"A Leftist Wave Is Cresting Across the Country"

"After the last month, Democratic leadership should be seriously taking stock of their position. The energy is on their left. The people are on their left. Democrats want fighters, and they want a politics rooted in the collective struggles of the masses, not decided in smoke-filled rooms. We still need moderate Democrats to win those pesky median voters, for now. But the party's leadership is deeply out of touch with its base."

Ben Davis at The Guardian considers the results of recent primary elections.

As does George Chidi.

"Pro-Worker, Pro-Family, Pro-America"

"We have no complaints and feel fortunate to have had a place to regularly publish our political and policy ideas since 2020. Hopefully, TLP's insights and arguments made some difference in the Democratic Party's strategic discourse and in wider political debates—or at least got people to look at matters in a different light and reconsider some of their positions."

John Halpin at The Liberal Patriot winds the site down, alongside articles from various writers:

Henry Olsen,

Michael Baharaeen,

Justin Vassallo,

Juan David Rojas, 

and Ruy Teixeira.

"We Continue to Live in the Wake of Mid- to Late-60s Developments"

"It's easy to look back at the Johnson administration, with the benefit of hindsight, and see little possibility for the revitalization of the New Deal coalition. But it's important to remember just what a moment of political sea change the mid-1960s was. With the exit of the Dixiecrats, the Democratic Party was in the midst of a profound transformation wherein its base did substantively shift. That [Bayard] Rustin saw an opening for the civil rights and organized labor coalition to take a driving seat within the party was not that fanciful, yet it was treated that way by a curious number of people on the Left then and still on the Left today. It's worth asking why that was and is. His critics on the Left are fine pillorying Rustin for his comments on anti-war protest tactics. But where are the similar condemnations of the New Left for sitting out the fight for the Freedom Budget for All Americans, arguably the last off-ramp from an imminent neoliberalism?"

Damage Magazine runs Benjamin Y. Fong's introduction to the new book Rustin's Challenge.

"A Future Worthy of Our Children and Generations Yet to Come"

"In times of great crisis, the American people came together and chose democracy over authoritarianism, justice over greed, solidarity over division. They understood in the past–and we understand today–that when we stand together, no matter how much money and power the oligarchs have, there is nothing that we cannot accomplish."

Bernie Sanders at The Guardian argues that "[w]e can reverse America's decline."

The Left Wing of the Possible?

"In recent polls, about 40 percent of Americans say they have a 'positive image' of socialism. A clear majority of people under 30 feel that way. But for most of them the term evokes what Mamdani and other social democrats who have actually managed to win elections try to achieve: a more secure life in a society that narrows class differences without preventing some individuals from becoming rich as long as they create products or services that ordinary people value. Four decades ago, the great social-democratic author Irving Howe described those 'socialists' who managed to gain influence in capitalist countries: 'They engage themselves with the needs of the moment, struggling for betterment in matters large and small, reforms major and modest: They do not sit and wait for the millennium.'"

At The New Republic, Michael Kazin says that New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani is "not a democratic socialist but a social democrat."

But Ruy Teixeira at The Liberal Patriot offers caution about "The Future of the Left in the 21st Century."

"Work Won't Love You Back"

"The wide appeal of entrepreneurialism also demonstrates its malleability. The former New Leftists who embraced entrepreneurship in founding organic grocery stores or alternative bookstores could feel secure that their businesses 'were simply "faithful and uncluttered expressions of yourself,"' Baker writes, even as they, too, became bosses demanding more and more of their workers. On the other end of the political spectrum, the Amway founders Richard DeVos and Jay Van Andel preached a New Right language of 'family values' by promising that their direct-sales model would bring families closer together, as in the idealized mom-and-pop shops of yore. Deindustrialization and high levels of unemployment did much to undermine what was left of industriousness as a work ethic in the 1970s and ’80s, but the appeal of entrepreneurialism to both the New Right and the New Left positioned it not just as the heir apparent but as a new logic for organizing society overall.

Nick Juravich at The Nation reviews Erik Baker's Make Your Own Job: How the Entrepreneurial Work Ethic Exhausted America.

"The Public Wants to See Something Bold"

"It's an argument that began in the progressive wing but is increasingly finding purchase across the party: Be proudly, loudly, without reservations, anti-AI. It's not enough, these pollsters, consultants and elected officials say, to caution, minimally regulate and signal a friendly stance toward tech companies building AI. There is a massive, growing opportunity for Democrats to tap into rising anxiety, fear and anger about the havoc AI could wreak in people's lives, they say, on issues from energy affordability to large-scale job losses, and channel it toward a populist movement—and not doing it, or not doing it strongly enough, will hurt the party."

Calder McHugh at Politico discusses options for Democrats regarding the politics of technology.

"A New Generation of Democrats Needs to Recapture This Same Spirit"

"Democrats need to move away from the language of equity, which implies that it would be acceptable to close the racial gaps in health or education by helping members of the disadvantaged racial groups improve while denying any help to lower-income whites. Obama understood this reality instinctively, as he made clear in his 'A More Perfect Union' speech. He called on all Americans to 'realize that your dreams do not have to come at the expense of my dreams; that investing in the health, welfare, and education of black and brown and white children will ultimately help all of America prosper.' Like the 44th president did, today's Democrats must talk along these lines regularly and weave these concepts into their communication about all kinds of issues, not just on special occasions."

Ian Reifowitz at The Liberal Patriot writes about "How Democrats Lost Obama's Vision of American Identity."

While Bridget Bowman, Ryan Nobles and Frank Thorp V at NBC News write that "Bernie Sanders makes his next moves to reshape the Democratic Party."

"Three Ms Are Key: Messaging, Medium and Movement"

"Mamdani may not win the Democratic nomination. Even if he does, Cuomo will stand as an independent candidate, although the socialist challenger may do this, too. His campaign's weaknesses reflect those of the wider US left: too little inroads among Black and older voters, as well as those with little online political engagement. But Mamdani's against-the-odds success underlines why the far-right surge doesn't have to weaken the left–far from it."

Owen Jones at The Guardian discusses the rise of Zohran Mamdani in New York City politics.

Holly Otterbein at Politco gets Bernie Sanders's reaction to Mamdani's success.

And Anita Chabria wonders at the Los Angeles Times about what the NYC primary means for the Democratic Party.

"There Is a Class War Going On. The People on Top Are Waging That War"

"Sanders' charge to the Democrats now is twofold. 'Their weakness is, I think, that their credibility is now quite low. And they don't have much of a message for working people, other than to say Trump is dangerous. I think that's just not enough.' He point blank refuses to get into Trump's administration–its excesses, surprises, non-surprises, without first walking through everything that was already wrong with the US. 'What the Democrats have to absolutely make clear is this: we're going to take on the billionaire class. They're going to start paying their fair share of taxes. We're going to have healthcare for all people as a human right. We're going to have a strong childcare system that every American can afford. We're going to make public colleges and universities tuition-free. We're going to create millions of jobs transforming our energy system away from fossil fuel. We're going to build housing–boy, housing is like it is here, just a huge crisis. We're going to build millions of units of low-income and affordable housing. Do Democrats say that? No."

Zoe Williams at The Guardian interviews Bernie Sanders.

Trump Is for Billionaires; Bernie Is for You

Various writers discuss Bernie Sanders's responses to Donald Trump:

Aaron Regunberg does so at The New Republic.

As Zak Cheney-Rice does at New York.

As Zeeshan Aleem does at MSNBC.

As Alexander Bolton does at The Hill.

"Voters Are Hungry for a Candidate That Will Deliver Meaningful, Material Change to Their Lives"

"By embracing bold ideas that address the day-to-day crises facing America’s working families, Harris can not only win the White House, but create a Democratic party that is responsive to the needs of ordinary Americans."

Bernie Sanders at The Guardian presents policies for Kamala Harris to adopt.

While Timothy Noah at The New Republic advises Harris to embrace "the Biden administration's excellent record on economic policy (which to a great extent is also her own)."

"My Goal Is to See the Democratic Party, Once Again, Become the Party of the Working Class"

"I think that to the degree that [Harris] and Walz can focus on working-class issues and understanding that there are a lot of people in this country hurting, we have had good success in the last three and a half years in a number of areas. But we need to recognize the pain that's out there and bring forth an agenda that speaks to the needs of the working class, and not just wealthy campaign donors. And if we do that I believe that Kamala Harris not only will be the next president, I think she can win by a decent margin."

Jason Lemon at Newsweek interviews Sen. Bernie Sanders about the 2024 presidential election.

While Jonathan Chait at New York argues that Kamala Harris should emulate Barack Obama's 2008 campaign.

Though Harold Meyerson at The American Prospect says that Harris should ignore Chait.

"Let the People Rule"?

"'The whole Trump phenomenon isn't because of our reforms,' he says. 'It's not just our fault, I think.' GOP gerrymandering and changes to state primaries happened on their own, he notes. He also points to many other new factors involved, including social media, generational change and Covid. He adds that in the years since Trump has entered politics, the former president has succeeded in co-opting the GOP establishment: 'If the Republican Party had superdelegates today, they would be on his side.'"

Michael Hirsh at Politico asks, "Did a Young Democratic Activist in 1968 Pave the Way for Donald Trump?"

"The President Has Got to Do Something That's Very, Very Hard"

"'He should be proud of his accomplishments, but he's also got to say that he understands that there is a housing crisis, that people can't afford healthcare or prescription drugs or childcare–that he's trying, but he hasn't yet succeeded.'"

At The Guardian, Ed Pilkington interviews Bernie Sanders about the 2024 election.

"'Identity Politics' Is the Ideology"

"For Fraser this tendency became increasingly explicit in the form of corporate feminism, embodied by Clinton, Sheryl Sandberg, and so on. As she put it in a 2015 interview with the New York Times, 'The mainstream feminism of our time has adopted an approach that cannot achieve justice even for women, let alone for anyone else. The trouble is, this feminism is focused on encouraging educated middle-class women to "lean in" and "crack the glass ceiling"—in other words, to climb the corporate ladder. By definition, then, its beneficiaries can only be women of the professional-managerial class.'"

In a 2019 n+1 article, Gabriel Winant discusses the evolution of the term "professional-managerial class."

Make Public Colleges Public Again

"Higher education is a massively complicated and convoluted public policy challenge. Unfortunately, Biden's debt cancellation intervention will probably make these issues even more polarized politically than they were before. But one thing we know for certain—the current costs of college are crazy and student debt is an unjust and ineffective way of dealing with it. It doesn't serve America's interests to treat post-secondary education as an unaffordable luxury item for select people rather than as a public good."

John Halpin at The Liberal Patriot calls for "training and college for all who want it and are willing to put in the work at a higher level beyond high school.

And Michael Hiltzik at the Los Angeles Times counters claims that debt forgivness is inflationary and reminds readers that "the federal tax rate of the richest 10% of American households fell from 32.6% of pre-tax income in 1950 to 27.5% in 2018. The rate of the bottom 90% rose from 22.1% to 29%, and of the bottom 20% from 16.3% to 24.6%."

"It's Imperative That Democrats in Swing Districts and States Are Defined the Way Joe Biden Was in 2020—Mainstream, Pragmatic and Focused on Issues That Resonate"

"They believe that by brushing that aside, the party could forfeit seats in swing districts with populations that simply aren't as liberal as some major metropolitan areas where several House progressives have risen to fame."

Hanna Trudo at The Hill reports on the rhetorical battle between moderate and progressive Democrats.

And Charlie Sykes at The Bulwark lists what Joe Biden should say in order to distance himself from progressives.

"If the Republicans Could Use the Reconciliation Process to Protect the Wealthy and the Powerful, We Can Use It to Protect Working Families, the Sick, the Elderly, the Disabled and the Poor"

"There is no reason Joe Biden could not sign into law two major bills that will accomplish most of the goals I listed above within the first 100 days of the new Congress. We cannot allow Mitch McConnell and the Republican leadership to sabotage legislation that would improve the lives of millions of working Americans and is wildly popular."

At The Guardian, Bernie Sanders writes that "[i]n this moment of unprecedented crises, Congress and the Biden administration must respond through unprecedented action."

"A Growing Number of Americans Seem to Be Saying: If This Is Capitalism, What's the Alternative?"

"Another 33 DSAers were elected this year for the first time, bringing the total to 101 when the new winners take office in January. This is greater than at any time since about 1912, when the Socialist Party had a strong foothold in both urban and rural America. Most of the socialists who have recently been elected to office represent safe blue areas, but they have also made inroads in purple areas, including Montana, Indiana, North Dakota, Texas and Tennessee. DSA also spearheaded several impressive ballot measure victories around progressive causes like the minimum wage, rent control and universal pre-school." 

Peter Dreier at Talking Point Memo looks at the growth of the Democratic Socialists of America.