Embarrassed and worse for wear, but with a renewed sense of optimism and wind in its sails, the Labor Party has opened the polls to its 66,000 members to elect themselves a new chairman (or chairwoman). Considered the "party of the nation" until 1977, Labor only regained power twice since then, but has now turned over a new leaf in its efforts to stay relevant in the contest for Israel's leadership. Four candidates are approaching the finish line and if none wins at least 40 percent of the vote, the top two contenders will compete again in nine days. A cloud of potential factionalism hangs over the party. True, all the candidates have sworn allegiance to the party, but pundits continue to question whether Amram Mitzna will seek a spot on Labor's next Knesset list if he loses today; if Amir Peretz will stay in the party rather than secede or choose to contend with Ofer Eini over the Histadrut leadership. Still, these divisions will not emerge right away. First because all four candidates (in no particular order) -- MKs Yitzhak Herzog, Shelly Yachimovich, Amram Mitzna, and Amir Peretz -- have committed themselves to the party, and second, because they have nowhere else to go. After the primaries, the Labor Party will fight a two-pronged battle. It will try to win more public support vis-a-vis the Likud, and it will also battle closer to home over Kadima's hegemony within the opposition. Despite the fact that all four candidates are categorically opposed to joining a Likud-led government, it is in their interests to join the ruling party in trying to undermine Kadima. On both sides of the barricade, there will be a call for "lost sons" to come home, whether to Likud or Labor. This is easier said than done. Kadima has gained a foothold among the Israeli public. It is not a mere rehash of the Shinui party which appeared like a comet in Israel's skies and then disappeared. Still, both Likud and Labor will not give up their efforts to recreate a past in which the central struggle in Israeli politics was between Likud and Labor in their various incarnations. Basically, all four contenders reflect common Labor party positions, though their emphases are not identical. Mitzna and Peretz are closer to the foreign policy Left than Herzog and Yachimovich, while Yachimovich and Peretz better reflect the social protest movement than Herzog and Mitzna. Choosing a party chairperson in 2011 is more important than it has been for the past decade, during which time the role was filled by Binyamin Ben-Eliezer, Mitzna, Peretz, Ehud Barak - and the candidate will be chosen today or next week. Under past leadership, the Labor party lost much of its centrality, and part of the abiding interest in the party is due to habit and tradition. But you can't forever rest on the laurels of your youth. If Labor fails at the polls once again and does not increase its current eight Knesset mandates to 15 or 18, then its future is murky. It could turn into a kind of secular United Torah Judaism.
