By John Romano

(YBH) In 2003 the Communist Party USA had this to say about the state of affairs in the United States:

Since [2001] George W. Bush and the Supreme Court stole the presidency and rightwing terrorists changed the face of America with their terrible acts of 9.11. Now the Bush administration plans to embroil us in a war with Iraq.

Then, in the mid term elections, with buckets of money, scare tactics, phony appeals to patriotism, and the continued racist suppression of the vote the hard right, anti-labor gang of Republicans now have control of all major branches of government.

Sounds quite radical and even a little disjointed.

Here is what the communists said about the then upcoming election in 2004:

This election is an ideological battle for hearts and minds. In the next nine months, the Bush administration will raise and spend a record $300 million to convince working people that their interests are the same as the interests of Wall Street. They will engage in tactics to pit one group against the other as a smokescreen cover up of their own responsibility for insecurity, inequality, pain and suffering.

Ohio AFL-CIO president William Burga says it plain, that the defeat of George Bush is necessary to stand up to “an increasing selfishness and individualist tendency, increasingly conservative and an over-ripe, nearly rotten, capitalist society and culture.”

On Tuesday, November 2, the voters will judge the extremist, life-threatening policies of the Bush administration. The challenge to labor and the African-American and Latino communities and women, the challenge to the broad alliance of environment, peace, youth, seniors and other forces, and the challenge to the Communist Party is to provide clarity on the issues, and turn anger into organization and movement-building to get out the vote.

A major contribution of our Party, and the goal of this conference, is to raise the ability to forge unity of purpose and action, and in so-doing increase the size of our Party to build a movement strong enough to change the priorities of this country toward “people before profits”.

Notice the use of the phrase that the Bush administration would “spend a record $300 million” on its reelection efforts. The Communist party had no problem when Barack Obama raised and spent close to $750 million in 2008. That number doesn’t even include the money raised and spent by other Democrat constituencies to get President Obama elected. The Communist party had no trouble with “capitalist” money in politics then. Also, notice the raw anger toward capitalism from Ohio AFL-CIO president William Burga. Mr. Burga represents what Unions genuinely think in modern America, make no mistake.
However, the party seems to have moderated a bit in 2004 from its earlier near paranoid Bush hatred. They had a platform for America in 2004. Does any of the following sound familiar?

A real jobs program would rebuild the bridges, schools, water treatment plants, and parks of our nation, while sending hundreds of billions to cities and states to fully staff education, childcare, health care and other peoples’ needs. A real jobs program would focus spending and job creation in the African-American and Latino communities where jobless rates are up to twice as high because of overt and institutional racism.

A real prescription drug program would be included in health care for all legislation. Health care is a right, not a privilege.

A real immigration program would enact the demands of the Immigrant Workers Freedom Ride and provide a clear path to citizenship, equal rights on the job and civil liberties protections.

A real program to meet the needs of the Iraqis would end the US occupation, bring the troops home now, end the policy of pre-emptive war, and transfer funds from the military budget to human needs.

A real program to leave no child behind would guarantee full funding for quality, equal public education, “Books Not Bombs”.

A real program for civil rights would uphold enforceable measures to achieve equality in jobs, housing, education, health care, and would guarantee equal voting rights.

A real program of family values would respect individual choice, women’s reproductive rights, and the right to a job with a living wage so parents can afford to take care of their family.

A real program for the environment would protect our natural resources and develop renewable clean energy alternatives.

The platform above, with a little tweak here and there, is the same one the Democrats ran on and won with in 2008, and have been implementing, with varying degrees of success, since.

For all intents and purposes, the Communist party and the liberal wing of the Democrat party have merged. Democrats in the Patrick Moynihan mold have lurched left, and the communists, by calling for the right to a job with a “living wage” seem to have abandoned the call for the end of wage labor, therefore moving rightward. Or, is the “right” to a job the first step toward that goal?

In 2008 the Communist party released a statement that said “While we do not endorse any particular candidates, we do endorse and join in the anti-Bush/anti-right wing sentiments that are driving so many people to activism.” The party was clever in not endorsing Barack Obama outright. However, that was a ruse, as indicated by a statement released yesterday about the “One Nation” rally (emphasis ours):

Corporate America is also using anti-communism and red baiting to confuse and divide the people’s movement, charging Obama and the movement that elected him is “socialist.” They seek to revive the “red scare” of the 1950s when McCarthyism disfigured the national discourse, undermined democracy and free speech, effectively divided the labor and people’s movements, and setback progress for a generation.

But this is a different time. People have learned the bitter lessons of history. Millions are coming forward to counter fear and hate with unity and hope, and to protect the democratic majorities in Congress. The Communist Party USA and Young Communist League stand with them.

While thousands are rallying in Washington for jobs, hundreds of thousands of other patriotic Americans who can’t make it will be there in spirit. They will spend their day canvassing door to door, phone banking, registering new voters and talking to their neighbors and co-workers about the issues.

This activism will ensure millions will also march united to the polls on Nov. 2. to guard the change they voted for in 2008.

Given the statement above, a non-endorsement of Barack Obama in 2008 could be seen as purposeful way to avoid headlines on the Drudge Report and FOX News.

Yesterday’s “One Nation” rally made public the relationship between hardcore socialists and communists with the Democrat party’s main base: Union labor. Voters would be wise to remember those relationships come November.

The Tea Party has had to denounce all manner of actions taken by activists with loose associations to their movement. Socialists and communists are pretty open about who they are aligned with. Will the Democrats make strides to distance themselves from the Communist party? If yesterday is any guide, it doesn’t look likely. The unions hold too much sway within the Democrat caucus for an outright denunciation of the far-left by mainstream Democrats.