The departure of Bernie Sanders from the 2020 US Presidential race leaves socialist-oriented voters with only one clear choice. One socialist candidate will be on the November ballot: Gloria La Riva is the Peace and Freedom Party’s presumptive candidate for president. Her candidacy will not be official until the party convention in August, but since she has amassed the most support, I believe we can assume that she really is the PFP presidential candidate.
We recognize that Sanders did raise the issue of socialist solutions to our country’s problems and I am thankful to him for that. It’s not an easy task to break through the capitalist mindset in this country. His efforts have made a vote for socialism much easier. I want to welcome into (and welcome back into) the Peace and Freedom Party ranks all those Bernie supporters who share our vision of an American society focused on the socialist principles of justice, equality, and working together for the common good. It is long past time for America to move away from capitalist greed and exploitation.
I know many California voters are laser-focused on the need to defeat Trump in November, and I share that focus, but I also remember the words of an old American radical that it is better to vote for what you really want and not get it than to vote for what you don’t really want and get it. Voting for the lesser evil has always resulted in getting evil, anyway.
So goodbye Bernie (and thanks)! We still have socialists to vote for in November: Gloria La Riva for President and Leonard Peltier for Vice President.
–written by John C. Reiger
State chair, Peace & Freedom Party