November 12, 2016 – Despite being the least popular presidential candidate in recent history, Donald Trump has been elected president of the United States. Trump ran a campaign based on astounding levels of xenophobia and racism, calling for a ban on Muslims entering the country and a wall spanning the entire US-Mexico border. This campaign came under fire seemingly once a week with revelations of Trump’s lack of personal integrity and deep misogyny. After he openly boasted about sexually assaulting women, twelve women came forward with stories of being assaulted by Trump. On November 28, Trump will appear in court to face charges of fraud stemming from Trump University. In the face of all of these scandals, which would usually destroy a political career, Trump was able to soundly win the presidency.

Many are questioning how this nightmare scenario could have come to pass, the answer is now clear. Donald Trump won the presidency due to the political bankruptcy of Hillary Clinton and the Democratic Party. During the Democratic primaries earlier this year, polls revealed that Hillary Clinton stood only a narrow chance of defeating Donald Trump, whereas her primary opponent, Bernie Sanders, would have soundly defeated him and all other Republican contenders. Against all logic or reason, the Democratic National Committee used its influence to elevate Hillary Clinton while suppressing the campaign of Bernie Sanders. The Podesta emails released by WikiLeaks give details not only on how Sanders was taken down, but also on how the Clinton campaign boosted the profile of extreme right-wing candidates like Trump, Ted Cruz, and Ben Carson by encouraging the media to cover them more frequently.

The Clinton campaign purposefully elevated the most conservative elements of the Republican Party so that Clinton would end up facing an unelectable candidate and increase her chances of winning. However, this strategy backfired because of Trump’s success in reaching out to disaffected portions of the working class. Trump spoke out against free trade deals like NAFTA and TPP, which sent thousands of manufacturing jobs out of the country, costing many working class people their livelihoods. Trump also was able to tap into the anti-establishment mood so prominent in today’s political atmosphere, a result of the Democrats and Republicans working across party lines to enrich themselves at the expense of working people.

Obviously, Trump is not the anti-establishment, working-class champion that his campaign made him out to be–he is simply an uglier feature of the establishment–but he could at least pretend to be. Hillary Clinton on the other hand, has a solid record of pro-war, pro-globalization, and anti-working class legislation. She helped draft the TPP and spent most of her campaign speaking in favor of it; she also initially spoke against free healthcare, free education, and a $15 an hour minimum wage, although all of these provisions are desired by a majority of Americans.

The indisputable truth is that Clinton and the Democrats uphold a corporate agenda that places profit over people. This is why they worked so hard to eliminate Bernie Sanders despite his being immensely popular among voters. This is why Trump was able to swing Ohio to vote Republican, although it went to Obama in 2008 and 2012. This is why Pennsylvania went red for the first time since 1988 and why Wisconsin went red for the first time since 1984. Surely Trump’s rampant xenophobia, racism, and misogyny played a role in his victory, but it is simply incorrect to suggest that every single Trump voter belongs to the class of “deplorables” that Clinton denounced in her campaign. Election results show that Trump earned two million less votes than Mitt Romney in 2012, and Romney lost soundly. Clinton lost because seven million people that voted for Obama in 2012 could not bring themselves to vote for Hillary Clinton. It turns out that Hillary Clinton was the unelectable candidate.

It is important to note that the economic fears and realities facing the millions of working class Trump voters are not nonexistent and are the same that face us all. The meteoric rise of Bernie Sanders proved this. They were, however, channeled in the wrong direction. Instead of pointing the finger of blame at the big business CEOs and the superwealthy for attacking wages and benefits, smashing worker’s rights and unions, mass layoffs, and ever increasing workload, wildly high education and healthcare costs, and outsourcing, the Trump campaign Trump campaign blamed immigrants, people of color, and the poor. They also effectively utilized mass hatred for both the Democrats and the establishment Republicans, again shifting blame from the superwealthy to the establishment parties who, while carrying out the policies of big business, are only half of the equation. Unfortunately, this message resonated with many frustrated people. It also resonated with,empowered,and revitalized organized hate groups such as the KKK and American Nazi Party, and has lay the groundwork for more to form. This is the real threat of the Trump presidency, and we must organize now to resist the rise of the organized, militant, radical right.

The question now is where do we go from here? The answer: We build a party that fights for a working class platform. The Democratic Party’s days of pretending to be a fighting force for the working class are officially over. They have proven absolutely that they are in a league with the Republicans in pursuing policies that will enrich corporations and impoverish the rest of us. Starting right now we need to build a party that will fight corporations and the two parties of capitalism. We need a party that will create a green jobs program to end our dependence on destructive fossil fuels, fix unemployment and repair our tattered economy, and save our planet from environmental catastrophe. We need a party that understands that healthcare is a right and not a privilege, will fight for free, single-payer healthcare and take down private insurance corporations. We need a party that will fight white supremacy, mass incarceration, misogyny, rape culture, LGTBQI-phobia and all forms of bigotry that plague our society.

The Alabama Green Party, and the GPUS, is fighting for all these things and more, and we ask you to get involved in this struggle. We are looking for organizers in cities and counties across Alabama. We are asking people to get involved in your local chapter if one already exists, and to start one if not. We are looking for financial support to build our war-chest in anticipation of the upcoming year. We must agitate, we must educate, and we must organize. We need your help, and your strength.

If you are sick and tired of politics-as-usual, if you are tired of the two-party corporate stranglehold on our elections, if you want a real chance at a future for yourself and your loved ones, now is the time to get involved in on the ground struggle. We can, and will, change the political landscape of Alabama for the benefit of people not profit through dedication, courage, consistency, and solidarity.

Contact us and learn how you can join the Alabama Green Party today.

1. Message this page
2. Email us at [email protected]
3. Check out our website for more info, and to donate.

The power to shape the future lies in your hands, and it’s time to grasp it. Let’s put up a fight. Solidarity.

Alabama Green Party State Steering Committee