Fight the Right!

The ISO presents Alan Maass, editor of the SocialistWorker.org newspaper and author of “The Case for Socialism," speaking on

THE RIGHT TURN IN U.S. POLITICS: How it happened . . . and what we can do to stop it!

Since Obama took office on a strong mandate for progressive reform, we have seen the steady growth of the Right as the Democrats have failed to deliver in the midst of a deepening economic crisis. The Tea Party, once considered a fringe element, has enlivened far right politics, particularly through vicious campaigns of racism against Muslims and immigrants. The Republican Party, which was reeling from a massive electoral defeat just two years ago, has regrouped and retaken the House of Representatives this month. At the same time, however, polls show a majority in this country support a range of progressive causes like legal equality for LGBT people and taxing the rich to pay for social programs. How can these things exist side by side? How can we explain what just happened in the elections? Why did US politics take a right turn? How can we organize to fight the Right and build an independent left in the US?