Dan La Botz in the News
‘Campaign a Great Success’: Dan La Botz, Ohio Socialist Candidate for U.S. Senate
IndypendentNovember 10, 2010
“The Socialist Party campaign for the U.S. Senate in Ohio was a great success. We won more than 25,000 votes for socialism in Ohio,” said Dan La Botz the 65-year old school teacher, writer and activist and the party’s candidate for Senator. “We didn’t win in traditional terms, but this was not a traditional campaign. The corporate parties want working people to wake up think about politics only on election day, and then they want them to go back to sleep. This campaign was about creating an ongoing movement to build power to transform our society.”...Read more
Socialist Dan La Botz Surpasses 25,000 Votes in Ohio
Uncovered PoliticsNovember 4, 2010
The Socialist Party’s Dan La Botz has surpassed the 25,000-vote mark in Ohio’s U.S. Senate race. With all but fourteen of Ohio’s 9,910 precincts reporting, the former history and Latin American studies professor and ex-journalist is unofficially garnering 25,311 votes. La Botz is the first member of the Socialist Party to actively campaign for the U.S. Senate in Ohio since 1940 when Socialists in that state waged a forlorn write-in campaign for the party’s presidential candidate Norman Thomas.
The 2010 Election: A Tea Party Tidal Wave or a Call to Action?
The Organic IntellectualNovember 4, 2010
Socialist movement makes way to OU campus
The Post - Athens, OhioNovember 3, 2010
The Ohio University chapter of Young Democratic Socialists was originally set to be the Progressive Students Alliance until a decision the night before the Involvement Fair led Barton and President Brent Lawson to label the group as Socialist instead.
More than 95 students signed up.
La Botz's campaign has served as a unifier for Socialist Ohioans, but it's not a cause-and-effect relationship.
"The Socialist groups are coming about independent of La Botz, and although it's been a rallying point, it's not the main reason many of these groups were founded," Barton said.
Barton said there is a general tone of being fed up and a want for change that people can identify with and that Socialism provides.
Michael Cannon, campaign manager for La Botz said, "I think a lot of people are frustrated that our economy has been falling apart and the government is doing little about it. And the Tea Party has been good at scapegoating certain ethic groups and putting it on them."
...Read more
Vote Socialist on Tuesday!
Socialist Party USA Campaign Clearing HouseNovember 2, 2010
The center of this struggle is the state of Ohio, where veteran labor activist Dan LaBotz is running an innovative grassroots campaign for US Senate as a Socialist Party USA candidate. At first, LaBotz’s campaign seemed novel in that it was pitched as a united left endeavor. All stripes of radicals were welcome to contribute to the effort to put socialism on the ballot. Indeed, Socialist Party USA, International Socialist Organization and Solidarity members have been joined by remnants of the Labor Party, radical trade unionists and even some disaffected Democrats to push the campaign forward.
Opportunities to present a fresh vision of democratic socialism were expanded by this momentum and the fact that the Democratic Party candidate exited the race early on. LaBotz’s “Buckeye Socialism” was soon being spread throughout the state at Youth Progressive Conferences, at LGBT organizing meetings, at worker’s meetings and
even at a local mosque during a forum organized by the Council on American-Islamic Relations.
On Tuesday, thousands of people will vote for Dan LaBotz on the Socialist Party USA line to be their US Senator. Thousands more are still undecided. They should consider LaBotz’s anti-war message, his commitment to worker’s rights and his ironclad pledge to put the unemployed back to work. Consider also that something
much larger than an election in Ohio is going on....Read more
Open Letter to Progressive Democrats from Dan La Botz
Third Party and Independent DailyOctober 29, 2010
In the Senate race, the Democratic Party in Ohio has largely ignored your wishes, crushed your hopes, and now abandons you to the Republican Rob Portman. ...Read more
Cincinnati Weekly Endorses Socialist Dan La Botz in U.S. Senate Race
UncoveredPoliticsOctober 29, 2010
Ignoring the polls, the feisty Cincinnati weekly insisted that Ohioans deserved better and unapologetically offered the crusading La Botz as their choice for the U.S. Senate. ...Read more
Cincinnati CityBeat endorsements include Ohio Socialist Senate candidate La Botz
Columbus ExaminerOctober 27, 2010
For those who actually know what socialism is, La Botz' definition should come as no surprise. His definition centers on America's workers who will "collectively own and democratically plan and manage the major industries and enterprises."...Read more
Curiouser and Curiouser The Tea Party's crazy contradictions put their stamp on the 2010 elections
Cincinnati CityBeatOctober 27, 2010
CityBeat endorses Dan La Botz La Botz supports radical democracy, the democratic control of the economy by the majority of Americans instead of by a small minority. Working people make the country run, he says, and working people should run the country. He sees the answers to our national problems and international conflicts coming not from the Democratic or Republican parties but from powerful labor and social movements he hopes to foster. If elected, La Botz would be the Senate’s second socialist, joining Vermont’s Bernie Sanders. The heads of those on the Far Right who consider Obama a socialist would explode, and that could be fun to watch.
Ohio's Socialist Candidate, Hide the Kids
Cleveland SceneOctober 27, 2010
"Among the radical ideas espoused by La Botz: the right of Americans to full-time jobs at a living wage, universal access to health care, ending the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, and opposing prejudices like racism, xenophobia, and homophobia. Yes, there’s no room for this brand of nutbag thinking in our fair corner of the world."
...Read more
Socialist Party at Washington, DC Demonstration
Danish National Television DR2 UdlandOctober 22, 2010
A socialist candidate for the US Senate
Workers' LibertyOctober 20, 2010
We have spoken to thousands of people in the state, had our platform and positions published in many newspapers and received radio and television coverage of the campaign. We brought a Federal Election Commission complaint to protest our exclusion from the debates organized by the newspapers and television stations in the state. While we hope to receive thousands of votes, we will also measure the success of this campaign by our own goals of carrying out an educational campaign, building networks of activists, and creating a small socialist movement in Ohio....Read more
Judge, 85th District race hot topics at NAACP candidates night
Chillicothe GazetteOctober 20, 2010
U.S. Senate candidate Dan La Botz, a member of the Socialist party, also addressed the group. La Botz said he would raise taxes on the wealthiest Americans to help put working-class Americans back to work. "Both Republicans and Democrats are failing to address the economy," he said. He said higher taxes on the wealthy would allow the government to put idle plants back in service. "We want every American to have a job at a livable wage, not the minimum wage," he said. La Botz, whose opponents include Republican Rob Portman and Democrat Lee Fisher, also rallied against the U.S. wars in Afghanistan and Iraq and said all troops should come home immediately. "It's something that's creating more terrorists," he said.
Partisanship Is Dead. Long Live Partisanship
TruthoutOctober 19, 2010
On key issues such as health care, the environment and military spending, La Botz suggests that we organize society around the needs of a working woman with children. "If we took care of such a woman, we would take care of everyone," says La Botz. In our society today, however, "everything is organized around the needs of a CEO ... and we can't move forward politically, culturally or economically while we are dominated by the corporation."...Read more
Looking for an alternative?
October 17, 2010
La Botz would propose putting idle factories to work that will produce for the green economy and employ jobless workers. "The Republican and Democratic parties serve the big corporations - the banks, the insurance companies, the oil companies and the manufacturing companies," said La Botz. "We cannot deal with our economic, environmental or foreign policy issues while they hold power for the corporations. Working people in our society ... need their own political party. I see my Socialist Party campaign as contributing to building that working people's party." La Botz argues that he is the one that can deliver on Obama's failed promises. "Obama excited millions of voters - and then disappointed them," he said. "Obama and the Democratic Party have failed to live up to the idealism of those that voted for him. People who want progressive social change - an end to the wars, a healthy environment, jobs for all, single-payer healthcare - have learned that they can't get it through the Democrats. And, of course, they already knew they couldn't get it through the Republicans."
Socialist Senate candidate Dan La Botz applauded at NAACP meeting
Cincinnati BeaconSeptember 25, 2010
La Botz told the NAACP, “We are in the First Great Depression of the 21st century.” He reminded the audience that unemployment in Ohio and throughout the United States was officially 10 percent, really more like 17 percent, that it was double that in African American and Latino communities, and for youth four times that. “Young people, white, African American or Latino cannot find that all important first job. The Republicans and Democrats have failed to address these problems,” said La Botz.
Socialist seeking U.S. Senate seat irked over debates
Columbus DispatchSeptember 21, 2010
La Botz said allowing only Republican Rob Portman and Democrat Lee Fisher to participate constitutes an illegal corporate expenditure for Portman and Fisher because the debates are sponsored by the state's eight largest newspapers....Read more
Exclusive: Dan La Botz, Socialist for U.S. Senate, Files FEC Filing Seeking Debate Inclusion
National ReviewSeptember 20, 2010
When asked whether he thought his motion was likely to be successful, La Botz said, “I think we win the moral argument by pointing out that this is illegal and what they’re doing is wrong and asking them to do the right thing. I hope the FEC will intervene, but the best situation would be for the Fisher and Portman campaigns to admit they made a mistake.” Neither Fisher and Portman have contacted La Botz, and he said that when their lawyers were confronted with the question, they showed no concern....Read more
Ohio socialist senate candidate files complaint with FEC over debates
Columbus ExaminerSeptember 20, 2010
COLUMBUS, Ohio - Dan La Botz, the Ohio Socialist Party candidate for United States Senate, charged Monday that the Ohio Newspaper Organization (ONO) and its corporate members are making illegal corporate contributions to Rob Portman’s and Lee Fisher’s Senate campaigns by holding debates that exclude him, and other minority party candidates....Read more
Where Ohio Senate candidates stand on issues
Cincinnati EnquirerSeptember 19, 2010
La Botz - Doesn't want to repeal the health care law. Instead, he wants to amplify it. Says the Obama plan doesn't cover all Americans or stop insurance companies from raising prices. Proposes providing health care for all through a national single-payer plan run by the government.
...Read more
Socialism? We could use more
Cincinnati EnquirerSeptember 19, 2010
Because this article was taken down from the newspaper's electronic version, I include it here in full: To Dan La Botz of Clifton, the argument raging
between conservatives and liberals over whether President Barack Obama and the
Democrats in Congress are sliding the nation toward socialism is one that
misses the point La Botz, the Socialist candidate for U.S. Senate
in Ohio, believes that if there is a slide, it hasn't gone far enough. "Today we are trapped in a capitalistic
system, with its booms and busts, its recessions and depressions," La Botz
wrote on his campaign website, danlabotz.com. "We need to construct an
alternative. That alternative is democratic socialism, a society where people
control the political and economic system for the good of all." The Senate race, he said, is "a campaign
for justice. We must create a society where all of our people find good jobs at
a living wage." La Botz, who now teaches Spanish to children at
a Cincinnati school, has an interesting and diverse resume. The 65-year-old La Botz was born in Chicago to
an Irish mother and Dutch-American father. When his parents divorced at the age of 11, he
moved with his mother to southern California, near the Mexican border. While in high school, he volunteered in the
United Farm Workers campaign to help with the strikes in the 1960s. Later, in the 1970s, he was a truck driver in
Chicago, working on a reform movement within the Teamsters Union. While in Chicago, he worked as a reporter on an
African-American newspaper and as a community organizer among Latino
immigrants. He ended up in Cincinnati after he and his
second wife lived in Mexico for a while. She landed a job here and he earned a
master's degree and Ph.D. in history at the University of Cincinnati. He has
worked as an instructor at Northern Kentucky University and as a visiting
professor at UC and Miami University. La Botz is an author as well, writing "The
Troublemaker's Handbook: How to Fight Back Where You Work and Win!" "Neither the Democrats and Republican nor
the tea party movement are prepared to tackle the real problem, which is corporate
domination of the political system," La Botz wrote. "It is for these
reasons ... that I made the decision to be the Socialist candidate for the U.S.
Senate from Ohio."
Dems and GOP Say, ‘Stay Away’
Cincinnati Street VibesSeptember 15, 2010
‘A terrible model’
“The presidential model excluded candidates who we knew had great potential,” he says. “The presidential model is a terrible model. The real issue is giving all candidates an opportunity to present their views, and that (time) excuse is ridiculous. The American people understand our country is in a crisis, and they want to hear opinions – all the positions that are out there.”
La Botz says that approval for the socialist perspective is increasing throughout the country, citing polls conducted by major research organizations including Gallup, Pew, and Rasmussen....Read more
Shared Sacrifice Weekend--Dan La Botz, Socialist Candidate for Senate
Shared SacrificeSeptember 12, 2010
The show opens with discussion about independent politics. Guest Dan La Botz joins the show about 15 minutes after it begins and engages in a 30 minute discussion with hosts about major political questions, about his campaign, and about the left....Read more
A Response to Questions
Socialist AppealSeptember 11, 2010
In terms of left unity, Dan Labotz is running for the US Senate in Ohio on the Socialist Party ticket. The WIL would urge workers and youth in Ohio to vote for him in the midterm elections...Read more
Covington Police and Joe Deters
Cincinnati CityBeatSeptember 6, 2010
DAN LA BOTZ: Whether you like him or not, Dan LaBotz has a point. LaBotz, the socialist candidate running for U.S. Senate against Republican Rob Portman and Democrat Lee Fisher, has complained to the Ohio Newspaper Association (ONA), which is organizing three debates between Portman and Fisher. In essence, LaBotz argues that since he qualifies for the ballot under Ohio law, the ONA should insist that the candidates from the two major political parties allow LaBotz to participate in the debates. We think Portman and Fisher are afraid LaBotz might throw them off their carefully scripted answers and actually spark a true debate on the issues, including ones they'd rather not address. The two-party system is broken and the public would be well served by including other points-of-view. ...Read more
Should You Vote for the Democrats? — 2010 Elections
Socialist AlternativeSeptember 3, 2010
In 2010, candidates like Dan La Botz in Ohio, Jill Stein in Massachusetts and Howie Hawkins in New York deserve our support. Also, there is increased anger growing among sections of the labor movement at Obama’s anti-worker policies. We need to open up a discussion in the labor movement about the abusive relationship that the Democratic Party has with working people. ...Read more
Socialists Hold Organizing Conference
Socialist WebzineAugust 31, 2010
Finally, Dan LaBotz, fresh off his Socialist Party campaigning in Ohio gave a fiery speech about the disappeared. Dan mentioned our disappearing jobs, our disappearing social movements and our disappearing independence from the Democrat party. Instead of capitulation or depression, he shouted “Nunca mas!” (Never again!) while offering inspirational stories about his time on the campaign trail in Ohio. In particular, Dan mentioned a noteworthy conversation with a Pakistani woman who thanked him for speaking out against the US war being carried out against people in her country.
Dozens of Congressional Candidates Pledge to Support a Constitutional Amendment Overturning Court Ruling Enabling Corporations t
Common DreamsAugust 27, 2010
WASHINGTON - August 27 - Dozens of candidates for Congress have pledged to support a constitutional amendment to overturn a controversial U.S. Supreme Court ruling and thereby help ensure that elections are not hijacked by corporations. The candidates responded to a call from People For the American Way and Public Citizen, which last month launched the pledge drive at www.PledgeForDemocracy.org
An alternative for Ohio voters
Socialist WorkerAugust 25, 2010
Ohio has a socialist candidate for the U.S. Senate this November. Dan La Botz, the veteran socialist activist and author, is running as the Socialist Party candidate because of the urgency of putting forward a political alternative in the midst of the Great Recession and the continued corporate domination of U.S. politics. Dan is a co-founder of Teamsters for a Democratic Union (TDU) and member of the socialist group Solidarity, and he has written extensively on workers' rights in the U.S. and Mexico. interviewed him about his campaign and how his candidacy has been received.
Ohio minority party candidates La Botz, Deaton to petition Brunner to expand Portman/Fisher debate
Columbus ExaminerAugust 24, 2010
On Monday, La Botz, of Cincinnati, initiated an online petition he's asking supporters to sign that calls for inclusive political debates in Ohio, and that will be sent to Brunner....Read more
Brunner asked to protect voters’ rights to hear all candidates’ views
Cincinnati BeaconAugust 24, 2010
“The Ohio Secretary of State has the responsibility to insure fair elections,” says La Botz. “So far Jennifer Brunner has done an excellent job to insure that all parties and candidates will appear on the ballot. But, if an election is to be fair, then voters have to be able to hear all of the candidates’ views—not just the Republicans and Democrats.”...Read more
Editor's Notebook: Confusion surrounds discussions with hopefuls
The News-Herald (Serving Northern Ohio)August 22, 2010
The most noticeable change in the interviews this year is the influx of minor party candidates. Time was, they were all Republicans or Democrats. No longer. This year we have Libertarians, Constitution Party candidates, Green Party candidates and even a Socialist Party candidate running for U.S. Senate.
The latter, Daniel LaBotz, a Spanish teacher who drove all the way up from Cincinnati for the interview, was one of the most articulate candidates we have interviewed in the past 28 years.
He didn't persuade me to become a Socialist, but he sure had a grip on his facts. He was very intent, intelligent and single-minded.
Judging by everything I had read, I thought he might favor the Obama health care plan. But one should never take anything for granted. He hates it. Oh well!...Read more
Local Lawmakers on Proposed Mosque in NYC
Cincinnati Enquirer blog NKY.comAugust 19, 2010
Dan La Botz, the Socialist Party candidate for the Senate seat, said the request to build the mosque should be approved....Read more
A Public Affair Show Interview
WORT Radio Madison, WisconsinAugust 5, 2010
Allen Ruff interviews me about my campaign and the issues as takes calls from listeners....Read more
Ohio Socialist senate candidate LaBotz issues call to 'open up' Portman, Fisher debates
Toledo Free PressAugust 4, 2010
Predicting the nation is headed for a double dip recession, one he says will in reality be another Great Depression, LaBotz, who spent a number of his wonder years growing up in California, said the Federal and Ohio State governments need to take dramatic action to keep the bottom from falling out of the economy, notwithstanding the fact that many feel that horse has left the barn. Private sector jobs will continue to go and public sector jobs with them, he laments.
Showing his fiery socialist spirit, LaBotz says Portman, a Republican, would like to cut small business taxes, while Fisher, a Democrat, will support whatever President Obama does or fails to do. To provide jobs now, the be-spectacled, graying Socialist says the Federal government and the State of Ohio must take steps now if people are to find work anytime soon.
...Read more
Challenging a Broken System A true socialist, LaBotz runs for U.S. Senate seat
City Beat - CincinnatiJuly 28, 2010
“I am running to become the senator from Ohio,” he says. “I see my campaign as a way to talk about an alternative view of society that put peoples’ needs before corporate profits. I also see the campaign as a way to build a network of socialist activists in Ohio, people who walk on picket lines to support workers and their unions, people who organize against wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, people who fight for gay and lesbian — or better, LGBT rights — people who want to dramatically reduce the use of carbon fuels to improve our environment.” He adds, “I believe the working people make this country run and working people, not the banks and corporations, should run the country.”
Debates ought to include all candidates
Columbus DispatchJuly 25, 2010
Shouldn't the American public have the right to hear from all of the candidates? And shouldn’t The Dispatch make it a point to inform the public about the range of candidates, parties and platforms? I am eager to debate the other candidates. I think Ohioans want to hear all of the alternatives.
Ohio Socialist candidate La Botz says Republicans, Democrats useless, warns of CA open primary prop
Columbus ExaminerJuly 14, 2010
Like a political minnow trying valiantly to scale the cascading waters of Niagara Falls to find his spawning ground, La Botz says the labor movement and organizations like the AFL-CIO dedicated to it, should no waste time on electing Democrats with the hope that the Democrats will create jobs, but should instead "build that movement, like the one that created unions and forced the Democrats to create jobs in the 1930s."...Read more
Is the Financial Regulation Bill "Socialist"? Don't Make the Socialists Laugh
The NationJuly 12, 2010
Dan La Botz, who is running the Senate in Ohio as a proud "Buckeye Socialist," argues that "none of the problems facing this country can be dealt with unless we end the domination of banks, insurance companies and multinational corporations over both major parties and over our political system." So what's the Socialist fix for the banking issues that the Senate is wrestling with -- and for the broader financial crisis? La Botz's platform declares: "Not a penny more for the banks and the bankers! Take over the banks."
Jobs for Ohio? Not from Portman or Fisher. We Need Jobs Now! - Guest Article by Dan La Botz
Cincinnati BeaconJune 29, 2010
We should be organizing demonstrations for jobs at every City Hall in every city in Ohio. Will you join me in "organizing jobs demonstrations in Ohio? Let's build a movement for jobs in our hometowns. Then take it to Columbus. And take it to Washington. We all know that in this country, the working people only get something when they organize and fight for it. It's time to fight now."...Read more
"Socialism? We wish, says local group"
Cincinnati Enquirer, Common DreamsJune 20, 2010
"I expect to win many more votes in the general election," La Botz said. "I also think the votes are only one measure of success of the campaign. You want to use the campaign trail as an opportunity to organize people or inspire people to do what they ought to do; to fight for jobs for everyone, to defend women's right to choose, to defend gay and lesbian rights and immigrant rights."...Read more
TV Local 12 Newsmakers, Dan Hurley and Dan La Botz discuss the question "Is Obama Socialist?"
Local 12 NewsmakersJune 13, 2010
"To me socialism is the notion that the people of society should democratically control the economy." - Dan La Botz...Read more
Interview with Dan La Botz, Socialist Party Candidate for Senate from Ohio
Shared SacrificeJune 11, 2010
"Today we put the corporation and its profits at the center of our nation's priorities. We need to rethink those priorities. We might, for example, think of a single mother with a child or two to support. What would she need? Health care, education, housing, a living wage. Those should be our priorities."...Read more
Cincinnatians Rally for Immigration Reform
Cincinnati BeaconJune 7, 2010
Dan La Botz speaks with the Cincinnati Beacon during immigrant rights demonstration June 2010 and back in 2006....Read more
Cincinnatians protest against Israeli aggression at Taste of Cincinnati
Cincinnati BeaconJune 1, 2010
"... throughout the day many people came up and thanked the protestors, told them they agreed with what they were doing and that they appreciated what they were doing."...Read more
The One Thing We Can Agree on Is Peace
The Smirking ChimpMay 27, 2010
"What could all of these candidates for federal office possibly have in common? They all oppose spending another dime on maintaining, or escalating, our wars in Afghanistan and Iraq."...Read more
Immigration law focus of meeting
Cincinnati EnquirerMay 20, 2010
The meeting, "Ohio Will Not Be the Next Arizona," features speeches by Dan La Botz, a candidate for United States Senate with the Socialist Party of Ohio. La Botz is a teacher in Cincinnati, a labor activist and author. ...Read more
Fisher finishes 1st in Ohio Dem Senate race, Socialist Party's La Botz Hail Mary's Brunner voters
Columbus ExaminerMay 5, 2010
"The Socialist Party, has a candidate, Dan La Botz of Cincinnati, who saw the rancor that brewed between Fisher and Brunner over the months and threw a Hail Mary pass for support in November in an open letter to Brunner, who he asked to swing her voters his way based on La Botz's belief his position and those of Brunner were in close alignment, and that Fisher won't fight for them but he will."...Read more
OH Exclusive:Socialist Candidate for U.S. Senate Makes Appeal to Progressive Voters Following Brunner's Defeat in Dem Primary
Third Party and Independent Daily: Toward a New PoliticsMay 5, 2010
"We need to move American politics to the left. Send the Democrats and Republicans a message. Make your vote count. Let them know that you want progressive politics in Congress. Both the Republicans and the Democrats, representing as they do the corporations and their agenda, can't also represent the American working people and a progressive agenda. We need to build an independent political party in this country and we need to build a social movement as the foundation of that party. Join me in doing that."...Read more
Ohio Socialist Runs for U.S. Senate
Against the CurrentMay 1, 2010
"The second question was, 'Do you think that government in this country is too big?' I replied that the question is not is it too big or too small, but whose government is it? We have a government today that represents bankers, corporations, insurance companies, and the very rich. We need a government by and for working people (including unemployed working people) of this country who constitute the majority."...Read more
OH: Socialist Party Candidate for US Senate Responds to Claims that the Democratic Party is on a "March toward Socialism"
Third Party and Independent Daily: Toward a New PoliticsApril 27, 2010
"The Obama administration proposes that a government run by corporations also regulate the corporations in order to save the corporations from destroying themselves in their chaotic struggle to control our nation's wealth and resources. Obama's government, like Bush's did, acts as a kind of super-executive committee of corporations, working to coordinate the corporations so they will be more successful in wringing their wealth from us. Socialists argue that America's working people make the country run, and working people should also run the country. There is all the difference in the world between those two visions and programs." - La Botz...Read more
On Socialism, Corporatism, and Democratic-Republican Party Government: Of the Corporations, By the Corporations, For the Corpor
Poli-Tea: Third Party Opposition to the Two-Party SystemApril 27, 2010
In his reply, Mr. La Botz writes, in part:"The Obama administration, which came to power in the midst of a severe economic crisis, has demonstrated that its principal preoccupation has been to save American capitalism, the banks and corporations. Billions of working peoples' tax money has been redistributed to banks, insurance companies and corporations, but we have not gained any control over those institutions. On the contrary, they continue to exploit working people and to block the road to reform."...Read more
Third Party candidates for U.S. Senate in Ohio
FireDogLake - The SeminalApril 26, 2010
"Those are the independent candidates vying for the U.S. Senate seat being vacated by Voinovich. Of them all, Dan La Botz seems best suited to represent Ohioans in the Senate."...Read more
For Independent Candidates in 2010! - Break with the two Corporate Parties!
Socialist AlternativeApril 26, 2010
"La Botz, a long-time labor activist, states: 'Working people make the country run. And working people - not the banks, corporations, and politicians - should run the country.'....These candidates deserve the support of all workers and young people as a step to building a left-wing anti-corporate pro-worker political movement. Furthermore, the recent rise of the right-wing Tea Party movement shows the dire need for an organized, anti-corporate left that can combat this threat to working people and immigrants."...Read more
"A Few More Choices: Seven ballots possible in May 4 primary"
The Ironton TribuneApril 25, 2010
"There is one socialist candidate running for statewide office in Ohio in the May primary. Daniel H. Labotz, a schoolteacher from Cincinnati, is seeking the U.S. Senate seat now held by George Voinovich, who is retiring...[According to the Socialist Party] Socialism will establish a new social and economic order in which workers and community members will take responsibility for and control of their interpersonal relationships, their neighborhoods, their local government, and the production and distribution of all goods and services."...Read more
Is the Two-Party poltical system doomed?
Veterans Today: Military Veterans and Foreign Affairs JournalApril 18, 2010
"We live today in a country where capitalism and the corporations provide the model for life: selfishness, competition, greed, and disdain for others. It's a poor model, violent, and destructive," Dan said. He believes that, "as a people should take collective, social control over the largest industries and corporations in our country. We should democratically elaborate a plan to use our wealth to provide a decent life for all. Most Americans, I believe, share this vision of a just society. We might make our nation one where we take care of each other, where we insure that all are taken care of. We might in that process, create a nation where one loved one's neighbor as one's self."...Read more
Latino candidate forums educate both Latinos and the Candidates
La Prensa (Ohio and Michigan)April 16, 2010
Running on a socialist party platform La Botz spoke passionately about equal access and opportunities for immigrants. 'I am very much in favor of immigration reform but it will not be won by candidates but by immigrants and their friends, so I urge you to use that power and unite unions,' he said. He supports reforming capitalistic corporations and banks to create a democratic socialist economy and taxing corporations to provide free quality education. La Botz said ending wars in Afghanistan and Iraq will reduce the budget deficit....Read more
Development For and Of the People
StreetVibes (Cincinnati)April 15, 2010
"These are not democratic processes anywhere," La Botz said. "We live in a society where banks rule. I think the banks and corporations which dominate our society are institutions that have outlived their time. We have to become the abolitionists of the corporations to become a democratic nation."...Read more
NO COMPRENDO: LOCAL POLS COURT THE HISPANIC VOTE
Cleveland SceneApril 12, 2010
The only candidate who addressed the audience in fluent Spanish was Don La Botz, a Socialist Party candidate for U.S. Senate who treated the crowd to a passionate, bilingual speech. (La Botz offered to speak exclusively in Spanish, but master of ceremonies Jose Feliciano told him to address the crowd in English.)...Read more
Socialist for Senate
The College Hill Independent, Providence, Rhode IslandApril 8, 2010
"Dan says people reacting to the attacks from the Right are starting to draw the conclusion, 'Well, maybe I'm a socialist. If I want health care, I guess I'm a socialist. If I think I ought to be able to go to school without having to give an arm and a leg, then maybe I'm a socialist. If I think I should have a job, then maybe I'm a socialist. If I think gay people should have the right to marry, maybe I'm a socialist."...Read more
Ohio candidate for U.S. Senate, Buckeye Socialist Dan La Botz, offers vision for 'just society'
The Columbus ExaminerApril 5, 2010
"Change in America will come as it always has - as it did in the creation of the industrial unions in the 1930s, as it did in the civil rights movements of the 1960s, as it did in the environmental movement of the 1970s, and as id did in the gay and lesbian movements of the 1980s, and the immigrant rights movement of the 1990s - through massive social protest and confrontations with authority. What is crucial is to provide the growing movements with a political alternative to escape the trap of the two-party system, to break and move beyond the Republicans and Democrats to a progressive alternative on the left."...Read more
Maybe it's Time for a Troublemaker
StreetVibes (Cincinnati)March 15, 2010
"Today the corporation, like slavery, is an institution that should be abolished. Closing a factory, destroying the economy of a town, is too important a decision to be in the hands 10 or 20 men. That is a decision society should make. Skilled tradesmen, factory workers, secretaries, electricians, millwrights, accountants advertising people - all of those people created that wealth, and that wealth should be seen as our common property."...Read more
Support the Protests - Free Education for All says Ohio Socialist Party Senate Candidate
IndyBayMarch 4, 2010
Dan La Botz, the Cincinnati school teacher who joined the Ohio race for U.S. Senate last month, issued a statement today supporting the national day of protests over the crisis in education. He also called for the creation of system of free, quality public education such as some states, such as California, had in the 1960s....Read more
Dan La Botz, Cincinnati School Teacher, Socialist Party Candidate for U.S. Senate
The Cincinnati BeaconFebruary 18, 2010
Dan La Botz, a 64-year old Cincinnati school teacher, has filed petitions with the Ohio Secretary of State to become the candidate of the Socialist Party for the U.S. Senate. La Botz, who needed 500 signatures to get on the Socialist Party primary ballot, filed petitions with approximately 1,200 signatures on Thursday, Feb. 18. La Botz, a long time labor and social movement activist, is the candidate of the Socialist Party of Ohio which is the state organization of the Socialist Party USA....Read more
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