George W. Bush runs the risk of becoming the most hated President in U.S. history before his term is over.

Bush has overseen a blunder of a war and occupation in Iraq with no real end in sight. The tragedy of Hurricane Katrina, which exposed the depths of oppression, poverty, and racism in U.S. society, happened under Bush’s watch. While Bush has been in office, over $1 trillion has been handed to the rich and big business in tax cuts.

Civil liberties and the First Amendment have been trampled on by the Patriot Act and other attacks on our privacy. A woman’s right to choose has become restricted and come under threat in a number of states. Bush has appointed two more right-wing Supreme Court justices.

Constant corruption and scandal afflicts his administration, from Karl Rove’s lobbyist connections to Dick Cheney’s dealings at Halliburton. Head Enron scam artist “Kenny Boy” Lay was a Bush family friend.

On top of all this, U.S. workers are faced with more and more economic hardship. The real income of the typical family has dropped over the past few years. The auto industry is being gutted. The majority of Americans are in debt in one way or another. The oil companies are robbing us at the pump. Social programs like education and healthcare are being cut in state after state and city after city. All this is occurring in a time of “economic stability.” I’d hate to see what a downturn would look like.

Bush gave Israel the green light for their war of terror and failed invasion in Lebanon, and now Hezbollah is stronger. Civil War is unfolding in Iraq, and Afghanistan is spiraling out of U.S. control. Hundreds of billions are spent on these wars. We need money for jobs, healthcare, and education, not wars of occupation.

Is the Democratic Party the Answer?
Despite the massive hatred of Bush throughout the country, the Democrats couldn’t defeat him in 2004. This led many liberals and activists to become demoralized. However, the reality is that despite Bush’s election victory, there is great potential for building movements against his policies.

The Democrats in 2004 posed no real alternative to Bush. They had supported the war, supported tax cuts for the rich, and supported the Patriot Act. Kerry was (correctly) seen by most Americans as just another rich politician that didn’t care about them. A real alternative, that fights for decent jobs and services and an end to these brutal wars for profit and prestige, could defeat Bush.

The Democrats, however, are not a real alternative. It isn’t just that they’re incapable. The Democratic Party is fundamentally a party of big business that represents the richest people in the country. They are funded by corporations, and their policies are often dictated by rich lobbyists.

In the 2006 elections, the Republicans are on the ropes. Cheney is using his catch phrases about antiwar sentiment “emboldening al-Qaida types” to try to get some electoral support. Republicans and Democrats alike are also employing dangerous anti-immigrant rhetoric in an attempt to get votes.

The Democrats are trying to portray themselves as an antiwar opposition in 2006 in an attempt to take over one or both houses of Congress. They voted for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan all along, and now that the wars are failing from the corporate and military standpoint, some are willing to call for bringing troops home. When the billions spent on the war hurt working people’s lives through budget cuts, they didn’t care. Now that the war in Iraq hasn’t had its desired effect of decreasing oil prices and creating a stable puppet regime, the Democrats are willing to say they want out.

While this could win them votes in the November elections, we have to be clear: the Democratic Party is not a real antiwar or anti-corporate party. They have been even more hawkish than the Republicans in their support for Israel’s war of terror on the people of Lebanon.

The real way to defeat Bush and the Republican agenda is to organize in our workplaces, communities, and campuses against war and for decent jobs, civil rights, and social services. The Democrats never have and never will do this for us.

The movement to abolish slavery, the labor movement, and the civil rights movement achieved everything that they won by organizing mass demonstrations, job actions, and direct action against the rich and powerful. If we settle for the “lesser evil,” then we’ll still end up with “evil.”

In addition to struggle on the streets, campuses, and in the workplaces, we need independent candidates that stand up to the two parties of war and corporate domination. Independent working-class candidates can be a step towards what we really need: a new political party that stands for working people and fights in both elections and in our everyday struggles, to once and for all break the grip that Corporate America has on our lives.