Normally, mid-terms elections are lackluster events. Most people don’t pay attention, much less vote. But the 2006 elections are shaping up to be a fiercely-fought and polarizing contest followed by wide layers of U.S. society who believe fundamental questions are at stake in the outcome.

Support for Bush and the Republicans has collapsed, fueled by chaos in Iraq, outrage at their corruption and lies, high gas prices, and other social and economic anxieties. If elections for Congress were held today, polls show the Democrats with a 13-16% lead (PollingReport.com, 6/29/06).

Many Republicans facing tough election battles are publicly distancing themselves from Bush. The far-right Republicans, who dominate the House, are openly snubbing Bush on immigration policy, derailing administration efforts to broker a compromise bill before the elections. While whipping up a nationalist anti-immigrant backlash may help the short-term electoral ambitions of some right-wing Republicans, their program of mass deportations runs counter to the interests of big business, and promises to alienate the growing Latino electorate for a generation or more.

Hoping to regain the initiative, the GOP leadership is campaigning to change the focus with maneuvers designed to unify their party and differentiate themselves from Democrats. In June, they staged votes on banning same-sex marriage, flag burning, and resolutions to “stay the course” in Iraq.

Iraq promises to dominate the elections again. Realizing they cannot avoid an open political brawl over Iraq, the administration is hoping to make the best out of a bad situation by launching a pitched PR battle in defense of their Iraq policy.

Bush seized on the assassination of Zarqawi and the formation of a new Iraqi government to claim progress in the “war on terror” (see “Congress Debates Iraq,” pg. 6). But the horrific reality in Iraq will rapidly cut across any gyrations in the polls created by Bush’s PR offensive, pulling support for the war and the Republican Party further downward.

The “Opposition”
If the Democrats were an effective opposition party, even within the limits of capitalist politics, they would sweep the GOP in November. But despite extremely favorable circumstances, it remains unclear if they will even come close to retaking either house of Congress.

This in part reflects the undemocratic character of the U.S. electoral system, where big money and gerrymandering make most incumbent politicians un-assailable. But of course, the Democrats support and use these legal forms of corruption as much as the Republicans do.

On the other hand, the Democrats lack any credibility as a real alternative to the Republicans. On Iraq, we are witnessing the spectacle of John “The War Hero” Kerry trying to lead his Party’s pre-election “antiwar” charge. Coming from the man who tried to out-hawk Bush in 2004, this naked hypocrisy is all the more pathetic because it is clearly tied to Kerry’s 2008 presidential ambitions!

There are no fundamental issues where the Democrats are offering a serious challenge to Bush. They call the Republicans corrupt, but offer no solutions that could prevent more Abramoffs. When Bush’s blatantly illegal NSA domestic spying program was exposed, the Democrats backed down after a few weeks of whining, in sharp contrast to the Republicans’ willingness to impeach Clinton on far less serious grounds.

From gay marriage to Guantanamo, global warming to gas prices, the list of fake fights, empty bluster, and roll-overs goes on and on. This flows from the basic character of the Democratic Party. While resting on working people and social movements for electoral support, they are funded by and beholden to big business interests. They say one thing and do another.

This leaves working people and youth in the U.S. with no political voice. All those who recognize this should use the heightened political awareness during the 2006 elections to expose the rotten character of both parties and to fight for our social movements – antiwar, immigrant rights, labor, environmental, etc. – to remain politically independent. Where possible, we should support independent candidates running on anti-corporate, antiwar, and pro-worker platforms.

At the same time, we need to prepare the ground for creating a new political party, built out of grassroots social and economic struggles, controlled by and standing up for ordinary working people – a party for the millions, not the millionaires.