"That's why we won't support Joe Biden"
For years, groups of the US progressive left have supported any Democratic candidate in the name of the lesser evil. The DSA, who had supported Sanders in the primary, have decided to stop this process
After Bernie Sanders announced he would stop his 2020 Democratic Primary campaign, the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) tweeted their stance: "We will not support Joe Biden." Liberal journalists and prominent Democrats were not happy about it. Two articles immediately targeted the decision of the DSA, including an open letter from historical activists of Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) and a controversy by Harold Meyerson who argues that the choice not to support Biden is the way to become " a sect of winking Trotskyists excited by their display of insensitive, senseless righteousness ».
But that decision was made democratically by the DSA after serious debate and elaboration, and it is the position that all socialists should take. Socialists have no reason to support Joe Biden.
I say this as a signatory of the resolution that was proposed and approved at the biennial convention of the 2019 DSA, the highest decision-making body in our organization, with over a thousand delegates representing about fifty-five thousand members. In view of the congress, the members presented some resolutions to vote on. Among these was mine, the R15: "In case Sanders loses," and stated: "If Bernie Sanders does not prevail in the primary, the Democratic Socialists of America will not support another presidential candidate from the Democratic Party."
As I explained at the time, it was important to decide in advance what we would do in the likely scenario in which Sanders would not turn out to be the Democratic candidate: "When the pressure of the election season is in full swing, it will be difficult not to follow organizations that demand the support of Democrats. But there will be nothing to win in that case. As an organization, DSA should make it clear that we will not support corporate politicians, especially as this would create divisions among our members. "
Delegates began debating this resolution as early as July, then it was presented at the convention, debated and approved. The base voted to passed this motion with an overwhelming majority.
The Convention said this position was important to take in 2019, so it democratically decided that the Democratic Sociats of America position was to support only Bernie Sanders and no other Democratic candidates. Far from imposing anything on their members, the DSA have used the highest decision-making body with the largest number of organization representatives to decide their position.
This decision was made following a democratic process. But beyond the question of method, there is the basic political question: why should a socialist organization support a neoliberal and warmongering politician like Joe Biden?
How to take sides
The DSA argue that capitalism is at the root of social problems and "reject an international economic order supported by private profits, labor alienation, racial and gender discrimination, environmental destruction, brutality and violence in defense of the status quo." As democratic socialists, members of the DSA want to democratize all aspects of society so that ordinary people have control over their lives and claim that there is an alternative to the status quo.
The question is how to get there. In the context of the US political system, it is difficult. How should socialists, who want to build a credible political alternative, deal with elections with varying degrees of corruption?
The DSA had all the information necessary to determine its position as early as 2019. Already last summer, we knew that the democratic candidates were not compatible with socialist politics either in word or in deed. Elizabeth Warren, when she did not openly attack the left, declared, "I am a capitalist to the core," and she advanced a plan to combat climate change based on military preparedness. Warren started off with some credible reforms, although he quickly backtracked on key issues like Medicare for All. More importantly, Warren presented herself as an extraordinarily intelligent, talented and moral politician, with the idea that a technocrat liberal can solve our problems, rather than claim, as socialists do, that change occurs through the activity and organization of ordinary people struggling together.
Pete Buttigieg was the substitute for the will of capital, he ran his campaign with billions of dollars to avidly defend private health insurance and reject free college and other social aids. Joe Biden was also terrible when he told immigrants to vote for Trump; in the course of his campaign he attacked union members, women and other voters; and now he's been accused of sexual assault by a former member of his staff. All of this comes at the height of a career that has consistently unfolded on the wrong side of history: Biden worked with segregationists to defeat school integration, supported the invasion of Iraq and reassured the rich, telling them: "The tenor of life will not change, nothing will change radically ». The distance between Biden and Trump seems to be shrinking every day, as evidenced by a racist video that Biden recently posted.
All of this has been the norm in recent years' elections. Biden's past is horrific, which puts him in line with most of the Democratic presidential candidates the party has presented in the past two decades. If our socialist organization supported a candidate who represents the lesser evil it would change little for them, but it would have important consequences for the DSA.
The most elementary reason for the existence of a socialist organization is to propose a political alternative to the establishment, that things don't necessarily have to go like this. This happens by starting with rejecting what is offered to us, pointing out that Republicans and Democrats are not convincing enough and do not truly represent the majority of the working class. Many workers already know this and for this reason they choose not to participate in the elections. They correctly perceive that both parties will essentially follow the same agenda and will not significantly improve their lives.
For a socialist organization to build a true alternative to business-as-usual, it must start by recognizing that these two parties do not represent us. It is not a question of empty moralizing, this position is in line with that of the attitudes of many workers in the United States and we cannot seriously construct an alternative policy if, at the same time, we support the politicians that most workers rightly distrust. .
By supporting Biden, both directly and tacitly, the DSA would appear to tolerate both his program and his personal profile. They would argue that when the knots come to a head, the largest socialist organization in the United States sweeps away allegations of sexual violence and puts Biden's positions on climate change under the rug. It would tell its members and anyone who listens to them that politics and the socialist vision are sidelined at election time and that telling the truth is only important when it is convenient. Backing Joe Biden would signal that the DSAs don't really want to build a political alternative to the status quo personified by Biden himself.
The sense of a no
There is no great choice in these elections, at least for the alternatives that are posed (Trump or Biden). The DSA's position is this: as an organization, we will not legitimize Joe Biden or any of the other candidates proposed by the Democratic Party establishment. This is the meaning of endorsement: public approval, in politics, usually involves the commitment of some resources. The DSAs won't. Individual members are free to vote as they please, but the organization will maintain its independence.
Credibility and following among progressive voters for the Democratic Party depends on organizations such as AFL-CIO, Sierra Club, National Organization for Women and other progressive groups. The leaders of these groups are cyclically asked to support the party candidates regardless of the concrete policies they carry out, in order to return the base to the party and vote faithfully.
The refusal of the DSA to give the endorsement interrupts this process. And this interruption is an important thing. Politicians are not entitled to our support: they have to earn it. And Joe Biden didn't earn it.
