It is not the reformists' promise of freedom of expression and association that the Iranian working class rejected in the presidential election this year. What they refused to tolerate any longer is deteriorating economic conditions that neoliberalism brought them. "Mr. [Mahmoud] Ahmadinejad, who catapulted to president-elect from near obscurity as the appointed mayor of Tehran, campaigned on a populist message, promising to redistribute the nation's wealth, hold down prices, raise salaries and lift state-supported benefits for the poor."