THE RESULT of the New York Democratic primary cent of the vote compared to Michael Dukakis's 51 per cent. But that is still a tremendous percentage for a candidate who was portrayed at the beginning of the campaign as on the 'way out fringe of the Democratic Party. Jackson was completely consolidated as the second runner for the Democratic nomination. Openly right wing Albert Gore was crushed with less than 10 per cent of the vote. Jess Jackson is now a powerful force in the Democratic Party.
The campaign also gives a deep insight INTO. SLne forces work in US DOLCs After decade in which all official claims were that Reagan's presidency showed a profound shift to the right in US political opinion the reality is that Jackson's campaign has shown a real growth in the most left wing section of the Democratic Party - shifting the entire party to the left The mobilisation of thi US electorate in support of a programme ol radical reform is all but unparallelpe in ine rece SOV O. the country's development. SOUL ANCW York also zowed that the Coalition's' MalnOOW strategy of politicking from WILD IS the largest of America's bourgeois parties is inexorably dragging the campaign to the right.
Jackson has increased his share of the white vote since the 1984 presidential elections to a degree - in the South alone it increased from 1 to 7-10 per cent. He's also managed To nammer aus col• petitors in a number of the nrimaries and caucuses that have taken place thus far, most notably in Michigan where he won 55 per cent of the vote to Dukakis' - the Democratic front runner's All this, as we tried to make clear in the March issue of Socialist Action, is on the basis of a populist programme, calling for, among oIner things, massive reductions in arms socnaie lor ivestchl the economy, the creation of a national health service, and a verbal commitment to the rights of foreign countries to determine their own social systems free of outside interference.
It is, naturally enough, on this last position that Jackson has now openly begun to shift. New York represented an exceptional primary. rece ves Democratic delegates, the largest anotmesl after California (whose primary takes place in early June) And 25 per cent of the electorate New York is Jewish, the vast majority of StaLCsud porters of the Israeli state.
The Zionist lobby in the Us is a tremendous 'behind the scenes' political ›ower. wnose oressure cal iterally make or break a candidate on the basis o their position on the conflicts in the Middle East. In other words, you support Israel unequivocally or else we mobilise literally millions of voters and fightwing activists to try and ensure that you're not elected.
aeksons Dubic une and the line of the campaign in general. on Israel and the Palestinians up to New York has been consistent, if mistaken. He has stood for the right of the Palestinians to a homeland on the West Bank and in the aza uo asa lor an l ternational conference in order to mediate such a resolution to the conflict the conference to include representatives of the PLO as the representatives of the Palestinian people in their struggle. He has met with Arafat publicly (and was photographed exchanging hugs with him), and a section of his constituency has been Arab-Americans who truly beneved lnal ne wa. the only candidate that was willing to stand in solidarity with them.
But when the pressure's on, ODDOELUISS itself very clear under such circumstances. In order to win over some sectors of the Jewish vote — he currently is polled as receiving 10 per cent of their vote as opposed to Dukakis' 74 per cent -— Jackson has shamelessly Tenceca caluclus tions, claiming that 'he saw no need to bring Mr Arafat into the formal negotiating process' and that 'the sole purpose of his meeting with the- Palestine Liberation Organisation's leader had been to challenge him over his position on Israel! He went on to say that the 'US priority in the Middle East should be to assure Israel's See TIPL On in part by getting the •Io recognise Israel's right to exist' (InThis is not the first time that Jackson has quickstepped to the right under DICSSurC only the most brazen. He fudged on his line of non-intervention in other nation's aftairs over the Gulf War, for instance, whe ne eccccu oveeu that if elected he would US naval Hlalllali presence in une area to safeguard its interests.
Why is it that Jackson has taken such a turn? Part is the OT-IL oI Coulse. pressure exerted by his 'need to win votes'. More fundamentally, however, is the reality of operating within the Democratic rarly, which has proven 'graveyard" of virtually every social reform movement that is has managed to lure within its grasp in the In order to get the Dasl. public support, or even the recognition, of the party big-wigs, Jackson has to do things in a way that will not be perceived by them as threatening the status quo. weecess o say. LuCUCS tioning support for the SO HS state its nachinations as the tool o JS imperialism in the Mic ce Has one orine issues that stands at the head of ine agenda Its ironic, though, that this move by Jackson very the Jewish voTe n York. But it will have disaffected New York's 100,000 Arab-Americans, as well as intensifying the contradictions within the ranks of the progressive sections of the Rainbow Coalition that there has been such a struggle to build.
Unfortunately, York is only the beginning of the process. Jackson campaigning in New York HIGIANTS. •RE E UNDOCUMENTED V JUST
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was not the substantial 'reverse' for Jesse Jackson that the press are claiming. True he only received 37 per
probably didn't win him ane Jewish vote in Nev