Another year, another mountain of evidence that DSA chapters across the country should be prioritizing state & local races in their electoral work, endorsing in federal races only in cases of truly exceptional candidates & opportunities. (1/10)

Multiple DSA candidates won their primaries in state & local races across PA this year & last year. The results aren't final in NY, but the entire Albany slate is competitive & probably several will win. And who can forget the Chicago City Council slate's success in 2019. (2/10)

By contrast, huge amounts of time, energy & resources were poured into many congressional campaigns in high-profile chapters across the country, none of which secured more than 30% of the vote. This isn't a commentary on the quality of the work put in by DSA organizers. (3/10)

In fact, the tragedy is just the opposite. Hundreds of highly skilled, experienced cadre poured thousands of hours into professionalizing campaigns that were nonviable for reasons beyond their control. Of course, every campaign adds to the skills & experience of its vols, (4/10)

brings in new members, gathers useful data, etc. But DSA could accomplish this while working on campaigns that actually stand a chance of winning too.

Moreover, there are real questions about what DSA could even accomplish federally by electing a handful of socialists. (5/10)

The Democratic establishment has reasserted control over party infrastructure & harshly enforces member discipline in Congress. The progressive caucus is weak, diffuse & ineffectual, providing no real support to socialist members or opportunities for coalition-building. (6/10)

The Biden administration is also set to absorb a larger-than-usual number of Republican Party operatives, powerbrokers & stakeholders following his likely victory.

Moreover, the Democratic electorate itself is assimilating the anti-Trump remnants of the Republican Party, (7/10)

further cementing the realignment of the Democratic Party into broad centrist party of cosmopolitan finance capital. We couldn't influence such a formation on the timeline needed for federal intervention to avert climate catastrophe & there's little to be gained by trying. (8/10)

By contrast, DSA campaigns have shown state & local Democratic machines to be much weaker & easier to displace.

Even more importantly, the electorates are more diverse, less hostile to (even enthusiastic about!) socialism & provide rich opportunities for base-building. (9/10)

For all these reasons, we have a real opportunity to take state power at the state & local level in the medium-term.

It's important that we take that opportunity, as cascading social, political & ecological crises at the federal level will need to be managed & mitigated. (10/10)