Wednesday, August 10, 2016

Trump's authoritarian movement

As an organization primarily oriented towards social movement building, DSA does not normally endorse presidential candidates. We decided to encourage Bernie Sanders to run for President — and then proudly participated in his movement — because he offered a political program that genuinely advances the democratic socialist vision. Hillary Clinton’s politics are quite different, and therefore DSA will not offer her our endorsement.
Nonetheless, DSA recognizes that a Trump “law and order” authoritarian administration would threaten the most elemental rights of immigrants, people of color, Muslims, women, workers and the LGBTQ community – as well as bring greater repression of left movements such as #Black Lives Matter. Even bracketing the many other actions he could take through Executive Branch agencies or in league with a Republican-controlled Congress, Trump’s capacity to appoint at least two new Supreme Court justices alone would spell disaster for many of these communities. Further,  having witnessed the radical rolling back of voting, labor, reproductive and immigrant rights brought about by Republican control of all three branches of government in 25 states – including Wisconsin, Michigan and Ohio – we have a clear picture of just how devastating GOP control of all three branches of the federal government would be.  While we also vehemently oppose the pro-corporate, imperialist policies of neoliberal Democrats like Hillary Clinton, we recognize that defeating the authoritarian Donald Trump is a crucial step toward building both a strong opposition to neoliberal democrats as well as a powerful democratic socialist movement.
Dump Trump in Contested States, Down-Ballot Races and Multiracial Social Movement Work in Safe States

As a result, many DSA chapters, particularly in swing states, will work within what we believe will be a growing independent “Dump Trump” movement. Through this work, which will consist largely of registering voters in black and Latino communities, fighting voter suppression and attending/organizing anti-Trump rallies, DSA and other radicals can increase the likelihood of a Trump defeat without working with the official Clinton campaign. While many DSA chapters in swing states will be focusing on Dump Trump work, many of our chapters in non-contested states will focus on down-ballot races that feature Bernie Democrats, as well as explicitly socialist candidates both within and outside of the Democratic Party.
Many chapters will also continue focusing on grassroots, multiracial campaigns against police brutality, mass incarceration, and white supremacy, and for affordable housing and high quality K-12 education. Finally, while most DSAers in contested states will likely vote for Clinton and work actively to defeat Trump, some members in non-contested states will vote for, and/or work for the Jill Stein presidential campaign. DSA believes, however, that for any third party effort to be viable in the long-term, it will have to focus less on largely symbolic efforts at the presidential level and more on building the grassroots base necessary to win partisan races at the local and state level.

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