Obama-file 4 Obama Was Endorsed by Far Left "New Party"

Obama-file 3 here

When Barack Obama successfully ran for the Illinois State Senate in 1996(as a Democrat) he was endorsed by the Democratic Socialists of America.


A Marxist organisation, Chicago DSA also endorsed three other candidates that year-Danny K Davis (A DSA member and current US congressman), Willie Delgado and Patricia Martin.

Obama was also endorsed by the Chicago branch of the New Party.

Davis, Delgado and probably Martin were New Party members.

What was the New Party?

Strong in the mid to late '90s the New Party was an electoral alliance dedicated to electing leftist candidates to office-often through the Democratic Party.

Two organisations formed the backbone of the New Party-the Democratic Socialists of America and the US's largest radical organisation, Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now (ACORN)


Barack Obama was an ACORN man.

From the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review

But back in Chicago, the (ACORN) is more important than Iraq or Washington. ACORN and its associated Midwest Academy, both founded in the 1970s, continue to train and mobilize activists throughout the country, often using them to manipulate public opinion through "direct action." It's sometimes a code for illegal activities.

Prior to law school, Barack Obama worked as an organizer for their affiliates in New York and Chicago. He always has been an ACORN person -- meeting and working with them to advance their causes. Through his membership on the board of the Woods Fund for Chicago and his friendship with Teresa Heinz Kerry, Obama has helped ensure that they remain funded well.

Since he graduated from law school, Obama's work with ACORN and the Midwest Academy has ranged from training and fundraising, to legal representation and promoting their work.

In Chicago, the New Party consisted mainly of ACORN, DSA and the Committees of Correspondence. A breakaway from the Communist Party USA, CoC worked closely with DSA and many activists were members of both organisations.

Well known leftist Noam Chomsky is a case in point.

From the Chicago DSA's New Ground 38 Jan/Feb 1995

On Saturday, January 14, the New Party in Chicago took another step in its effort to establish itself as a political force by holding a major outreach meeting directed at Chicago's Left. About 100 people, with sizable delegations from DSA and CoC among others, heard Bruce Colburn and Elaine Bernard preach the gospel of the New Party...

Elaine Bernard, a Labor Studies lecturer at Harvard, is a DSA member.

The meeting was held at the meeting hall of SEIU Local 880, a local that is tackling the extremely difficult task of organizing home health care workers in Illinois. SEIU Local 880 and ACORN share office space.

DSA and their CoC comrades saw the New Party as a vehicle for major political change-to both move the Democratic party leftward and to eventually prepare the ground for an entirely new third party.

From New Ground 39 March/April 1995

On January 27th approximately 45 people attended the Chicago DSA and Chicago CoC organized public form at the ACTWU hall on Ashland Ave. Each organization had two representatives on the panel to present their particular elections '94 post-mortem perspectives. Chicago DSA was represented by Co-Chair, Kurt Anderson and Political Education Officer, Bob Roman. CoC was represented by Carl Davidson, who is a member of CoC's National Coordinating Committee and Ronelle Mustin, an activist from the 22nd ward. The event was chaired by Sandi Patrinos, chair of Chicago CoC...

Carl Davidson wanted to focus on "voting patterns." There were essentially two winners. Naturally the Republicans, but so were the most left in Congress such as the Progressive and Black Caucuses. The latter were re-elected while the neo-liberal and conservative Democrats were voted out. More importantly this election was the de facto defeat of the elitist Democratic Leadership Council who do not care about the poor or Labor.

To win elections, Davidson emphasized that there are two necessary coinciding factors. First, a passive majority... Secondly, a militant minority, which came to fruition for the Right wing with the Christian Coalition...

Hence Davidson emphasized that in this historical period the Left's strategy must be electoral politics not revolution. Consequently the Left must galvanize the "majority" - the working class and poor... Moreover the democratic left needs get active in the New Party which has won 20 of 30 local elections. Thus a short-term strategy of working with the Democratic Party and in the long-term work with the New Party.

Barack Obama clearly saw the potential of the New Party, because he was soon seeking their support.

From New Ground 42 Sep/Oct 1995

About 50 activists attended the Chicago New Party membership meeting in July. The purpose of the meeting was to update members on local activities and to hear appeals for NP support from four potential political candidates. The NP is being very active in organization building and politics...

The political entourage included Alderman Michael Chandler, William Delgado, chief of staff for State Rep Miguel del Valle, and spokespersons for State Sen. Alice Palmer, Sonya Sanchez, chief of staff for State Sen. Jesse Garcia, who is running for State Rep in Garcia's District; and Barack Obama, chief of staff for State Sen. Alice Palmer. Obama is running for Palmer's vacant seat...

Although ACORN and SEIU Local 880 were the harbingers of the NP there was a strong presence of CoC and DSA (15% DSA)... Four political candidates were "there" seeking NP support.

Barack Obama won the 1996 election, by using legal technicalities to get all his opponents disqualified-but he still used New Party volunteers in his campaign.

From New Ground 47 July/August 1996

The NP's '96 Political Program has been enormously successful with 3 of 4 endorsed candidates winning electoral primaries. All four candidates attended the NP membership meeting on April 11th to express their gratitude.

Danny Davis, winner in the 7th Congressional District, invited NPers to join his Campaign Steering Committee.

Patricia Martin, who won the race for Judge in 7th Subcircuit Court, explained that due to the NP she was able to network and get experienced advice from progressives like Davis.

Barack Obama, victor in the 13th State Senate District, encouraged NPers to join in his task forces on Voter Education and Voter Registration...

Clearly the young Barack Obama had no aversion to enlisting Marxist help to further his political career.

Obama-file 5 here