Obama's Communist Connections Revisited

Obama's Communist Connections Revisited

In a letter to the official Communist Party newspaper, People's Weekly World, published after Obama's win in Iowa, we got a very clear idea of what American communists saw in Obama's presidential bid:

Obama’s victory was more than a progressive move; it was a dialectical leap ushering in a qualitatively new era of struggle. Marx once compared revolutionary struggle with the work of the mole, who sometimes burrows so far beneath the ground that he leaves no trace of his movement on the surface. This is the old revolutionary ‘mole,’ not only showing his traces on the surface but also breaking through.

The old pattern of politics as usual has been broken. It may not have happened as we expected but what matters is that it happened. The message is clear: We can and must defeat the ultra-right, by uniting the broadest possible coalition that will represent an overwhelming majority of the people in a new political dynamic.

Note the use of Marxist language: dialectical leap; a new political dynamic; revolutionary struggle; new era of struggle; the mole. These are words and concepts that Obama understood.

Is it obvious to you yet? If not, take another look.