with a lot of echoes. Personally, I don't think that Socialist Alternative, and consequently Comrade Sawant, goes far enough. I don't think she's once mentioned the word "revolution" RE: the change to a socialist future. It's always something like "socialist transformation" and other euphemisms. That, in itself, is not a very Trotskyist attitude. OTOH, in many ways she takes the same stand on issues as the group that I'm in (Worker's Power) does. This is one of those "reform or revolution?" questions that has cropped up over and over again for over a century. Socialist Alternative is a centrist organization which see-saws between reform and revolution depending on the winds of popularity. Trotsky was NOT a centrist, even when he was forced to make decisions that involved retreat from revolutionary tactics. He always held the end goal in mind, no matter what he had to do tactically.
We critically supported Comrade Sawant in the Seattle election (and other SA candidates in other elections) because she was a candidate from the working class with support from various working class organizations and unions in her area. Basically, you support those candidates to put them to the test. And, because she does openly take the "socialist" and "Trotskyist" label, like it or not, we ARE invested in her success, at least until a greater mass of people realize that there ARE differences between various Classic Red and Trotskyist organizations.
The election in Seattle showed that the people of that city are willing to give alternative views and candidates a chance. Unfortunately, I don't believe she'll be able to do much more than any left reformist to materially lift the working class and poor in Seattle to another level. I don't think the system will allow her to make the sweeping changes that are needed. Ergo, we need to see her point this out in no uncertain terms when the system does hamstring real changes. I'm not sure her or SA will be willing to make those assertions which will lead to disappointment in her erstwhile supporters and a disillusionment in "socialist" solutions to the problems with capitalism.
Hopefully IMO, the best we can hope for is a sharp left turn in the politics of SA and Comrade Sawant and the use of her position in bourgeois "democracy" to point out, not only the flaws of capitalism, but also the LIMITS of change allowed in bourgeois "democracy". The next logical step after pointing out the limits of change, is to point out the solutions that bypass those limits. And that solution is revolution.
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