The past two years have hung a dark cloud over America. With complete control of Congress and the Supreme Court, the second Trump Administration has accelerated the acceleration of our national decay. ICE is disappearing people into concentration camps. Organized labor has been decimated. Activists are sentenced to life by Kangaroo Courts and false charges of “terrorism.” The American government is killing Cuban babies, South American fishermen, and peacefully protesting citizens. The ruling party is unapologetically pro-pedophilia, and the president is treasonously corrupt. Everyday Americans live and work in a nation overcome with grief for the lost, fear for the future, and constant panic about how they’re going to survive in an increasingly expensive world.
But it hasn’t all been doom. Every now and again, the overcast parts and Americans feel the warm sun on their skin. The election of Mayor Zohran Mamdani defied what the establishment said was possible. The people of Minneanopolis valiantly resisted fascist occupation. Workers are unionizing at an increased rate. Seizing this energy, a class of socialist, progressive, and anti-imperialist candidates challenged Democratic incumbents in contested primaries. From New York to Denver to Detroit, leftists defeated the Zionist, corporatist Democratic establishment with a display of competent leadership, sensible foreign policy, and a laser-focus on the material needs of the typical American. Faced with its first real challenge in decades, the establishment crumbled.
Over the weekend, former Democratic Michigan Senate candidate Haley Stevens defected to endorse Republican Mike Rogers over Democratic nominee Abdul El-Sayed. Centrist groups Third Way and Blue Dogs are spending money campaigning against left-leaning Democrats. James Carville admitted he’d rather Republicans win the House than give DSA Democrats leverage. This election cycle has proved what other leftists and I have said for a while — many in the Democratic establishment would rather Republicans win than progressives. A year ago, I was called a conspiracy theorist for pointing that out. Now, it’s undeniably true.
The left ascendancy and centrist collapse have brought noticeable leftward shifts in Americans’ politics, both within and outside the Democratic Party. When “The Squad” entered Congress in 2018, their positions of Medicare for All, abolishing ICE, and criticism of Israel were laughed off by the Very Serious Commentariat. Less than a decade later, almost two-thirds of Americans support Medicare for All, half want to abolish ICE, and pretty much everyone except older Republicans hates Israel. Funny, I don’t hear the establishment laughing now.
Even better, Americans no longer see socialism as a boogeyman. Socialism has been increasing in Democratic favorability for years, rising from 50% approval in 2010 to 65% today. But over the last year, independents’ positive view of socialism has risen from 37% to 45% — the left isn’t just radicalizing Democrats. We’re radicalizing America.
While the Democratic establishment picks itself up off the floor, today, the left faces its most significant election in generations. For the first time in my lifetime, it’s not just a single long-shot candidate running on the possibility of a better world. A slate of DSA and progressive candidates is agitating in unison, their campaigns and values mutually reinforcing one another. Some of my favorite candidates are in heavy Democratic districts, meaning their general election is more of an anointment than a contest. But others, namely Abdul El-Sayed, Troy Jackson, Angie Nixon, Angela Gonzalez-Torres, and more, face real contests against Democratic and Republican opponents. Victories for any of these candidates will be momentous, both in policy and in position. The more senators, congressmembers, mayors, and even dog catchers advocating for the working class, the better. Progressive swing state wins, or even strong performances, will unlock the door to even greater possibilities — the grandest being a left-wing candidate vying for President of the United States. As anti-leftist Neera Tanden recently admitted, if Abdul El-Sayed can win in Michigan, it’s proof progressives can win anywhere.
But electoral victories alone are not the left’s ultimate goal. The goal is to deliver policies and programs that improve Americans’ lives. Not just because the hardships of poverty and imperialism are moral abominations, but because that is how we build a better world. As a wiser man than I once said, “The stomach, not the brain, is the engine of progress.” As long as the left can speak to America’s economic needs and deliver relief once in office, our project will grow. If we help Americans afford the cost of basic goods, voters will follow us on Palestinian liberation, ICE abolition, the emancipation of marginalized sexual and gender identities, and other issues once considered too “extreme” for possibility.
But none of this can happen if we limit ourselves to or abstain from electoralism. While politicians fight inside the established electoral systems, we must fight on the outside. Not in opposition to our elected allies, but alongside them, like a naval armada supporting a ground army.
Since the breaking of the New Deal coalition, unions have been shattered, protest rights trampled, the police militarized, and community spaces depopulated. The camaraderie of union halls, churches, and pubs has been moved online. Now, Americans congregate in group chats, Zoom meetings, and comment sections, if at all. The suicidal pursuit of profit has alienated Americans more than ever, limiting our understanding of ‘politics’ to bi-yearly elections. If you ask someone about their politics, they’ll talk about Democrat vs. Republican, not how much they’re paid or how often they can afford to take their children to a doctor. Politics happens all day, every day: Where you work, what you eat, where you live. But thanks to the purposeful over-algorithmization of our culture, Americans have a narrow, exclusively electoral definition of politics.
Breaking this misconception is a unique challenge for the modern American left. Historically, most leftist movements are multi-tendency. Socialists and communists ran for office, organized workers, held protests, and built social networks throughout their communities, often at the same time. In modern America, corporate law has made unions rare and strikes nearly extinct. The world’s most militarized police repress protests, and community spaces have been decimated in favor of monetizable interactions. As a result, America doesn’t have the social or political ability to do what exists in other nations, where dockworkers are striking to stop weapons from going to Israel, and student protests are toppling governments. That’s no one’s fault. It’s just the harsh reality of our American situation.
Living in the heart of empire has closed many avenues of traditional left-wing organizing, but it has also opened the door to leftist electoralism. Because Americans have been told politics is only elections, they’ve come to expect better from their politicians. As a result, progressives and socialists performed strongly in Democratic primaries. While some races are still competitive, many DSA candidates are effectively on their way to Congress. Melat Kiros, Donavan McKinney, Chris Rabb, Claire Valdez, and Darializa Avila Chevalier are sure to win. Barring any Republican coup, which is a real possibility, they will be seated in Congress within two months. The importance of these victories cannot be overstated.
In a best-case scenario, the left will have about a dozen insurgent congresspeople and three senators come January. That’s not enough to overpower establishment Democrats or fascist Republicans, and they might not even have enough leverage to win policy concessions from Hakeem Jeffries, who seeks to become Speaker of the House. But this presumptive bloc can use the bully pulpit to influence and steer other Democratic politicians leftward. In fact, they’ve already done it.
Two years ago, only thirty-seven Democrats voted against sending weapons to Israel. But after a summer of progressive victories and rising pro-Palestine sentiment among Democratic voters, over one hundred House Democrats voted to cut off military aid to the genocidal state. Not because they changed their minds or suddenly discovered that Arabs are people, too. But because left-wing political pressure has them scared.
Though their numbers will be small in a five-hundred-and-thirty-five-person legislature, these presumptive leftist congressmembers will further heighten the political establishment’s contradictions by cementing the grassroots (dare I say “revolutionary”) energy of the anti-fascist American movement in the halls of power.
For the past three years, Americans have watched in horror as their government slaughters thousands of Palestinians, tore up the Constitution, and sought to repeal the 20th century. Meanwhile, the two-party establishment has spat in the face of every democratic norm and principle. The Democrats’ elitism cost them the 2024 election, and the last two years have shown many that the party’s Zionist, corporatist leaders are unwilling and unable to fight back against Republican authoritarianism.
As for the GOP, I don’t think I could make them look worse if I tried. They’re mass murdering Americans, and the ICE army has murdered citizens; their tax cuts have enriched the rich; and the entire party is solely focused on defending the predation of Donald Trump, who is constantly breaking his own laws by not releasing the Epstein Files. And, not that you’d know from reading major media, but the President of the United States was just accused of rape. Again.
Americans hate the political status quo. So, they turned to anti-establishment voices. Electing DSA members and other establishment-critical politicians is necessary to codify this energy into power, where it can influence policy and keep agitating for working-class politics and human rights against a ruling class that disregards even the most basic principles of civilization. That is not the entirety of our path to a better world. But it is an important, crucial step.
The DSA candidates already elected have been a monumental achievement. Depending on how swing-state elections turn out, we’ll have a clearer sense of the limits of the progressive movement under the current conditions. But what has already been proven beyond any doubt is that the socialist left and its progressive allies have vastly exceeded the expectations of the doubters, haters, and even some supporters.
No matter how these midterms go, the left has already convinced millions of Americans that a better world is possible. Whatever happens, tomorrow we get back to work.
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Thanks in advance!
In Solidarity — Joe
It is an hour before the polls start, and you guys are still carrying on about how "establishment Democrats " are mean to you why you must be put in power to replace them. Trump is mentioned only once, in the first paragraph.
IMHO this is a perfect argument on why such people should never be trusted with public power.