OK, so we thought we knew how far to the left Phil Angelides is. We knew he was hanging out over there in the nosebleed seats high above left field with Mark Leno and Howard Dean. But now we see he’s barely in the ballpark at all.
Angelides has a bona fide, unabashed socialist working on his behalf. He’s making TV appearances on Angelides’ behalf and writing blog posts at a pro-Phil website.
And guess what else? He’s a union organizer, and he used to be a national official for the Young Democratic Socialists.
His name is Daraka Larimore-Hall, and on Tuesday he appeared as a surrogate for Angelides on Santa Barbara TV, defending Angelides’ plan to dismantle Prop. 13.
Larimore-Hall, who says he’s a PhD student in sociology, is one of the principal writers at a new website that insists it is not affiliated with the Angelides campaign, but posts campaign material and helps get people to Angelides’ campaign events.
You should read what Larimore-Hall’s Young Democratic Socialists are all about, taken from its website:
"We fight for a world without capitalism, a system which creates vast inequalities of wealth and power. Capitalism endangers our environment, undermines the ties which bind our communities, and promotes racial, sexual, and gender oppression. In its place, we propose an economic social and political system based on democracy and solidarity. We call this system democratic socialism…Within and throughout this struggle, we will articulate and defend the idea that true human liberation is impossible under capitalism."
[Sorry if the pink is hard to read – I kept trying to change the font color but for some reason, it keeps wanting to print Larimore-Hall’s comments in pink… – Flash]
We forgive you if you confused that mission statement with the talking points from the Angelides campaign
These young socialists say it’s their job to "build a movement that will bring about a change in the political order" – by working through the Democratic Party. So, it only makes sense then that Angelides has a socialist on his team – Larimore-Hall is just doing his job….
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