I can’t help but wonder how successful a left-wing third party would be in the US. It abandons all the baggage that came with the dems, and while this hypothetical party probably won’t be winning on a federal level any time soon, how would it fare at a local level?
The one thing I’m concerned about is that it needs to hide its power level to not scare off too many people, but if it hides its power level, then you might as well vote blue if you’re able to catch on, or vote red because democrats being watered down republicans isn’t working.
I think there’s something viable there but it shouldn’t be called something that directly references socialism. It should be something like the Dignity party and aim to target people dissatisfied with the political status quo. If it doesn’t trigger anti-socialism in people it can hoover up a shitload of votes from people who just want ANY outsider.
Dignity works for us because it’s basically what we advocate for anyway, dignity for workers, dignity for elderly, dignity for the homeless, dignity for all. I really think it’s the strongest and shortest way to describe what socialists want without ever saying socialism.
I’d imagine that the only way this works is if somebody spent 20+ years doing groundwork state by state. In the off election years, the election campaign staff work feeding the hungry, advocating for those that can’t advocate for themselves, and shepherding people through the minefields of social service bureaucracies. Then, when election years roll around, the candidates have something to point to as an accomplishment as an outsider without political position followed by, “Now think what I could get done with the power and money of the federal government…”
Direct action + electioneering is a viable means for a socialist party to take power. The only trouble is in the US the electioneering always takes precedence and there are structural mean to encourage that.
Yeah, its really hard to see third party runs from people who you only hear about during their election season as much more than a really fancy Patreon scam.
I can’t help but wonder how successful a left-wing third party would be in the US. It abandons all the baggage that came with the dems, and while this hypothetical party probably won’t be winning on a federal level any time soon, how would it fare at a local level?
The one thing I’m concerned about is that it needs to hide its power level to not scare off too many people, but if it hides its power level, then you might as well vote blue if you’re able to catch on, or vote red because democrats being watered down republicans isn’t working.
I think there’s something viable there but it shouldn’t be called something that directly references socialism. It should be something like the Dignity party and aim to target people dissatisfied with the political status quo. If it doesn’t trigger anti-socialism in people it can hoover up a shitload of votes from people who just want ANY outsider.
Dignity works for us because it’s basically what we advocate for anyway, dignity for workers, dignity for elderly, dignity for the homeless, dignity for all. I really think it’s the strongest and shortest way to describe what socialists want without ever saying socialism.
I’d imagine that the only way this works is if somebody spent 20+ years doing groundwork state by state. In the off election years, the election campaign staff work feeding the hungry, advocating for those that can’t advocate for themselves, and shepherding people through the minefields of social service bureaucracies. Then, when election years roll around, the candidates have something to point to as an accomplishment as an outsider without political position followed by, “Now think what I could get done with the power and money of the federal government…”
Direct action + electioneering is a viable means for a socialist party to take power. The only trouble is in the US the electioneering always takes precedence and there are structural mean to encourage that.
Yeah, its really hard to see third party runs from people who you only hear about during their election season as much more than a really fancy Patreon scam.