Robert Andrew Moses, May 18, 1951 (Pittsylvania County, Va.) -
VP candidate for Party for Socialism and Liberation (aka Independent aka Unaffiliated) (2008)
Running mate with nominee: Gloria Estela La Riva (b. 1954)
Popular vote: 5,921 (0.00%)
Electoral vote: 0/538
The campaign:
In the middle of campaign 2004, the San Francisco branch of the Workers World Party split and helped form the Party for Socialism and Liberation. To outsiders even within the Left, the difference between the WWP and PSL seemed minuscule as both entities support repressive regimes (e.g. North Korea) and seem to mirror each other in a philosophy frequently described by observers as neo-Stalinist.
In an Aug. 1, 2004 statement from the PSL, the split from WWP reads like it was more about form rather than content--
While we are in the first stage of creating a new revolutionary party, we have a long tradition as leaders and organizers inside the Marxist movement in the United States, as well as in the anti-war and anti-racist movements, in the labor movement, and in the other mass movements inside the United States. As former leaders and members of Workers World Party, we defend that group's historical tradition and mission, particularly that of its founder Sam Marcy. Although we believe that the Workers World Party leadership is no longer capable of fulfilling that mission, we still consider it to be a progressive organization with many honest activists.
The PSL fielded their first Presidential ticket in 2008 with perennial candidate Gloria La Riva as the standard bearer and Eugene Puryear as her running-mate. In order to make a point, political parties on the Left frequently nominate candidates who would legally be unable to assume office in the event of a victory and Puryear, who was under the Constitution-mandated age of 35 to serve as Vice-President, falls into that category. In some states a stand-in was required. Robert Moses fit that bill.
The La Riva campaign posted an abstract of the platform on their webpage--
U.S. OUT OF IRAQ NOW
End the wars in Iraq & Afghanistan. Bring all the troops home now.
Stop U.S. blockades & sanctions against Cuba, Iran, Venezuela, Korea, Sudan and everywhere.
End U.S. aid to Israel—Support the Palestinian people’s right of self-determination.
Free Puerto Rico.
International friendship and solidarity, not imperialist domination.
FIGHT THE CORPORATE BOSSES
Full employment—decent jobs for all. Job training for youth & the unemployed.
Raise the minimum wage to $15/hour now.
Free, quality healthcare for all.
Expand and guarantee social security for all retired workers, disabled and unemployed people.
Stop union-busting, expand the right to organize, including card-check recognition.
Free, high quality education from pre-school through college.
Housing is a right—End foreclosures and evictions.
Stop environmental destruction—Make the polluters pay.
Rebuild New Orleans—Right of return for all survivors.
EQUAL RIGHTS FOR ALL
Fight racism and the racist criminal “justice” system.
Defend women’s reproductive rights, including the right to choose.
Full rights for all immigrants.
Reparations now for the African American community.
Eliminate anti-LGBT laws—Equal marriage rights for all.
Equality for disabled people.
Stop police brutality and mass incarceration.
Free Mumia Abu-Jamal, Leonard Peltier, the Cuban 5, Angola 3, S.F. 8 and all political prisoners.
SOCIALISM
End the rule of the billionaires, bankers and militarists—fight for workers’ democracy.
We need a sustainable economy based on meeting people’s needs, not making the rich richer.
We need socialism!
In submitting their paperwork for the Utah ballot, Moses indicated he had been living in Upper Marlboro, Md. for three years and was employed as an office worker.
The La Riva/Moses ticket made the ballot in Colorado and Iowa (0.01% each), apparently in Rhode Island and definitely in Utah (0.03% each), and Wisconsin (0.02%). Out of La Riva's 6,821 votes, 900 of them were with Moses.
Election history: none
Other occupations: office worker
Notes:
The Workers World Party endorsed Green Party nominee Cynthia McKinney in 2008, and did not run Presidential tickets in 2012 or 2020.
Interesting coincidences with Stewart Alexander the 2008 VP for the Socialist Party. Both Alexander and Moses have surnames that could be first names, both are African American, both were born in Virginia in 1951.
