DSA & the 2024 Elections: In Politics, Silence is Acceptance

DSA’s 2024 Program (FORC) Says Nothing about DSA Representatives and Labor Leaders Supporting Biden

By Philip Locker and Stephan Kimmerle

[This article reflects the views of the authors, not necessarily of the Reform & Revolution caucus. An article with a different take on FORC and the questions involved will be published here soon.]

The 2023 DSA Convention voted for DSA’s elected leadership, the National Political Committee (NPC), to “form a multi-tendency national committee to prepare for the 2024 national election by putting forward a positive program modeled after our 2020 DSA-For-Bernie campaign platform.” This committee, later to be known as the For Our Rights Commission (FORC), presented its proposal in late February. The NPC amended the proposal and published a final version, “FORC 2024 Program: In 2024, Workers Deserve More!”

This was an opportunity to create a unifying call to action to connect various DSA activities in 2024 – from electoral work to labor struggles, from ballot initiatives to Palestinian solidarity – under a political program, a socialist manifesto, that would champion key immediate demands, appeal to workers to join DSA and help us build a mass working-class alternative to the Democratic Party. This was a chance to lay out our strategy to build a mass movement to dismantle capitalism, and articulate a bold vision for a fundamentally different social order – socialism – based on economic, gender, and racial justice.

While the program includes a number of excellent general points and good demands, it fails to address the central questions of the 2024 elections and advances a reformist vision of socialism.

The Elephant in the Room

The program makes a number of points that we fully agree with when it states that the Democratic Party is “controlled by its donor class, rooted in international finance capital.” It correctly highlights Biden’s “massive military budget,” expansion of oil drilling, “interventionist wars abroad” including “supporting Israel’s brutal genocide in Gaza,” and his maintenance and expansion of Trump’s racist immigration policies. 

It further explains:

In the face of the increasingly right-wing Republican Party, we recognize that a second Trump victory would be catastrophic for the international working class. Relying on the Democratic Party to lead the fight against the Republican Party and the right isn’t working. An independent path, rooted in the working-class majority and building towards an independent workers’ political party, is necessary […]

This year, defeating the far-right movement, protecting the rights  of the working-class majority, and fighting for democracy are our top priorities. In 2024 we aim to unite the working class against the far-right and neoliberalism, expand democracy, and shape a world by and for workers. Through our struggles in the streets, workplace, and at the ballot box, we will continue to build a working-class movement with the power to take on the capitalist class and build a more equal, democratic, and liberated world.

All very good! But how does this apply to the pressing question that tens of millions of working people are facing – how to approach the 2024 presidential election? On this central issue, the DSA program for 2024 has virtually nothing to say.

This does not make the challenge of how to relate to the presidential race go away. It simply means DSA is forfeiting any aspiration to give a lead to the working class, or at least its left wing, on what to do. While there has been much talk in DSA of “acting like a party,” the essence of being a socialist political party is fighting to earn leadership in the movements of workers and marginalized people.

DSA is forfeiting any aspiration to give a lead to the working class, or at least its left wing, on what to do.

DSA’s refusal to assume responsibility for leadership does not mean there is no leadership in the workers and left movements. Labor leaders and progressive leaders like Bernie Sanders and Ilhan Omar are endorsing Biden. They argue he is a “friend of labor,” a good president, a defender of democracy, etc. Nor does it stop there. Outrageously, our unions and social movement organizations plan to waste hundreds of millions of dollars this year campaigning for Biden and establishment Democrats.

Nowhere in the 2024 Program does DSA ever acknowledge this reality, much less take a position on it. Nor does a reader of the 2024 Program get any indication that DSA’s most prominent representative, AOC, has endorsed Biden (and in all likelihood almost all of DSA’s other public representatives will sooner or later follow her example).

Of course in politics silence does not equate with being neutral. In practice it means DSA is de facto accepting that its public representatives, as well as the labor leaders, are politically supporting Joe Biden. 

Overall, the DSA 2024 Program makes radical points on the level of general commentary, but ends up with an opportunistic position on the concrete question of the 2024 elections. This is similar to the “minimum-maximum” approach of classical Social Democracy in the period before World War One. Most Social Democratic party leaders would give radical speeches about Marxism and the future socialist society at May Day rallies and Sunday meetings (the “maximum program”).  But during the rest of the week the actual practice of these leaders was fundamentally reformist, focused on fighting for a “minimum program” of immediate economic and democratic reforms. 

Facing a Biden-Trump Race: How to Build Toward Independence?

DSA is struggling with how to oppose Biden and the Democrats for their pro-imperialist and pro-capitalist policies while also taking into account the even greater danger of a potential second term for Trump. On this crucial question, the 2024 Program is simply insufficient. 

Comrades on FORC (and later the NPC) agreed, as quoted above, that “in the face of the increasingly right-wing Republican Party, we recognize that a second Trump victory would be catastrophic for the international working class.” 

But a slim majority of FORC voted to remove from this sentence the following conclusion: “and unequivocally believe it is necessary to defeat [Trump].”  The caucuses from DSA’s moderate wing, Socialist Majority and Groundwork, argued to include that half sentence. A narrow majority of FORC made up of more left-wing forces around Bread & Roses, Marxist Unity Group, and Red Star voted to eliminate it.  

Focusing the debate on whether to include or exclude this half sentence reduced the debate to either supporting Biden (the policy that SMC and Groundwork implicitly promote), or following the current ultra-left sentiment of many activists that the differences between Trump and Biden can be effectively ignored in the presidential election (which B&R, MUG, and Red Star are mistakenly echoing).

This does not mean that SMC and Groundwork are excited about Biden, nor that B&R, MUG, and Red Star do not see the danger of Trump. The inability of both sides to find a principled position that opposes Trump while also advancing the struggle for political independence from the Democrats leads to a false dichotomy. 

The reality, which both sides of this debate fail to deal with, is – as outlined above – that the forces that have real weight in the working class and marginalized communities – labor unions and progressive leaders – are actively campaigning for Biden. What is DSA’s position on this bankrupt policy? Does DSA support or oppose it? If it opposes it, what is the alternative DSA proposes? The 2024 Program does not answer these questions, much less ask them.

In our view, DSA should publicly announce that we will not endorse our class enemy, Joe Biden. We should urge DSA representatives to also not endorse Biden, or if they already did, to publicly withdraw their endorsement. DSA should speak up clearly against our unions and social movement organizations tying themselves to Biden and establishment Democrats. And most of all, our message needs to appeal to all those who are looking for an anti-capitalist alternative to Biden to join DSA and help us build a working-class party so we never get stuck in a lose-lose election again.

Fighting on the Terrain of a Rigged System

But this strategy will not succeed if socialists ignore working people’s legitimate concerns about Trump in the 2024 election. To effectively combat the alignment with the Democratic Party of labor and Left leaders it is vital we have our own answers to the question of how to stop Trump. 

Our goal should be to create a division between those who use Trump to rally support for Biden and his pro-capitalist policies, and those who are alarmed about Trump but are also angry at Biden’s policies.

Given the undemocratic Electoral College, the 2024 presidential election will be determined by approximately ten states known as “swing states.” In the 40 states where the outcome of the election is very clear (“safe states”), there is no reason to vote for Biden. Anyone advocating a tactical vote for Biden to prevent Trump will not honestly be able to support a vote for Biden in those states. 

For example in New York state, where DSA is strongest, there is no justification for AOC and other DSA representatives to promote Biden since the outcome in NY is not in any doubt. Instead DSA representatives should appeal to their supporters to join them in building a movement-based resistance against Biden’s pro-capitalist policies (which will also be the best way to fight Trump as well). On an electoral level, this means registering a left-wing protest by voting for the strongest left-wing challenger for president and using the election season as an opportunity to advocate for workers to join DSA. DSA should openly propose to AOC and other NY DSA representatives that they should adopt this position. 

In the swing states there is also no justification for endorsing Biden, sugar-coating his policies, or donating to his campaign. In swing states a tactical vote for Biden to stop Trump is warranted, but only on the basis of socialists openly opposing Biden’s policies. Voting for Biden in swing states should not mean giving unconditional support to him in the name of “fighting Trump” or hiding our opposition to his pro-capitalist policies. It should be presented merely as an unfortunate tactical necessity in this election and should absolutely be linked to building an independent working-class party throughout the US so we don’t have to face this situation again.

DSA’s refusal so far to address the reality of the 2024 presidential election has practical consequences for our work. It has resulted in DSA failing to confidently make the case for building a working-class alternative to the Democratic Party in the “vote uncommitted” campaign. As our article on the uncommitted campaign outlines, DSA nationally has put forward a very opportunist message in that movement. 

The avoidance of the 2024 election also leads the 2024 Program to being totally silent about Shawn Fain, the new left-wing UAW president, enthusiastically endorsing Biden. DSA correctly supported and campaigned to elect Fain. But this has consequences – we are now associated with Fain, including his endorsement of Biden. 

This means it is particularly important that we openly distance ourselves from Fain’s mistaken position. Not doing so is a repetition of the same mistakes DSA made toward Bernie Sanders in his presidential campaigns. DSA was absolutely correct to endorse Sanders, but it followed an opportunist policy of not openly opposing Bernie’s mistaken positions on foreign policy and other issues.

Another problem with this lack of criticism of labor leaders is that DSA is not using the influence of our members in the labor movement in a coordinated way to challenge the class collaborationist message of the union bureaucracy that Biden is on our side. DSA’s power might be limited, but the strength we have built so far in the labor movement should be used to challenge this servile stance towards corporate Democrats. By taking a clear stand, DSA would stand out as a pole of attraction to a minority of more class-conscious workers.

This policy of trailing AOC and progressive leaders who are actively campaigning for Biden will haunt DSA in the coming months. The “vote uncommitted” campaign demonstrates the desire of millions to fight back against Biden and the Democratic establishment. We expect this trend to continue throughout the year leading up to the November elections, although it is likely to also be increasingly impacted by growing concerns about Trump. It is time for DSA to end its silence on the 2024 presidential election and work out concrete answers to the real questions facing working people.

Beyond a Ceasefire in Palestine

Palestine solidarity is the most important movement in the US at the moment. However, the only demand regarding Palestine in the 2024 Program is for “A ceasefire in Gaza” in the section “A Working-Class Foreign Policy.”

Limiting ourselves to only calling for a ceasefire is totally insufficient. A ceasefire is a great immediate demand to mobilize under the current conditions. However, while a ceasefire would help end the current slaughter taking place in Gaza, it would not address the terrible oppression the Palestinian people face that led to the desperate October 7 attack.

In our immediate demands DSA needs to also call for an end of all US military aid for Israel. But in our program for a just peace we must demand at minimum: 

• a total and immediate withdrawal of the IDF from Gaza and the West Bank
• an end to the Israeli and Egyptian siege on Gaza
• the right of the Palestinian people to self-determination and statehood
• the right of return for Palestinian refugees as part of a socialist plan to provide housing, jobs, peace, and security for all the peoples of the region. 

As socialists we should help build a clear anti-imperialist consciousness in the Palestine solidarity movement. That is why it’s a significant mistake that the section “A Working-Class Foreign Policy” fails to call for the abolition of NATO, which has been expanded and strengthened following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Disgracefully, all three DSA Congressmembers voted in favor of expanding NATO to include Finland and Sweden. This makes it all the more important that we bring forward DSA’s demand for the US to withdraw from NATO.

As anti-imperialists we must oppose the interventions of US imperialism all around the globe, including Ukraine (which all three DSA Congressmembers voted to provide massive military funding for). 

Immigrant Rights

In addition, the demand for “freedom of movement for all workers across borders” in the 2024 Program is presented in a liberal manner which lacks an anti-capitalist and working-class framework. The fear of a large influx of immigrants is being exploited by far-right Republicans and establishment Democrats to shift US politics to the right. Biden’s State of the Union address echoed the far-right Republicans’ racist rhetoric and policies toward immigrants. 

DSA should intransigently oppose the anti-immigrant racism of the Republicans and the Democratic establishment, and fight for the interests of working people around the world, including immigrants. 

However, simply calling for “freedom of movement for all workers across borders” alone does not address the real challenges that the mass migration of impoverished people brings. If more poor people have to compete under current conditions for jobs, housing, and social services, it intensifies tensions in this capitalist society. 

The way to uphold people’s democratic right to migrate for economic, environmental reasons, or to escape repression or oppression is to ensure that the extremely wealthy and large corporations cover the costs of housing, jobs, and social services for everyone, both migrants and those already residing here. Simply echoing the liberal slogan of the right to move across borders without any class content will, in effect, aid the far right.

Democratic Socialism is Far More than Parliamentary Democracy

“Our ultimate goal,” the FORC proposal said, “is working-class majority rule, through a democratic constitution that creates a political system with universal and equal working-class voting rights, proportional representation in a single federal legislature, and ending the role of money in politics.” 

To call this our “ultimate goal” is a massive watering down of the program of socialism. However, the NPC made a positive correction by adding: 

Through this working-class democracy we hope to build a socialist world where people are put before profit, people’s basic needs are taken out of the marketplace, and the largest corporations are put under public and democratic control.

Calling for “a political system with universal and equal working-class voting rights, proportional representation in a single federal legislature, and ending the role of money in politics” is absolutely correct today in the US. These are all democratic reforms that would expand bourgeois democracy, which is in the interests of working people and our struggle to overthrow capitalism.

However, this should not be our “ultimate goal!” The 2024 Program reflects an extremely narrow historical vision, accepting that the particular form of bourgeois democracy (parliamentary elections) is the last word on democracy. 

In contrast, Marxists have long explained that socialism – the rule of the working class – would usher in a qualitative expansion of democracy based on the direct participation of working people in running all aspects of society – our workplaces, schools, and communities. The experience of almost every working-class revolution has been that mass democratic organs of popular power spring up and are the basis for a fundamentally new type of state. 

Rosa Luxemburg explained this revolutionary Marxist view of socialist democracy being based on worker councils in her December 1918 program that was later adopted by the new German Communist Party:

The establishment of the socialist order of society is the mightiest task which has ever fallen to a class and to a revolution in the history of the world. This task requires a complete transformation of the state and a complete overthrow of the economic and social foundations of society.

This transformation and this overthrow cannot be decreed by any bureau, committee, or parliament. It can be begun and carried out only by the masses of people themselves.

In all previous revolutions a small minority of the people led the revolutionary struggle, gave it aim and direction, and used the mass only as an instrument to carry its interests, the interests of the minority, through to victory. The socialist revolution is the first which is in the interests of the great majority and can be brought to victory only by the great majority of the working people themselves.

The mass of the proletariat must do more than stake out clearly the aims and direction of the revolution. It must also personally, by its own activity, bring socialism step by step into life.

The essence of socialist society consists in the fact that the great laboring mass ceases to be a dominated mass, but rather, makes the entire political and economic life its own life and gives that life a conscious, free, and autonomous direction.

From the uppermost summit of the state down to the tiniest parish, the proletarian mass must therefore replace the inherited organs of bourgeois class rule – the assemblies, parliaments, and city councils – with its own class organs – with workers’ and soldiers’ councils. It must occupy all the posts, supervise all functions, measure all official needs by the standard of its own class interests and the tasks of socialism. Only through constant, vital, reciprocal contact between the masses of the people and their organs, the workers’ and soldiers’ councils, can the activity of the people fill the state with a socialist spirit.

The leadership of DSA is leading our organization into increasing difficulties. The 2024 Program unfortunately fails to politically prepare DSA to be able to intervene with a coherent policy that addresses the real challenges of the presidential election. Its refusal to oppose the pro-Biden policy of labor and DSA electeds is an indication of the hegemony of the reformist politics that unfortunately runs throughout DSA. 

What’s needed instead is to build a principled revolutionary wing of DSA that can offer an alternative leadership of the socialist movement. Such a force can only be built on the basis of a thorough internationalist and historical understanding of Marxist theory and politics, as well as a dynamic engagement in the actually existing struggles of the working class. 

This starts with having political clarity on the actual challenges facing the working class, and the audacity to frankly speak about it. Or in the poetic words of Rosa Luxemburg, paraphrasing the workersʼ leader Lasalle, “The most revolutionary thing one can do is always to proclaim loudly what is happening.”