PSL Presidential Candidate Peta Linday Tours the Midwest

The Party for Socialism and Liberation’s Presidential Candidate Peta Lindsay just completed the Midwest leg of her tour. Check out the reports and media coverage from the tour below, and make sure to find an upcoming tour event in your area! The next leg of the tour is Oct. 8-14 in New England, with stops in Connecticut, Vermont, Rhode Island and Massachusetts.

In the Midwest, the Party for Socialism and Liberation campaigned in four states from Sept. 25 to Oct. 2: Iowa, Illinois, Minnesota and Wisconsin.

The tour was covered by the college news stations at the University of Iowa and the University of Wisconsin – Platteville. In Iowa City and Madison, the PSL presidential campaign received great press coverage.

Peta Lindsay, the PSL candidate for president, described the PSL campaign to the UW Badger Herald: “We are activists and organizers, so we believe that the organization of the people is what makes change. A lot of people go to the elections looking for change, but they are going to be disappointed. We are entering this election to give them an option, to direct them to where real change is made, to draw them into the struggle, to connect with activists and organizers and to connect with working people who are struggling and say, ‘Yes. We are demanding jobs as well and we are going to organize and fight for it.’”

Successful public meetings with Peta Lindsay were held at Rainbow Bookstore in Madison, Mayday Books in Minneapolis, on the campus of University of Wisconsin – Platteville and at the PSL office in Chicago. At the meeting in Chicago, PSL candidate for congress Ymelda Viramontes, whose mom   was one of the striking public school teachers, spoke about the campaign’s support of the victorious Chicago strike.

In Iowa City on Sept. 25, volunteers joined Peta Lindsay at the University of Iowa and the Pedestrian Mall to get the word out about the campaign. Lindsay held impromptu discussions with groups of people who came downtown to meet with her.

Reflecting on the people PSL volunteers met on the Midwest leg of the national tour, it is clear that there is a growing percentage of the population that is looking to struggle for the things they need outside of the two-party system.

Discussions often centered on the Chicago teachers strike, the Occupy movement and the 2011 labor uprising in Madison. Many of the workers and young people we met are encouraged by those examples of struggle and are seeking ways to expand the fight back movement.

Zach Gevelinger, the organizer of the candidate forum in Platteville, said, “Platteville was very fortunate to have a presidential candidate visit who understands the struggle of working and oppressed people. The PSL’s 10-Point Program for revolutionary change was well received by many in the audience, and Peta’s articulate and thought provoking statements really resonated with the people in the audience. If there is one thing that people came away with from the forum, it is that working and oppressed people ultimately hold the power in society, not capitalist bankers and bourgeois politicians.”

Get involved with the Lindsay/Osorio 2012 Presidential Campaign today!

Request Peta Lindsay or Yari Osorio as a speaker for an event in your area.

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