By A. Shaw

Parties aim to win or to lose or merely to run.
It’s important to ask what kind of party we’re dealing with.
Clearly, GOP and DP, the two old bourgeois parties, aim to win.
A party that aims to lose is obviously a crackpot party or anarchist.
A party that aims to run for the sake of running pretends to be the media, not a party.
In 1988, the late Gus Hall wrote “In every case the party should focus on offices it aims to win — if not in 1988, then over the course of the next few elections.”
The quote above refers to both the selection of offices to be contested as well as the selection of strategies and tactics to be used in the contest for offices.
The quote suggests if we have no chance to win, then don’t aim for the office, but if we have a chance, then go for it. Obviously, a party that aims to lose will despise this suggestion because it sees losing as a worthy and desirable outcome.
The quote further suggests that if certain strategies and tactics result in losing “over the course of the next few elections” then try other strategies and tactics.
To parties and candidates who aim to lose, these two suggestions seem to be utter nonsense.
Note that Gus Hall believed these suggestions apply “in every case.”