<html><head>
<meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"></head><body style="word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; -webkit-line-break: after-white-space;" class=""><h3 class="nomargin" style="margin: 0px; padding: 5px; line-height: 1em; font-size: 1.1em; color: rgb(255, 255, 255); background-color: rgb(59, 89, 152); clear: both; height: 1em;"> </h3><div id="tools" class="clearfix" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; position: absolute; top: 8px; right: 5px;"><ul class="tools" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; font-size: 1em; line-height: 1em; position: relative; float: right; width: auto; list-style-type: none;"><li class="noborder" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; float: left; width: auto; border-left-style: none;"><a class="print" href="https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2020/08/25/pers-a25.html?view=print" target="_blank" style="margin: 0px 0px 0px 2px; padding: 2px 3px 3px; color: rgb(68, 86, 137); text-decoration: none; display: block; font-size: 1.1em; line-height: 1em; background-color: rgb(254, 254, 254); background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">Print</a></li><li style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; float: left; width: auto;" class=""><a class="leaflet" href="http://intsse.com/wswspdf/en/articles/2020/08/25/pers-a25.pdf" target="_blank" style="margin: 0px 0px 0px 2px; padding: 2px 3px 3px; color: rgb(68, 86, 137); text-decoration: none; display: block; font-size: 1.1em; line-height: 1em; background-color: rgb(254, 254, 254); background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">Leaflet</a></li><li style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; float: left; width: auto;" class=""><a class="feedback" href="https://www.wsws.org/en/special/contact.html?u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.wsws.org%2Fen%2Farticles%2F2020%2F08%2F25%2Fpers-a25.html&t=The%20Republican%20convention%3A%20Four%20nights%20of%20fascist%20filth%20begin" style="margin: 0px 0px 0px 2px; padding: 2px 3px 3px; color: rgb(68, 86, 137); text-decoration: none; display: block; font-size: 1.1em; line-height: 1em; background-color: rgb(254, 254, 254); background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">Feedback</a></li><li style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; float: left; width: auto;" class=""><a class="share" href="https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2020/08/25/pers-a25.html?pk_campaign=newsletter&pk_kwd=wsws#" style="margin: 0px 0px 0px 2px; padding: 2px 3px 3px; color: rgb(68, 86, 137); text-decoration: none; display: block; font-size: 1.1em; line-height: 1em; background-color: rgb(254, 254, 254); background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">Share »</a></li></ul></div><h2 style="margin: 0.42em 0px 0px; padding: 0px; font-weight: 400; line-height: 1.2em; font-size: 2.6em; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;" class="">The Republican convention: Four nights of fascist filth begin</h2><h5 style="margin: 10px 0px 0px; padding: 0px; font-weight: 400; line-height: 1.3em; font-size: 1.1em; font-style: italic; color: rgb(102, 102, 102);" class="">25 August 2020</h5><p style="margin: 10px 0px 0px; padding: 0px; font-size: 1.4em; line-height: 1.36em;" class="">The Republican National Convention, which opened last night, must be taken as a serious warning by the working class. This event has an out-and-out fascist character. It is putting on display the most reactionary forces in American life: racists, anti-Semites, rabid anticommunists and militarists.</p><p style="margin: 10px 0px 0px; padding: 0px; font-size: 1.4em; line-height: 1.36em;" class="">Such is the rotten character of the official political system that the dregs of humanity are accorded hours of prime time television and treated seriously as a legitimate part of public life. These forces have a very real prospect of consolidating their position at the head of the most powerful imperialist state on the planet.</p><p style="margin: 10px 0px 0px; padding: 0px; font-size: 1.4em; line-height: 1.36em;" class="">Diatribes against socialism and open appeals to racism and xenophobia are vomited across the airwaves with little or no opposition from within the media establishment. On the contrary, one television network, Fox, is devoted entirely to the propagation of such views, while the others offer little more than half-hearted corrections, as though a four-day fascist propaganda show requires only a bit of fact-checking.</p><p style="margin: 10px 0px 0px; padding: 0px; font-size: 1.4em; line-height: 1.36em;" class="">The opening night of the convention confirms the danger against which the WSWS and the Socialist Equality Party have consistently warned: Donald Trump and the Republican Party are seeking to establish an authoritarian, personalist movement, an American form of fascism, which would smash opponents through the use of brute force.</p><p style="margin: 10px 0px 0px; padding: 0px; font-size: 1.4em; line-height: 1.36em;" class="">Trump does not have a purely electoral perspective. His convention is itself a demonstration of this, since it is primarily aimed at whipping up antisocialist hysteria in its right-wing base and justifying preemptive action by the police and military, as well as by ultraright paramilitary forces.</p><p style="margin: 10px 0px 0px; padding: 0px; font-size: 1.4em; line-height: 1.36em;" class="">As far as the election campaign goes, Trump does not expect to convince a majority of the American people to support him. He did not win the popular vote in 2016, and he is the first American president to have gone through an entire term in office without ever having the support, in even a single opinion poll, of a majority of the American people.</p><p style="margin: 10px 0px 0px; padding: 0px; font-size: 1.4em; line-height: 1.36em;" class="">He aims to create an environment in which there is enough uncertainty about the outcome of the vote—through his claims of massive fraud, outright sabotage of the mail-in vote, and efforts to disrupt in-person voting through the mobilization of police, sheriffs and immigration agents at the polls—that he can make a claim to retaining power.</p><div id="widgetContainer" class="imageLeft" style="margin: 15px 10px 10px 0px; padding: 0px; float: left; width: 245px; background-color: rgb(241, 241, 241); overflow: hidden;"><div class="flash-messages" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px 10px;"><div class="flash-message--thank-you-for-subscribing flash-message" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; max-height: 0px; overflow-y: hidden; text-align: center; transition: max-height 1s ease-in-out;"><h6 style="margin: 10px 0px 0px; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.2em; font-size: 1.6em;" class=""></h6><p style="margin: 10px 0px 0px; padding: 0px; font-size: 1.4em; line-height: 1.36em;" class=""></p></div><div class="flash-message--thank-you-double-opt-in flash-message" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; max-height: 0px; overflow-y: hidden; text-align: center; transition: max-height 1s ease-in-out;"><h6 style="margin: 10px 0px 0px; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.2em; font-size: 1.6em;" class=""></h6><p style="margin: 10px 0px 0px; padding: 0px; font-size: 1.4em; line-height: 1.36em;" class=""></p><p style="margin: 10px 0px 0px; padding: 0px; font-size: 1.4em; line-height: 1.36em;" class=""></p></div></div><div class="engagement-widget" style="margin: 0px; padding: 5px 20px;"><div id="mauticform_wrapper_wswsnewsletterconversionqualifiedleadconversionwidget" class="mauticform_wrapper" style="margin: 10px auto; padding: 0px; max-width: 600px; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; color: rgb(103, 103, 103);"><form autocomplete="false" role="form" method="post" action="https://mautic.wsws.org/form/submit?formId=131" id="mauticform_wswsnewsletterconversionqualifiedleadconversionwidget" data-mautic-form="wswsnewsletterconversionqualifiedleadconversionwidget" enctype="multipart/form-data" target="mauticiframe_wswsnewsletterconversionqualifiedleadconversionwidget" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; font-size: 13px; line-height: 1.3em;" class=""><div class="mauticform-error" id="mauticform_wswsnewsletterconversionqualifiedleadconversionwidget_error" style="margin: 0px 0px 10px; padding: 0px; color: red;"></div><div class="mauticform-message" id="mauticform_wswsnewsletterconversionqualifiedleadconversionwidget_message" style="margin: 0px 0px 10px; padding: 0px; color: green;"></div><div class="mauticform-innerform" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><div class="mauticform-page-wrapper mauticform-page-1" data-mautic-form-page="1" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><div id="mauticform_wswsnewsletterconversionqualifiedleadconversionwidget_take_up_the_fight_for_soc" class="mauticform-row mauticform-freehtml mauticform-field-1" style="margin: 0px 0px 20px; padding: 0px;"><h3 id="mauticform_label_wswsnewsletterconversionqualifiedleadconversionwidget_take_up_the_fight_for_soc" for="mauticform_input_wswsnewsletterconversionqualifiedleadconversionwidget_take_up_the_fight_for_soc" class="mauticform-label" style="margin: 0px 0px 3px; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.2em; font-size: 24px; color: rgb(43, 43, 43); clear: both; height: auto; background-image: none;">Take up the fight for socialism! </h3><div id="mauticform_input_wswsnewsletterconversionqualifiedleadconversionwidget_take_up_the_fight_for_soc" name="mauticform[take_up_the_fight_for_soc]" value="" class="mauticform-freehtml" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"></div></div><div id="mauticform_wswsnewsletterconversionqualifiedleadconversionwidget_first_name" data-validate="first_name" data-validation-type="text" class="mauticform-field-2 mauticform-row mauticform-required mauticform-text" style="margin: 0px 0px 20px; padding: 0px;"><label id="mauticform_label_wswsnewsletterconversionqualifiedleadconversionwidget_first_name" for="mauticform_input_wswsnewsletterconversionqualifiedleadconversionwidget_first_name" class="mauticform-label" style="margin: 0px 0px 3px; padding: 0px; font-size: 1.1em; display: block; font-weight: bold; color: rgb(43, 43, 43);">First Name</label><input id="mauticform_input_wswsnewsletterconversionqualifiedleadconversionwidget_first_name" name="mauticform[first_name]" value="" placeholder="First Name" class="mauticform-input" type="text" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0.8em; width: 205px; border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); box-shadow: rgb(255, 255, 255) 0px 0px 0px inset; border-top-left-radius: 4px; border-top-right-radius: 4px; border-bottom-right-radius: 4px; border-bottom-left-radius: 4px; font-size: 16px;"></div><div id="mauticform_wswsnewsletterconversionqualifiedleadconversionwidget_last_name" data-validate="last_name" data-validation-type="text" class="mauticform-required mauticform-row mauticform-field-3 mauticform-text" style="margin: 0px 0px 20px; padding: 0px;"><label id="mauticform_label_wswsnewsletterconversionqualifiedleadconversionwidget_last_name" for="mauticform_input_wswsnewsletterconversionqualifiedleadconversionwidget_last_name" class="mauticform-label" style="margin: 0px 0px 3px; padding: 0px; font-size: 1.1em; display: block; font-weight: bold; color: rgb(43, 43, 43);">Last Name</label><input id="mauticform_input_wswsnewsletterconversionqualifiedleadconversionwidget_last_name" name="mauticform[last_name]" value="" placeholder="Last Name" class="mauticform-input" type="text" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0.8em; width: 205px; border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); box-shadow: rgb(255, 255, 255) 0px 0px 0px inset; border-top-left-radius: 4px; border-top-right-radius: 4px; border-bottom-right-radius: 4px; border-bottom-left-radius: 4px; font-size: 16px;"></div><div id="mauticform_wswsnewsletterconversionqualifiedleadconversionwidget_mobile_phone" data-validate="mobile_phone" data-validation-type="tel" class="mauticform-field-4 mauticform-row mauticform-tel mauticform-required" style="margin: 0px 0px 20px; padding: 0px;"><label id="mauticform_label_wswsnewsletterconversionqualifiedleadconversionwidget_mobile_phone" for="mauticform_input_wswsnewsletterconversionqualifiedleadconversionwidget_mobile_phone" class="mauticform-label" style="margin: 0px 0px 3px; padding: 0px; font-size: 1.1em; display: block; font-weight: bold; color: rgb(43, 43, 43);">Mobile Phone</label><input id="mauticform_input_wswsnewsletterconversionqualifiedleadconversionwidget_mobile_phone" name="mauticform[mobile_phone]" value="" placeholder="Mobile Phone" class="mauticform-input" type="tel" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0.8em; width: 205px; border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); box-shadow: rgb(255, 255, 255) 0px 0px 0px inset; border-top-left-radius: 4px; border-top-right-radius: 4px; border-bottom-right-radius: 4px; border-bottom-left-radius: 4px; font-size: 16px;"></div><div id="mauticform_wswsnewsletterconversionqualifiedleadconversionwidget_country" data-validate="country" data-validation-type="country" class="mauticform-field-5 mauticform-row mauticform-required mauticform-select" style="margin: 0px 0px 20px; padding: 0px;"><label id="mauticform_label_wswsnewsletterconversionqualifiedleadconversionwidget_country" for="mauticform_input_wswsnewsletterconversionqualifiedleadconversionwidget_country" class="mauticform-label" style="margin: 0px 0px 3px; padding: 0px; font-size: 1.1em; display: block; font-weight: bold; color: rgb(43, 43, 43);">Country</label><select id="mauticform_input_wswsnewsletterconversionqualifiedleadconversionwidget_country" name="mauticform[country]" value="" class="mauticform-selectbox" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0.5em; width: 205px; border-color: rgb(204, 204, 204); box-shadow: rgb(255, 255, 255) 0px 0px 0px inset; border-top-left-radius: 4px; border-top-right-radius: 4px; border-bottom-right-radius: 4px; border-bottom-left-radius: 4px;"> <option value="" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" class=""></option> <option value="Afghanistan" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" class="">Afghanistan</option> <option value="Åland Islands" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" class="">Åland Islands</option> <option value="Albania" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" class="">Albania</option> <option value="Algeria" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" class="">Algeria</option> <option value="Andorra" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" class="">Andorra</option> <option value="Angola" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" class="">Angola</option> <option value="Anguilla" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" class="">Anguilla</option> <option value="Antarctica" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" class="">Antarctica</option> <option value="Antigua and Barbuda" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" class="">Antigua and Barbuda</option> <option value="Argentina" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" class="">Argentina</option> <option value="Armenia" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" class="">Armenia</option> <option value="Aruba" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" class="">Aruba</option> <option value="Australia" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" class="">Australia</option> <option value="Austria" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" class="">Austria</option> <option value="Azerbaijan" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" class="">Azerbaijan</option> <option value="Bahamas" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" class="">Bahamas</option> <option value="Bahrain" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" class="">Bahrain</option> <option value="Bangladesh" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" class="">Bangladesh</option> <option value="Barbados" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" class="">Barbados</option> <option value="Belarus" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" class="">Belarus</option> <option value="Belgium" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" class="">Belgium</option> <option value="Belize" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" class="">Belize</option> <option value="Benin" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" class="">Benin</option> <option value="Bermuda" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" class="">Bermuda</option> <option value="Bhutan" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" class="">Bhutan</option> <option value="Bolivia" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" class="">Bolivia</option> <option value="Bonaire, Saint Eustatius and Saba" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" class="">Bonaire, Saint Eustatius and Saba</option> <option value="Bosnia and Herzegovina" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" class="">Bosnia and Herzegovina</option> <option value="Botswana" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" class="">Botswana</option> <option value="Bouvet Island" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" class="">Bouvet Island</option> <option value="Brazil" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" class="">Brazil</option> <option value="Brunei" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" class="">Brunei</option> <option value="Bulgaria" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" class="">Bulgaria</option> <option value="Burkina Faso" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" class="">Burkina Faso</option> <option value="Burundi" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" class="">Burundi</option> <option value="Cape Verde" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" class="">Cape Verde</option> <option value="Cambodia" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" class="">Cambodia</option> <option value="Cameroon" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" class="">Cameroon</option> <option value="Canada" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" class="">Canada</option> <option value="Cayman Islands" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" class="">Cayman Islands</option> <option value="Central African Republic" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" class="">Central African Republic</option> <option value="Chad" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" class="">Chad</option> <option value="Chile" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" class="">Chile</option> <option value="China" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" class="">China</option> <option value="Colombia" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" class="">Colombia</option> <option value="Comoros" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" class="">Comoros</option> <option value="Cook Islands" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" class="">Cook Islands</option> <option value="Costa Rica" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" class="">Costa Rica</option> <option value="Croatia" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" class="">Croatia</option> <option value="Cuba" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" class="">Cuba</option> <option value="Cyprus" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" class="">Cyprus</option> <option value="Czech Republic" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" class="">Czech Republic</option> <option value="Denmark" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" class="">Denmark</option> <option value="Djibouti" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" class="">Djibouti</option> <option value="Dominica" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" class="">Dominica</option> <option value="Dominican Republic" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" class="">Dominican Republic</option> <option value="Democratic Republic of the Congo" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" class="">Democratic Republic of the Congo</option> <option value="East Timor" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" class="">East Timor</option> <option value="Ecuador" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" class="">Ecuador</option> <option value="Egypt" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" class="">Egypt</option> <option value="El Salvador" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" class="">El Salvador</option> <option value="Equatorial Guinea" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" class="">Equatorial Guinea</option> <option value="Eritrea" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" class="">Eritrea</option> <option value="Estonia" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" class="">Estonia</option> <option value="Ethiopia" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" class="">Ethiopia</option> <option value="Falkland Islands" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" class="">Falkland Islands</option> <option value="Fiji" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" class="">Fiji</option> <option value="Finland" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" class="">Finland</option> <option value="France" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" class="">France</option> <option value="French Guiana" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" class="">French Guiana</option> <option value="French Polynesia" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" class="">French Polynesia</option> <option value="Gabon" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" class="">Gabon</option> <option value="Gambia" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" class="">Gambia</option> <option value="Georgia" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" class="">Georgia</option> <option value="Germany" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" class="">Germany</option> <option value="Ghana" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" class="">Ghana</option> <option value="Gibraltar" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" class="">Gibraltar</option> <option value="Greece" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" class="">Greece</option> <option value="Greenland" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" class="">Greenland</option> <option value="Grenada" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" class="">Grenada</option> <option value="Guadeloupe" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" class="">Guadeloupe</option> <option value="Guam" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" class="">Guam</option> <option value="Guatemala" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" class="">Guatemala</option> <option value="Guernsey" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" class="">Guernsey</option> <option value="Guinea" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" class="">Guinea</option> <option value="Guinea Bissau" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" class="">Guinea Bissau</option> <option value="Guyana" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" class="">Guyana</option> <option value="Haiti" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" class="">Haiti</option> <option value="Heard Island and McDonald Islands" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" class="">Heard Island and McDonald Islands</option> <option value="Holy See" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" class="">Holy See</option> <option value="Honduras" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" class="">Honduras</option> <option value="Hong Kong" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" class="">Hong Kong</option> <option value="Hungary" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" class="">Hungary</option> <option value="Iceland" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" class="">Iceland</option> <option value="India" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" class="">India</option> <option value="Indonesia" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" class="">Indonesia</option> <option value="Iran" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" class="">Iran</option> <option value="Iraq" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" class="">Iraq</option> <option value="Ireland" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" class="">Ireland</option> <option value="Israel" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" class="">Israel</option> <option value="Italy" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" class="">Italy</option> <option value="Ivory Coast" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" class="">Ivory Coast</option> <option value="Jamaica" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" class="">Jamaica</option> <option value="Japan" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" class="">Japan</option> <option value="Jersey" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" class="">Jersey</option> <option value="Jordan" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" class="">Jordan</option> <option value="Kazakhstan" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" class="">Kazakhstan</option> <option value="Kenya" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" class="">Kenya</option> <option value="Kiribati" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" class="">Kiribati</option> <option value="Kuwait" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" class="">Kuwait</option> <option value="Kyrgyzstan" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" class="">Kyrgyzstan</option> <option value="Laos" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" class="">Laos</option> <option value="Latvia" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" class="">Latvia</option> <option value="Lebanon" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" class="">Lebanon</option> <option value="Lesotho" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" class="">Lesotho</option> <option value="Liberia" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" class="">Liberia</option> <option value="Libya" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" class="">Libya</option> <option value="Liechtenstein" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" class="">Liechtenstein</option> <option value="Lithuania" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" class="">Lithuania</option> <option value="Luxembourg" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" class="">Luxembourg</option> <option value="Macao" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" class="">Macao</option> <option value="Macedonia" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" class="">Macedonia</option> <option value="Madagascar" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" class="">Madagascar</option> <option value="Malawi" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" class="">Malawi</option> <option value="Malaysia" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" class="">Malaysia</option> <option value="Maldives" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" class="">Maldives</option> <option value="Mali" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" class="">Mali</option> <option value="Malta" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" class="">Malta</option> <option value="Marshall Islands" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" class="">Marshall Islands</option> <option value="Martinique" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" class="">Martinique</option> <option value="Mauritania" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" class="">Mauritania</option> <option value="Mauritius" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" class="">Mauritius</option> <option value="Mayotte" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" class="">Mayotte</option> <option value="Mexico" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" class="">Mexico</option> <option value="Micronesia" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" class="">Micronesia</option> <option value="Moldova" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" class="">Moldova</option> <option value="Monaco" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" class="">Monaco</option> <option value="Mongolia" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" class="">Mongolia</option> <option value="Montenegro" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" class="">Montenegro</option> <option value="Montserrat" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" class="">Montserrat</option> <option value="Morocco" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" class="">Morocco</option> <option value="Mozambique" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" class="">Mozambique</option> <option value="Myanmar" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" class="">Myanmar</option> <option value="Namibia" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" class="">Namibia</option> <option value="Nauru" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" class="">Nauru</option> <option value="Nepal" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" class="">Nepal</option> <option value="Netherlands" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" class="">Netherlands</option> <option value="New Caledonia" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" class="">New Caledonia</option> <option value="New Zealand" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" class="">New Zealand</option> <option value="Nicaragua" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" class="">Nicaragua</option> <option value="Niger" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" class="">Niger</option> <option value="Nigeria" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" class="">Nigeria</option> <option value="Niue" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" class="">Niue</option> <option value="North Korea" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" class="">North Korea</option> <option value="Northern Mariana Islands" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" class="">Northern Mariana Islands</option> <option value="Norway" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" class="">Norway</option> <option value="Oman" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" class="">Oman</option> <option value="Pakistan" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" class="">Pakistan</option> <option value="Palau" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" class="">Palau</option> <option value="Palestine" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" class="">Palestine</option> <option value="Panama" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" class="">Panama</option> <option value="Papua New Guinea" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" class="">Papua New Guinea</option> <option value="Paraguay" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" class="">Paraguay</option> <option value="Peru" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" class="">Peru</option> <option value="Philippines" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" class="">Philippines</option> <option value="Pitcairn" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" class="">Pitcairn</option> <option value="Poland" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" class="">Poland</option> <option value="Portugal" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" class="">Portugal</option> <option value="Puerto Rico" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" class="">Puerto Rico</option> <option value="Qatar" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" class="">Qatar</option> <option value="Republic of the Congo" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" class="">Republic of the Congo</option> <option value="Réunion" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" class="">Réunion</option> <option value="Romania" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" class="">Romania</option> <option value="Russia" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" class="">Russia</option> <option value="Rwanda" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" class="">Rwanda</option> <option value="Saint Barthelemy" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" class="">Saint Barthelemy</option> <option value="Saint Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" class="">Saint Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha</option> <option value="Saint Kitts and Nevis" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" class="">Saint Kitts and Nevis</option> <option value="Saint Lucia" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" class="">Saint Lucia</option> <option value="Saint Martin" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" class="">Saint Martin</option> <option value="Saint Pierre and Miquelon" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" class="">Saint Pierre and Miquelon</option> <option value="Saint Vincent and the Grenadines" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" class="">Saint Vincent and the Grenadines</option> <option value="Samoa" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" class="">Samoa</option> <option value="San Marino" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" class="">San Marino</option> <option value="Sao Tome and Principe" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" class="">Sao Tome and Principe</option> <option value="Saudi Arabia" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" class="">Saudi Arabia</option> <option value="Senegal" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" class="">Senegal</option> <option value="Serbia" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" class="">Serbia</option> <option value="Seychelles" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" class="">Seychelles</option> <option value="Sierra Leone" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" class="">Sierra Leone</option> <option value="Singapore" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" class="">Singapore</option> <option value="Slovakia" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" class="">Slovakia</option> <option value="Slovenia" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" class="">Slovenia</option> <option value="Solomon Islands" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" class="">Solomon Islands</option> <option value="Somalia" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" class="">Somalia</option> <option value="South Africa" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" class="">South Africa</option> <option value="South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" class="">South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands</option> <option value="South Korea" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" class="">South Korea</option> <option value="South Sudan" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" class="">South Sudan</option> <option value="Spain" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" class="">Spain</option> <option value="Sri Lanka" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" class="">Sri Lanka</option> <option value="Svalbard and Jan Mayen" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" class="">Svalbard and Jan Mayen</option> <option value="Sudan" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" class="">Sudan</option> <option value="Suriname" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" class="">Suriname</option> <option value="Swaziland" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" class="">Swaziland</option> <option value="Sweden" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" class="">Sweden</option> <option value="Switzerland" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" class="">Switzerland</option> <option value="Syria" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" class="">Syria</option> <option value="Tahiti" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" class="">Tahiti</option> <option value="Taiwan" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" class="">Taiwan</option> <option value="Tajikistan" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" class="">Tajikistan</option> <option value="Tanzania" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" class="">Tanzania</option> <option value="Thailand" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" class="">Thailand</option> <option value="Togo" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" class="">Togo</option> <option value="Tokelau" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" class="">Tokelau</option> <option value="Tonga" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" class="">Tonga</option> <option value="Trinidad and Tobago" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" class="">Trinidad and Tobago</option> <option value="Tunisia" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" class="">Tunisia</option> <option value="Turkey" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" class="">Turkey</option> <option value="Turkmenistan" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" class="">Turkmenistan</option> <option value="Turks and Caicos Islands" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" class="">Turks and Caicos Islands</option> <option value="Tuvalu" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" class="">Tuvalu</option> <option value="United Kingdom" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" class="">United Kingdom</option> <option value="United States" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" class="">United States</option> <option value="Unknown" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" class="">Unknown</option> <option value="Uganda" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" class="">Uganda</option> <option value="Ukraine" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" class="">Ukraine</option> <option value="United Arab Emirates" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" class="">United Arab Emirates</option> <option value="Uruguay" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" class="">Uruguay</option> <option value="Uzbekistan" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" class="">Uzbekistan</option> <option value="Vanuatu" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" class="">Vanuatu</option> <option value="Venezuela" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" class="">Venezuela</option> <option value="Vietnam" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" class="">Vietnam</option> <option value="Virgin Islands (British)" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" class="">Virgin Islands (British)</option> <option value="Virgin Islands (U.S.)" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" class="">Virgin Islands (U.S.)</option> <option value="Wallis and Futuna" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" class="">Wallis and Futuna</option> <option value="Western Sahara" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" class="">Western Sahara</option> <option value="Yemen" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" class="">Yemen</option> <option value="Yugoslavia" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" class="">Yugoslavia</option> <option value="Zambia" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" class="">Zambia</option> <option value="Zimbabwe" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" class="">Zimbabwe</option> </select></div><div id="mauticform_wswsnewsletterconversionqualifiedleadconversionwidget_zip" data-validate="zip" data-validation-type="text" class="mauticform-required mauticform-row mauticform-field-6 mauticform-text" style="margin: 0px 0px 20px; padding: 0px;"><label id="mauticform_label_wswsnewsletterconversionqualifiedleadconversionwidget_zip" for="mauticform_input_wswsnewsletterconversionqualifiedleadconversionwidget_zip" class="mauticform-label" style="margin: 0px 0px 3px; padding: 0px; font-size: 1.1em; display: block; font-weight: bold; color: rgb(43, 43, 43);">Zip</label><input id="mauticform_input_wswsnewsletterconversionqualifiedleadconversionwidget_zip" name="mauticform[zip]" value="" placeholder="Zip" class="mauticform-input" type="text" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0.8em; width: 205px; border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); box-shadow: rgb(255, 255, 255) 0px 0px 0px inset; border-top-left-radius: 4px; border-top-right-radius: 4px; border-bottom-right-radius: 4px; border-bottom-left-radius: 4px; font-size: 16px;"></div><div id="mauticform_wswsnewsletterconversionqualifiedleadconversionwidget_informed_consent" data-validate="informed_consent" data-validation-type="checkboxgrp" class="mauticform-required mauticform-row mauticform-checkboxgrp mauticform-field-7" style="margin: 0px 0px 20px; padding: 0px;"><div class="mauticform-checkboxgrp-row" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><label id="mauticform_checkboxgrp_label_informed_consent_Yes0" for="mauticform_checkboxgrp_checkbox_informed_consent_Yes0" class="mauticform-checkboxgrp-label" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; font-weight: bold;"><input class="mauticform-checkboxgrp-checkbox" name="mauticform[informed_consent][]" id="mauticform_checkboxgrp_checkbox_informed_consent_Yes0" type="checkbox" value="Yes" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"> I would like to be contacted by the Socialist Equality Party or the WSWS. I acknowledge that the WSWS uses my personal information in accordance with its <a href="https://www.wsws.org/en/special/privacy.html" target="_blank" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; color: rgb(68, 86, 137); text-decoration: none;" class="">privacy policy</a>. </label></div></div><div id="mauticform_wswsnewsletterconversionqualifiedleadconversionwidget_submit" class="mauticform-row mauticform-button-wrapper mauticform-field-8" style="margin: 0px 0px 20px; padding: 0px;"><button type="submit" name="mauticform[submit]" id="mauticform_input_wswsnewsletterconversionqualifiedleadconversionwidget_submit" value="" class="mauticform-button btn btn-default" style="margin: 0px; padding: 12px 16px; font-weight: 600; vertical-align: middle; cursor: pointer; border: rgb(204, 0, 0); white-space: nowrap; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.3856; border-top-left-radius: 3px; border-top-right-radius: 3px; border-bottom-right-radius: 3px; border-bottom-left-radius: 3px; -webkit-user-select: none; color: rgb(255, 255, 255); background-color: rgb(204, 0, 0); width: 205px;">Submit</button></div></div></div></form></div></div></div><p style="margin: 10px 0px 0px; padding: 0px; font-size: 1.4em; line-height: 1.36em;" class="">No Democrat has answered Trump’s declaration, made last week, that the outcome of the election may be unknown for weeks or even months after the polls close on November 3. This only demonstrates the fecklessness and unseriousness of the Democratic Party.</p><p style="margin: 10px 0px 0px; padding: 0px; font-size: 1.4em; line-height: 1.36em;" class="">It is not that there is any broad support in the American population for Trump’s fascistic views. Quite the contrary, the trend is to the left, particularly among workers and youth. But there is a widespread and thoroughly justified feeling that the Democratic Party is no alternative and offers nothing to working people.</p><p style="margin: 10px 0px 0px; padding: 0px; font-size: 1.4em; line-height: 1.36em;" class="">Millions of working people reject the big lie of the Republican convention--the claim that Trump has mobilized an effective response to the coronavirus pandemic that has infected nearly six million people in the US and killed more than 180,000. The United States has four percent of the world’s population, but 25 percent of the COVID-19 cases and 23 percent of the deaths. In its inept, corrupt and callous response to the pandemic, the Trump administration and the American ruling class have demonstrated the complete failure of American capitalism.</p><p style="margin: 10px 0px 0px; padding: 0px; font-size: 1.4em; line-height: 1.36em;" class="">The danger confronting working people does not come from the inherent strength of the Trump camp but from the dead weight of the Democratic Party, which seeks to suppress the real opposition to the would-be Mussolini in the White House, which comes from below—the strikes and walkouts by teachers, autoworkers, warehouse and logistics workers triggered by the pandemic, the massive and unprecedented popular protests against police violence and racism.</p><p style="margin: 10px 0px 0px; padding: 0px; font-size: 1.4em; line-height: 1.36em;" class="">Rather than saying what is—that Trump is moving to establish an authoritarian regime—and appealing to the American people against it, the Democrats seek to woo sections of the Republican Party itself: the former governors, senators and military-intelligence operatives who were paraded in front of the convention that nominated Joe Biden and Kamala Harris.</p><p style="margin: 10px 0px 0px; padding: 0px; font-size: 1.4em; line-height: 1.36em;" class="">At the same time, they seek to split the working class along racial lines, continually counterposing race to class and blaming whites as a whole for the racial discrimination and violence that are the product of capitalism and the capitalist state. This emphasis on racial (and gender) identity actually gives Trump and the ultraright an opening to make an appeal to white workers facing the destruction of their jobs and living standards under the impact of the coronavirus pandemic and the economic collapse it has triggered.</p><p style="margin: 10px 0px 0px; padding: 0px; font-size: 1.4em; line-height: 1.36em;" class="">Trump won the presidential election in 2016 because the Democratic Party made a point of demonstrating its hostility to the working class, particularly in the industrial Midwest, the focal point of the destruction of jobs and wages during the eight years of the Obama-Biden administration.</p><p style="margin: 10px 0px 0px; padding: 0px; font-size: 1.4em; line-height: 1.36em;" class="">The Democratic vote collapsed, not only in rural and small-town working class areas, but in the inner-city neighborhoods of Milwaukee, Detroit and Philadelphia, tipping the states of Wisconsin, Michigan and Pennsylvania to Trump and, with them, the White House.</p><p style="margin: 10px 0px 0px; padding: 0px; font-size: 1.4em; line-height: 1.36em;" class="">With the nomination of the right-wing Biden-Harris ticket, the Democratic Party is running the 2020 election with the same strategy as 2016, making no appeal to the working class and seeking to further consolidate its standing as the favored party of Wall Street and the military-intelligence apparatus.</p><p style="margin: 10px 0px 0px; padding: 0px; font-size: 1.4em; line-height: 1.36em;" class="">In their first joint interview since the convention, Joe Biden and Kamala Harris appeared on ABC News Friday night. In the course of nearly one hour, they made no mention of poverty, hunger, homelessness or the cutoff of the $600-a-week supplemental federal unemployment benefit upon which some 28 million workers, laid off because of the coronavirus pandemic, depended for their survival.</p><p style="margin: 10px 0px 0px; padding: 0px; font-size: 1.4em; line-height: 1.36em;" class="">Ignoring the economic distress that unites millions of working people of every race and gender, the Democrats act as though there were no serious crisis, in a country where nearly 200,000 have died in the pandemic and 28 million are unemployed. Trump has a program—the forcible suppression of social contradictions using fascist methods. The Democrats have no program, except to claim that the horrors of capitalism would be made more tolerable if they were inflicted by a more “diverse” selection of rulers.</p><p style="margin: 10px 0px 0px; padding: 0px; font-size: 1.4em; line-height: 1.36em;" class="">The Socialist Equality Party is serious about the fight against Trump and fascism. For that very reason, we entirely oppose and reject the policy of the Democratic Party and of all its political apologists, from the liberal advocates of identity politics, to the corrupt trade unions, to the ex-radicals of the pseudoleft. Trump cannot be fought without a socialist program that mobilizes the working class, potentially the most powerful force in society, on a class basis.</p><p style="margin: 10px 0px 0px; padding: 0px; font-size: 1.4em; line-height: 1.36em;" class="">Trump constantly points to the rising Dow Jones Industrial Average, S&P 500 and NASDAQ. In this sense he is being honest: he has run the country in the interests of Wall Street. The Democrats represent the same constituency, but they seek to hide this fact from the working class, even as cash from the big banks and the stock exchange floods the Biden campaign coffers.</p><p style="margin: 10px 0px 0px; padding: 0px; font-size: 1.4em; line-height: 1.36em;" class="">The essential role of the Democratic Party is to strangle social opposition to capitalism. They are all for opposition to Trump as long as it does not impinge upon the social interests of Wall Street. But the growing movement by the working class in opposition to capitalism provides the only possible basis for a real struggle against Trump and the financial oligarchy of which he is the most corrupt and reactionary representative.</p><p style="margin: 10px 0px 0px; padding: 0px; font-size: 1.4em; line-height: 1.36em;" class="">Patrick Martin/<a href="http://wsws.org" class="">WSWS.ORG</a></p><div class=""><br class=""></div><div class="campaign" style="margin: 20px 0px 0px; padding: 0px;"><div id="newsletter-form" data-track-content="" data-content-name="Newsletter Form" data-content-piece="default" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10px;" class=""></div><div class="imageFull" style="margin: 15px 0px; padding: 0px; float: none; width: 490px; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10px;"></div></div></body></html>