My hope is for the broader left and labor movements to come together (preferably sooner) in some kind of summit or conference format to strategize, coalesce and importantly cohere on one agenda for the 2028 general strike and election. No more silos, devisiveness or egos. There must be organization and discipline. The goal must be to commit to a single populist policy platform, agreement to run a left populist in 2028 and who, campaign strategy, messaging, comms, and leaders, orientation to a general strike. All rooted in a multiracial, multigenerational project from working people. It's ambitious but I can't see us winning unless we're a true collective.
I think that the idea that leftists have tried and failed to move the Democratic Party left isn’t analyzing the method of the “trying”. The predominant way leftists have attempted to effectuate that shift was a takeover from the top, focused on the leadership of a single polarizing figurehead (Bernie 2020). I think a successful (likely longer-term) process (and a largely in-person one), is from the bottom, by showing up, to do a lot of grunt work turning out votes or persuading hardcore Dems to adopt new party policy planks and endorsements. I know that in 2017 the DSA chapter in NYC started out with a very electoral strategy but based on primarying incumbents, focused again on candidates at the top, rather than active internal Democratic Party procedure and day-to-day party-building activities.
I don't think it's true that the approach has only been from the top. Yes the Bernie campaign was important, and since the Democratic Party is not a membership party but a top-down party of career politicians, successfully transforming it would I think require a takeover from the top. Trump actually illustrates this well, since the GOP is a party built on a similar model.
But there were also efforts to change the party's platform in 2016 and 2020, some of which were successful at the time but added up to very little.
The Justice Democrats project, which DSA supported, of primarying congressional Democrats and replacing them to build a left bench has been rolled back. Two of the five core members of the Squad in 2020 were defeated, so that bench is smaller now than it was going into the Biden administration. And AOC and Omar have unfortunately begun to move into a more supportive role of the party leadership.
It's true that at the state level in New York, NYC-DSA has been successful in electing a small but committed core of legislators from especially progressive districts. But the project hasn't been able to break out of a specific kind of district with a very high concentration of Bernie voters. Relatedly, it hasn't succeeded in building a popular base for the project.
I am interested in hearing ideas about what could be done differently to transform the Democratic Party, as long as those ideas take seriously and have a plan for addressing the party's countermoves and its ability to transform those who enter it with the intention of changing it.
My hope is for the broader left and labor movements to come together (preferably sooner) in some kind of summit or conference format to strategize, coalesce and importantly cohere on one agenda for the 2028 general strike and election. No more silos, devisiveness or egos. There must be organization and discipline. The goal must be to commit to a single populist policy platform, agreement to run a left populist in 2028 and who, campaign strategy, messaging, comms, and leaders, orientation to a general strike. All rooted in a multiracial, multigenerational project from working people. It's ambitious but I can't see us winning unless we're a true collective.
I think that the idea that leftists have tried and failed to move the Democratic Party left isn’t analyzing the method of the “trying”. The predominant way leftists have attempted to effectuate that shift was a takeover from the top, focused on the leadership of a single polarizing figurehead (Bernie 2020). I think a successful (likely longer-term) process (and a largely in-person one), is from the bottom, by showing up, to do a lot of grunt work turning out votes or persuading hardcore Dems to adopt new party policy planks and endorsements. I know that in 2017 the DSA chapter in NYC started out with a very electoral strategy but based on primarying incumbents, focused again on candidates at the top, rather than active internal Democratic Party procedure and day-to-day party-building activities.
I don't think it's true that the approach has only been from the top. Yes the Bernie campaign was important, and since the Democratic Party is not a membership party but a top-down party of career politicians, successfully transforming it would I think require a takeover from the top. Trump actually illustrates this well, since the GOP is a party built on a similar model.
But there were also efforts to change the party's platform in 2016 and 2020, some of which were successful at the time but added up to very little.
The Justice Democrats project, which DSA supported, of primarying congressional Democrats and replacing them to build a left bench has been rolled back. Two of the five core members of the Squad in 2020 were defeated, so that bench is smaller now than it was going into the Biden administration. And AOC and Omar have unfortunately begun to move into a more supportive role of the party leadership.
It's true that at the state level in New York, NYC-DSA has been successful in electing a small but committed core of legislators from especially progressive districts. But the project hasn't been able to break out of a specific kind of district with a very high concentration of Bernie voters. Relatedly, it hasn't succeeded in building a popular base for the project.
I am interested in hearing ideas about what could be done differently to transform the Democratic Party, as long as those ideas take seriously and have a plan for addressing the party's countermoves and its ability to transform those who enter it with the intention of changing it.
Neal, please clarify what you mean, in the next-to-last paragraph, by “the two projects”.
Hey Barbara, thanks for that good clarifying question! I have in mind 1) the Democratic Party and 2) the broad labor left movement.
Thanks! It was a bit hard to see that.
(I’m a big admirer of your writings and their clarity. Still use your essay What is Democratic Socialism? routinely for tabling.)
Thank you so much that's so great to hear! I edited it a bit, you're right it wasn't clear.