For well over a year, the majority of U.S. residents polled have opposed the war in Iraq. They have said repeatedly that the war is a mistake. The Bush regime’s popularity has fallen sharply because of it. Unable to stop or minimize the opposition to the war, the ruling classes channeled the opposition into voting for the Democrats.

The Democratic Party does not reflect this opposition; it has supported this war in all aspects since it began. Even in the elections, the opposition to the war voiced by most Democratic politicians, for example, Debbie Stabenow in Michigan, was reduced to, “the Republicans made a bad decision to go to war.” Very little was ever said on what to do to get the US out of Iraq. A few days after the election 60% of people surveyed said, quite intelligently, that they did not think that the Democrats had a plan to get out of Iraq.

Voting for the Democrats was the only way that millions could express their opposition to the war because the Democrats were largely successful in keeping the Green Party antiwar candidates out of the debates, out of the corporate media, and out of sight. In Michigan, Green Party candidates were systematically excluded from all debates, newspaper articles, and so on. David Sole, the Green Party candidate for US Senate, was dragged out of the debate at the Detroit Economic Club at the Renaissance Hotel when he appropriated the microphone and began to speak to the crowd against the war and against his exclusion.

The larger organized antiwar movement was silent in these elections. The leaders could not find the necessary foresight or courage to support the Green Party antiwar candidates, particularly the Senate candidates.

For example, Aaron Dixon ran for Senate against Democratic incumbent Maria Cantwell in Washington. Aaron is currently director of a program for at-risk youth and a former Black Panther. He attended the World Social Forum in Brazil and wanted to bring that movement and struggle back to the United States. David Sole ran against Democratic incumbent Debbie Stabenow in Michigan. Stabenow was one of only a handful of Democrats who voted for the Military Commissions Bill, allowing the suspension of habeas corpus for “enemy combatants,” including U.S. citizens. He is a long time member of the Workers World Party, a union president, and a founder of the Michigan antiwar group, Michigan Emergency Coalition Against War and Injustice (MECAWI). Kevin Zeese ran on a Unity Ticket supported by all minor parties in Maryland for the seat vacated by Democratic incumbent Paul Sarbanes. Kevin is director of the antiwar group DemocracyRising.US and was Ralph Nader’s national campaign spokesperson in 2004. Howie Hawkins ran for Senate in New York against Democratic incumbent Hillary Clinton. Hawkins was a founder of the Green Party, a longtime Green and antiwar activist.

All these antiwar activists have good reputations locally and nationally. They actively organized against the war before, during and after the elections. The inability of the antiwar movement to endorse such candidates is one of the obstacles it must overcome if it is to reach more working and middle class people who are much less enamored with the Democrats than the antiwar movement leaderships.

Cindy Sheehan is the mother who started Camp Casey next to Bush’s private ranch in Texas to protest the war and revitalized the antiwar movement last year. The camp is named after her son who was killed in Iraq. She endorsed several Green candidates, including Howie Hawkins. She said she thought she made a mistake in 2004 by supporting and voting for Democratic candidate John Kerry because “he did nothing for the movement.” Few antiwar leaders followed Cindy Sheehan’s lead.

At the beginning of the elections in March, antiwar activists said we should turn this election into a referendum on the war. The people of the U.S., in spite of all the obstacles, did as well as they were able.

In Detroit, Green candidates, including myself, put forward the slogan, “Money for Detroit, not for war.” It resonated with every person we met. Antiwar candidates did not need to convince people to be against the war. The struggle in this election was convincing people to vote against the war by voting Green and not Democrat.

In Detroit support for Greens was relatively low, in spite of the strong support for our slogans that we received everywhere. Most Detroit voters became aware of the dangers of Proposition 2 during the final few weeks before the election. That is when the churches distributed anti Prop 2 signs at Sunday services and those signs started appearing all over the neighborhoods. Proposition 2 suddenly made the election much more serious for Detroiters. The local Democratic Party machine was taken over by African-Americans under Coleman Young’s leadership and the legacy of the victory remains important to many voters, in spite of the horrendous policies against poor and working people from the state and national Democratic parties. Finally Detroiters as a whole have opposed Bush for over 6 years and the war since it began. Hearing a national echo to their opposition, Detroiters did not want to jeopardize what they felt was a possible national Democratic “victory” by voting for Green candidates. For these reasons, Detroiters voted, by and large, for Democrats.

Nevertheless, the Green Party/Stop the War slate made a number of advances that should help us in the coming struggles. First and foremost, it focused on the war in Iraq as the single most important issue of the election and on that basis won a lot of support in the street. The slate was formed, joined the Green Party and was nominated at the convention along with many other Green Party candidates (including Lynn Meadows, see side bar). The entire Green Party of Michigan slate included students, African-Americans, Delphi workers, among others, representing a much broader cross section of Michigan’s population than previous slates. Second, the slate was endorsed by Michigan Welfare Rights Organization. Some candidates also received the full endorsement of Between the Lines, a weekly journal advocating for gay and lesbian people. Third, the Senate candidate was endorsed by The Michigan Citizen. Several favorable articles about the Greens ran in the Arab-American News. Fourth, Peter Schermerhorn ran councilperson for the 3rd ward in Ann Arbor and won the highest percentage of votes for an office, nearly 17%. Fifth, the campaign reached thousands of Detroiters and Ann Arborites with literature, billboards and lawn signs. Finally, the Green Party candidates raised enough money to carry out these campaigns and received enough votes to maintain our ballot line for upcoming elections.

The struggle to link ending the war with paying for pressing social needs at home needs to be continued. The antiwar movement needs to continue fighting for “Money for jobs, healthcare, schools and education, not for war.” The money spent on the war, nearly $400 billion, could and should be used to improve the lives of working class and poor people in the United States.

One wing of the antiwar movement, in an effort to continue its lobbying efforts with Congressional Democrats, has called for a demonstration in Washington, DC, January 27. Plans have already been announced for a demonstration in Washington on March 4, the 4th anniversary of the war. These demonstrations are important and should be supported by the entire antiwar movement. As of November 26, the US has been in the Iraq War longer than it was in World War II.

The struggle now moves back into the streets. The antiwar movement must deepen and broaden its efforts to organize and mobilize millions against the war. It must strengthen its support to the growing antiwar sentiment among soldiers and their families expressed through such organizations as Iraq Veterans Against the War and Military Families Speak Out. It must continue supporting anti-recruitment efforts, especially in working class neighborhoods.
The war in Iraq will end. It will end badly for U.S. capitalists. Let’s make that moment arrive as soon as possible.

Fred Vitale was a Green Party candidate for State Representative and is a delegate to the national Green Party from Michigan.