Nearly a decade has passed since Bernie Sanders announced his first presidential run and ignited a democratic socialist electoral wave that has given us Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (AOC), the Squad, and democratic socialist officials at every level of government.
Since its inauguration, however, the project has grown and changed. Democratic socialists holding local and state office have continued to proliferate, whereas the movement has stumbled at the federal level. At the same time, Sanders’s cohering influence has begun to wane. And as Donald Trump prepares to return to the White House, the pressures faced by the socialist left are certain to intensify. The result leaves the movement at a crossroads: relying on elected officials to act in concert without Sanders’s or some other cohering program is a risky proposition, and one with a hard ceiling on the power it can build.
The need to develop a shared political and organizational program is one key reason that democratic socialist elected officials and movement leaders gathered in Philadelphia this fall for the How We Win northeast regional conference. The event, hosted by the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) Fund, provided attendees the opportunity to share experiences, camaraderie, and insight. It was the forum’s second iteration, following last year’s national meeting attended by more than eighty democratic socialist elected officials and headlined by Sanders himself. New York State assembly member Julia Salazar, who attended last year and helped organize the sequel, cited the “constructive and inspiring” nature of the national gathering as her motivation for ensuring that it took place again.
This year, the conference paid special attention to the relationship between…
Auteur: Sam Datlof
