Why we need to keep Marching Fo(u)rth

JoAnn Wypijewski speaks about working class voters in Ohio

On today of all days, we need to remember that whoever wins the presidency - whichever candidate from whatever party - our work to march forth for justice and peace will be far from over. Either Democrat or John McCain will not be able to implement a bad agenda without some level of public consent -- but nor are they likely to make the fundamental changes we need without sustained public outcry.

In terms of political philosophy, this is closer to Barack Obama's "Change happens from the bottom up" motif than Sen. Clinton's "it took a president to get the job done" line about the Voting Rights Act. But Obama's ostensible agreement with me on this does not mean we give him a free pass, or any less hard of a time than we should give whoever is the next president.

Indeed, we must march forth until the next president really ends the War in Iraq -- and not just one brigade out a month, which will keep troops there until 2010. We must march forth until no American who works full-time is also living in poverty. We must march forth until the Hyde Amendment is repealed, so that a woman's right to choose is not dependent on her income level. We must march forth and march forth and march forth. Otherwise, all the promises made by the candidates will evaporate quicker than we can believe.

JoAnn Wypijewski, who I consider a role model for her work as an activist and journalist, talks in the above video about her recent trip to Ohio to report on the presidential primary and the working class vote. For all the attention paid by the media to working-class voters, most of it falls short in terms of looking at what people are really wrestling with in their lives. For a reality check, watch this video and check out JoAnn's accompanying article in the Nation.

And remember...

MARCH FORTH!!!