy for America and Moveon.org.

Proof that big money has ended democracy? Time for the left to give up on electoral politics? Well…take a look at the second big election last night in Ferguson, Missouri, where:

In a first, the City Council in Ferguson, Mo., is now half white and half black, after voters added two more African-Americans to the six-member group. Voter turnout was reported at 30 percent in the majority-black community.

The voter turnout “surpasses recent municipal elections in Ferguson — and nearly doubles the roughly 16 percent turnout in the rest of St. Louis County,” St. Louis Public Radio reports.

“The high turnout came despite brutal weather,” The Associated Press says. “Strong storms, including lightning and heavy rain, tore through the region for several hours before noon.”

This was an election won with people power, as local protesters and progressive groups like Missourians Organizing for Reform and Empowerment, the Organization for Black Struggle, the Working Families Party and SEIU went door-to-door to first register African-American residents of Ferguson and then turn them out at double the rate of the rest of the county. It wasn’t a perfect sweep – in Ward 2, the former mayor of Ferguson beat protester Bob Hudgins 58% to 42%, and in Ward 3, progressive-backed Lee Smith lost to municipal judge Wesley Bell by two to one.  But you don’t need to be perfect to change the power structure profoundly.

The lesson here: electoral politics works. Not every time, and certainly no election is ever going to be granted to progressives by historical inevitability or the sheer contrast between the righteousness of the two sides, but if you keep boring through the hard boards, you will break through.

 

 

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