1. “As another factual matter, the PSL is larger, not smaller, than WWP.”

2. “The goal of the PSL election campaign is to provide a genuine alternative to the corporate-funded candidates of the Republican and Democratic parties.”

3. “We believe it is in the interest of expanding democracy that more, rather than fewer, parties participate in the elections.”

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Based on what…..number of members? Number of candidates? Bigger headquarters? If it’s the number of members, I’m not sure how you could determine that, since I’d be willing to bet that communist political organizations don’t exactly hand out their memberships stats to anyone who asks.

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How does that goal distinguish PSL from the Green Party, the Socialist Party, the Socialist Equality Party, the Workers World Party, the Freedom Socialist Party, the Communist Party…..or the Prohibition Party, for that matter? Any vaguely left-of-center third party could state that as its goal. What is it about Gloria La Riva that distinguishes her from the Workers World, Socialist Equality, and Socialist Workers candidates, and why should someone vote for her instead of the candidates of those parties?

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On the surface, yes, I’m sure anyone who reads _Ballot Access News_ would obviously agree with that, except there has to be an end logic to that argument. I don’t think democracy is well served by the existence of a half-dozen or so indistinguishable far left parties who keep splitting off from each other. All put together, these parties appeal only to the tiniest fraction of a fraction of the electorate; as separate organizations, they only serve to provide ammunition to people who keep hammering us over the head with the “blanket ballot” argument. What is the absolute necessity for a candidate field that includes Gloria La Riva, Roger Calero, and whomever the Socialist Equality Party nominee will be? What are the important differences between them on the issues?

La Riva’s statement, filed LAST YEAR, starts by saying ” I am a union president, anti-war organizer and national presidential candidate of the Party for Socialism and Liberation. My vice-presidential candidate is Eugene Puryear.”

Also, it looks like PSL has announced their ticket. A large new banner on their website is proclaiming Gloria LaRiva for President, and Eugene Puryear for Vice President. They’ve also announced a candidate for Florida’s 22nd District congressional seat: Michael Presser (at least I think that’s the name, the graphic makes the name a bit hard to read.)

I assume that both SWP & WWP will also have presidential candidates. SPUSA already has one, and of course the Green Party will as well.

Heck, I was once a member of a leftist party that ran a recall campaign against its’ own presidential candidate. You can’t make this stuff up, y’know?

We will be announcing the presidential election campaign tomorrow (January 18). Our candidates will be Gloria La Riva and Eugene Puryear for president and vice president. Mike Prysner, an Iraq war veteran, will be running for Congress representing PSL in Florida. There will be announcements of other candidates for congressional and statewide offices in the coming weeks and months.

As a factual matter, most of the members of the PSL are not former members of Workers World Party. There is a minority of members that were once members of WWP.

As another factual matter, the PSL is larger, not smaller, than WWP.

Many of us have played a prominent role in the anti-war and immigrant rights movement in the past few years. The goal of the PSL election campaign is to provide a genuine alternative to the corporate-funded candidates of the Republican and Democratic parties. We believe it is in the interest of expanding democracy that more, rather than fewer, parties participate in the elections.

Despite the fact that the election laws are constructed to inhibit, obstruct and prevent third party candidates from achieving ballot status, especially those who lack corporate funding, PSL is determined to launch an aggressive campaign for ballot access in states around the country.

There are two family trees I have found:
For Maoist groups there is a family tree here
http://www.freedomroad.org/staticfiles/familytree/basictree.html

For Trotskyist groups in the USA go here
http://www.marxists.org/history/etol/trees/ustree.htm