Regardless of how Americans identify themselves ideologically, the majority embrace ideas that some might call socialist. For example, 74% think corporations have too much influence; 73% favor tougher regulation of Wall Street; 60% believe that “our economic system unfairly favors the wealthy;” 85% want an overhaul of our campaign finance system to reduce the influence of money in politics; 58% support breaking up big banks; 79% think the wealthy don’t pay their fair share of taxes; 85% favor paid family leave; 80% of Democrats and half the public support single-payer Medicare for all; 75% of Americans (including 53% of Republicans) support an increase in the federal minimum wage to $12.50, while 63% favor a $15 minimum wage; well over 70% support workers’ rights to unionize; and 92% want a society with far less income disparity.

You can’t talk about solving the economic problem of the Negro without talking about billions of dollars. You can’t talk about ending the slums without first saying profit must be taken out of slums. You’re really tampering and getting on dangerous ground because you are messing with folk then. You are messing with captains of industry. Now this means that we are treading in difficult water, because it really means that we are saying that something is wrong with capitalism. There must be a better distribution of wealth, and maybe America must move toward a democratic socialism.”

I know that there has been all of this angst about “How do we get working class white voters?” But, right now, the most consistent voters in America are black women and the most consistently progressive voters are black and brown folks. We need to grow the base of our party or of that movement with those folks and make sure that we are running candidates in places and instituting policies in places that support those folks. I do think that the big issue of these next few elections, and I think the next 20 years of America, the biggest challenge that we will face is income inequality and this growing disparity. The middle class has disappeared. Now, we have a working class and wealthy class. We really need to keep hammering that truth into the public and political conversation that is happening. That is what I hope to do, is to bridge that racial gap for people to understand that whether you are red or yellow, black or white, that we are all suffering from income inequality for the past 30 years.

Having proven that we can win statewide elections both at the bottom and top of the ticket, as open democratic socialists, the Left should be salivating at the opportunities presented by the 2018 primaries, barely a year away. But this would involve strategically participating in Democratic primaries, which, despite the Sanders experience, remains a bridge too far for some.

What Is the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA)? An Explainer for The Red Scare 2.0 http://dlvr.it/TTg11J

Marco Rubio Invents ‘Far-Left Terrorism’ (FLT) — Names 43 Americans http://dlvr.it/TTfmrP

Progressives Are on a Winning Streak http://dlvr.it/TT7CYz

Florida will force students to take Heritage Foundation-backed ‘Anti-Communist’ classes this Fall http://dlvr.it/TRQ9Xs