Not my article, not my org, but I want to highlight this piece written by some comrades of ours in the DSA. It covers very important topics to consider when it comes to strategy and tactics around the use of electoral campaigns by socialist parties, particularly in the US, but the more universal details are applicable to any bourgeois imperialist liberal democracy.
On United Fronts, endorsements, the party, and the movement as a whole.
(all text below is quoted from the article. no additions have been made on my part. all emphasis mine)
These last few months have brought about a lot of discussion in our chapter of DSA. Something Iâve been very glad for as it truly does help shape the political vision that our chapter wants to express. Itâs been enlightening to see the various viewpoints and ideas on this topic, and itâs clear there are a lot of strong opinions on the matter. As we consider the endorsement of Greg Levy, I would ask my comrades to consider one fundamental question in particular as you read this piece:
To unpack this question we must first consider where the socialist movement even is right now. The movement in the United States is growing, and rapidly. Yet it is still in its infancy. Even within the DSA we struggle to maintain a uniform political platform across the organization, we cannot hold our own candidates accountable when they capitulate to liberal pressure, and the electoral wins that we have won have thus far not produced any life-changing material change for the working class people of the United States. The status quo has remained largely the exact same.
The leftist movement in the United States is currently facing down the barrel of a second red scare. It matters little which organization we are a part of, where our ideological allegiances lie, or if we are running as a democrat or independent. They are targeting each of us and will simply divide and conquer because as it currently stands there is zero unity among the socialists of the United States. The way we treat different organizations of similar values isnât dissimilar to how liberals and liberal groups often treat socialist organizations. Itâs borderline adversarial. It is wrought with so much distrust that we will eventually fall victim to our fragmentation. We are each more concerned with making sure that our particular brand of socialism comes out on top, instead of focusing our attention on the regime that each day goose-steps its way closer to a legitimate fascist dictatorship.
Tactics are important to our endorsements. We should have tactical reasons behind our endorsements. Those we endorse should align with us politically and further the socialist movement in the United States. They should stand on their principles and refuse to fall victim to liberal pressure or capitulation to the Democratic Party, should the candidate run through the primary process.
A DSA endorsement does mean something. We use endorsement to further the movement and the party. Party building is well and good but there is no use in building a party, if there is no movement to support that party. A socialist movement in the United States will require that leftists of all varieties work together to some extent. To liberals and fascists alike there is only one true enemy, and that enemy is us. It doesnât matter if we are Anarchist, Communist, or a Social Democrat. Liberals and Fascists will gladly work together to destroy the leftist movement in the United States and if we do not work to unify our movement at least somewhat, we will be destroyed. We cannot view only DSA as the socialist movement in this country, or we short ourselves of countless valuable allies in numerous other organizations that we may not agree with for a number of reasons, be that how their membership is organized, how they are funded, how they tactically choose to engage electorally, or even in some cases with some chapters, how some members behave. We cannot simply write off swaths of people because they disagree with our organization, funding, how we choose to engage electorally, or member behavior.
An endorsement of Greg Levy is not a simple stamp of approval. We have a non-insignificant amount of our chapter membership already attending Greg Levy events and volunteering on his campaign. We will devote some of our energy and resources to this campaign. DSA is not an NGO and should not function as one, our endorsements should mean that we are going to devote energy to supporting the campaign.
Greg Levy is furthering the socialist aim and movement in this country. I have spoken to older conservatives who will under no circumstances vote for Democrats, who they view as having destroyed their livelihood as the Democratic Party shipped jobs overseas to cheap unsafe labor in the global south. The democrats gutted unions, and destroyed entire communities with austerity measures. These are things that the average working class person does not forget. These actions permanently altered the trajectory of peoples lives, and itâs unacceptable to expect them to forgive that.
The Levy campaign is also not running solely as agitation, while a long shot, they have every intention of fighting for victory, not recruitment and agitation alone. A conversation with anyone working on the campaign as a volunteer, or a member of PSL would clarify that.
The furthering of the movement cannot solely be done under the banner of a party who has made it their lifeâs mission to kneecap the left and enforce brutal austerity upon the working class. The Democrats have abandoned migrants, queer people, and minorities under the delusion that if they abandon those positions, they think they will have higher odds of electoral victory. There are many people in these groups who will not vote Democrat, even if they agree with their message. Many Muslims across Ohio will not support a candidate running under the democratic banner because the Democratic Party is as equally guilty of genocide as the Republican party is. Which is why CAIR Action (Center for Islamic American Relations Action) has endorsed the Levy campaign, and not the democratic genocidaire, Sherrod Brown. In fact, I joined our PSL comrades in a canvass at the Islamic Society of Akron and Kent for their Ramadan Festival, and there was immense support for his campaign from young people to old from all sorts of different backgrounds.
(the article continues; read the rest on her substack)
