CONVERSION: With a Powerful Essay, Famous Social Activist Tom Hayden Switches From Bernie To Hillary [View all]

[MrWendel]

http://bluenationreview.com/famous-social-activist-tom-hayden-switches-from-bernie-to-hillary/

By Susan Madrak

“Tom Hayden? Tom Hayden?” I said to myself when I saw The Nation today. If you asked me who were the least likely activists to support Hillary, Tom Hayden would have been on the list — especially since he was already supporting Bernie. But here’s what he writes today: “We still need the organizing of a united front of equals to prevail against the Republicans. It will take a thorough process of conflict resolution to get there, not a unilateral power wielding by the usual operatives. It’s up to all of us.”

Tom Hayden was one of the highest-profile student radicals of the sixties, and an author of the Port Huron Statement, calling for the complete reformation of the Democratic party. (On a more mundane level, he was married to Jane Fonda at the height of her activist years.) He also ran successfully for the state legislature in California, and is on the board of Progressive Democrats of America. He is an anti-fracking activist.

And as of today, Hayden is a Hillary supporter. It was her nuanced position on fracking that finally made him switch — that, and the tactics of California fracking opponents. Hayden explains:

Hillary wants limits on fracking: a ban where individual states have blocked it, like in New York; safeguards against children’s and family exposures; a ban where releases of methane or contamination of ground water are proven; and full disclosure of the chemicals used in the process. Bernie’s position is that he’s simply against all fracking. But Hillary’s position goes beyond what virtually any state has done.

As Hayden points out, Bernie’s fracking ban doesn’t include a strategic plan for implementing his policy.

There is no recognition of the overwhelming wall of opposition from the Republican Congress, which can only be broken on state-by-state organizing. The climate clock is ticking towards doomsday. Where are we moving next, beyond waiting for the overthrow of Citizens United?

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