Labor Party: The major contribution of the Labor Party to this election is a constant reiteration of its belief that the current international monetary system backed by the U.S. dollar is about to fall, and is propped up only by the machinations of a Rockefeller-Kennedy-Democratic cabal. The party's main platform is a call for a moratorium on international debts, so that third world countries can build up their economies and serve as markets for U.S. goods. Domestic policies are predicated on a demand that the U.S. build up its technological production capacity, thus increasing the number of jobs available and avoiding what their Massachusetts candidate for senate calls "genocidal third-world labor-intensive" activities.

Since Jimmy Carter is party of the Kennedy-etc. conspiracy, the party claims, the only hope--since Lyndon LaRouche, the Labor Party's presidential candidate no longer expects to win--is that President Ford will be guided by midwestern businessmen, who understand the need for an international debt moratorium and for an emphasis on technology.

It is unclear what the Labor Party calls for in terms of social policies, since everything is geared toward the international monetary system.

Libertarian Party: Based on a philosophy most eloquently presented by John Stuart Mill, this party is so opposed to government intervention that is platform sometimes verges on the anarchistic. Anything is alright between consenting adults, so to speak, from abortion to free enterprise, including union contracts and hiring 12-year olds. Unlike the American Party, the Libertarians demand a strict enforcement of civil rights and liberties, since its philosophy calls for equal opportunity--but not reverse discrimination or quota systems, which is why it calls for passage of the ERA but an end to affirmative action programs. While the Libertarians and their candidate for president, George McBride, call for more alternative educational institutions and a gradual phasing out of government in education, they also call--unlike their mentor, Mill--for an end to compulsory education.

It isn't difficult to figure out what their philosophy will be on any issue: Just figure out the position that calls for the least government interference, and the most non-coersive individual freedom, and that's going to be it. The party is on the presidential ballot in 32 states, more than any other, but not including Massachusetts.

McCarthy: Unlike the other opposition parties running national campaigns this year, the McCarthy campaign is based solely on McCarthy himself, with no effort to put members up for local election. With McCarthy as a figurehead, the organizers have gained increasing support, mainly from disaffected Democrats and independents. Perhaps because he is a national figure--unlike, say, Tom Anderson of the American party--McCarthy has had less trouble getting press coverage than other minor party candidates, and may get as much as 5 per cent of the vote. He won't get elected, and probably won't even get any votes in the electoral college, but Democratic party spokesmen have said they are afraid the 5 per cent margin could be enough to defeat Carter in states where the main race is very close.

McCarthy's campaign is built around his image as a fighter, a politician who has never compromised on his ideals. Much of the campaign literature focuses on his statements in 1968, suggesting he stood for liberal goals way back then, and is more serious about them than Carter. His platform includes calls for a shared work program; nuclear disarmament; limited and conditional wage-price controls, and selective credit controls; and end to overconsumption of energy; protection of civil liberties, detente, in terms of nuclear arms limitation rather than shuttle diplomacy; increased control of corporations.

McCarthy is on the ballot in 19 states, since New York--the 20th--decided last week his petition to be on the ballot there was invalid. He is running with a different vice presidential candidate in each state, largely because he had not fixed on any one candidate when the time to submit names for the ballot came around this summer. Should he be elected president, he says, he will let the electoral college decide on the vice president.

Socialist Workers Party: Like the Communists, the Socialist Workers Party gears its programs towards the working people, women and minority group members, but their platform is slightly more moderate than the C.P.'s, with less emphasis on reconciliation with countries following socialist policies. The platform their candidate Peter Camejo is running on is called "A Bill of Rights for working people," and emphasizes domestic policies. These include increased employment through a public works program and a shared-work system similar to that proposed by the Communists; support for the ERA; protection against inflation through cost-of-living escalators; free education and medical care, and increased services for senior citizens; increased control by minority groups over community services like educational and medical facilities; and public control over political, social and economic policies--a demand not unreasonable for the SWP to make, given the recent revelation that their organization has been infiltrated by the CIA for the last 20 or more years.