CALIFORNIA DEMOCRATS FAVOR EXIT STRATEGY FROM AFGHANISTAN

The California Democratic Party, long in the vanguard of anti-war politics, is officially endorsing the Afghanistan exit strategy legislation by Rep. Jim McGovern, which was supported by a majority of House Democrats and opposed by the Obama administration.

Grass roots Democrats failed to achieve unity on the wording of an anti-war platform to propose to the party’s executive board, and faced internal party resistance to any criticism of the Obama Afghanistan policy. Their efforts were derailed until Burton intervened last week.

The resolution is the beginning of an effort at bottom-up anti-war organizing in other state Democratic parties. The resolutions are organizing tools for grass-roots education and increasing pressure on Congress when they return to the Long War issues in the coming session.

It was California Democrats who sparked the anti-Vietnam revolt within the party in 1967. In 2004, it was Howard Dean who triggered a similar questioning as the national primaries began. Tom Hayden