Grace Carlson Archive | Trotskyist Writers Index | ETOL Main Page
From The Militant, Vol. 12 No. 46, 15 November 1948, p. 4.
Transcribed & marked up by Einde O’ Callaghan for the Encyclopaedia of Trotskyism On-Line (ETOL).
Nov. 3 – Unlike the capitalist parties, our campaign does not end on election day. As our election platform truly stated:
“The Socialist Workers Party is a political organization of American workers that fights in the interests of the working class 365 days of the year.”
And so we look forward. We want to consolidate the many gains made in the election campaign. We want to make members out of new contacts discovered during the campaign. We want to establish branches in new centers, where we made some new friends for Trotskyism. Much new ground was plowed during this campaign; many seeds were sown. Our harvest will come in new members and new branches.
This past week, I campaigned in two such new areas – Sioux Falls, So. Dakota and Des Moines, Iowa. In Sioux Falls, I was the guest speaker before the Thomas Paine Society, an organization of students, trade unionists and liberals of all types. The constitution of the Thomas Paine Society states that “The purpose of this organization is to provide a vehicle for free, stimulating, unprejudiced expression of ideas, resulting from realistic, constructive and reflective thinking, the goal of which is positive action.”
We had three hours of “free” and “stimulating” discussion at the Thomas Paine Society meeting. I wouldn’t say that it was “unprejudiced,” however. Most of the members were prejudiced in favor of capitalism, whereas, I am strongly prejudiced against capitalism. But there’s ground for hope that some of the younger members of the Society will do some “realistic, constructive and reflective thinking” and come to see that the Socialist Workers Party offers the only worthwhile goal for “positive action.”
In Des Moines, I met a young radio announcer, who is a former University of Minnesota student. It was very gratifying to talk to someone who knew all about our former Minnesota election campaigns, the Minneapolis Labor Case, etc. And we hope that the Des Moines radio speech did some further educational work in this new area.
And so, after a 14,000 mile election tour as the SWP vice-presidential candidate – a trip which took me into 16 states and 38 cities – I am back home, campaigning for socialism as the SWP Organizer in Minnesota.
Grace Carlson Archive | Trotskyist Writers’ Index | ETOL Main Page
Last updated: 30 March 2023