At the March 2026 General Meeting, RVDSA adopted the electoral strategy below, along with amendments to our endorsement process. Introduction The purpose of our electoral work is to build the confidence and organization for the working class to seize political power, radically democratizing our society and transitioning toward social control of the economy. When working […]

High Peaks DSA voices our complete opposition to the United States and Israel’s February 28 decision to initiate an illegal war against Iran, a sovereign nation. We emphasize that this war is both catastrophic and unjustified. We stand unequivocally with the Iranian people in their fight for freedom and self-determination.   

Iran posed no imminent threat and was in the midst of negotiations when the United States abandoned any attempt at a peaceful resolution to join Israel in a war of choice. This war has only begun because of the arrogance of the Israeli government, the ignorance of the American government, and the complete collapse of the international rules-based order. 

The early attacks on Iran in the first few days of this war have already killed at least 1,800 civilians, including a horrific strike on a girls’ school that killed 168, most of them children between the ages of 7 and 12. Much of the Iranian leadership has been assassinated or incapacitated, most notably the assassination of the supreme leader,  Ayatollah Ali Hosseini Khamenei. The assassination of a head of state is a dangerous precedent and a brazen violation of international law. 

A rapidly expanding war has since grown throughout Southwest Asia, as Iran is responding with an onslaught of missiles that are seriously testing the Israeli defense systems in Israel proper, along with strikes on nine other countries in the region. Iran has already attacked energy infrastructure and is greatly impacting maritime traffic through the Strait of Hormuz, a critical corridor that accounts for a quarter of the world’s oil trade. Iran has also retaliated by striking several U.S. military bases in the region, resulting in seven soldiers killed at this point and many more wounded. Israel has further escalated its targets with additional attacks in Syria and Lebanon, where hundreds have been killed, and a mass displacement crisis has unfolded. Israel has also closed off humanitarian aid, again, to Gaza. 

Israel and the United States have further escalated their onslaught on the Iranian capital of Tehran, a city of more than 10 million, with additional strikes that have hit residential targets and social infrastructure, including hospitals and schools. The bombings of oil sites near or in Tehran’s city limits have covered the city in a black sky, an ecological disaster that will have alarming health ramifications for the population long after this war is over. A reminder that war itself and the United States military are one of the single greatest contributors to the worsening of the climate crisis.

Trump may have felt that Iran would be like Venezuela, a short bombing campaign, kidnap the President, and work out a deal with the Vice President to take the oil. This short-term success itself is unlikely to hold up in the long run. Iran is a vast mountainous country with a large and diverse population, and it has a substantial military that has been preparing for a war with the West for 40 years. The leadership structure is greater than one individual, and a new Ayatollah, the son of the old Ayatollah, has been selected. He is considered a hardliner and has strong ties to the Iranian Revolutionary National Guard, the state’s military body. 

Iran is not Iraq or Libya either. In each of these prior wars, efforts were made by the Obama and Bush administrations, on false pretenses in Iraq, on false promises in Libya, to sell these wars and garner coalition support from European allies. Following the approval of Congress with votes in favor from 3 of the next 4 Democratic nominees, Bush and Blair launched their illegal invasion of Iraq. The war killed at least hundreds of thousands of Iraqis and became an unmitigated disaster for the reputation of the United States. 

Saddam Hussein and Muammar Gaddafi ruled their countries with less public support than the Iranian Regime, and while their governments fell quickly, each war turned into a years-long quagmire. The Iranian government will be harder to topple, and the country much harder to stabilize. If regime change is successful, an outcome worse than Afghanistan is most likely, given that Iran has similar mountainous terrain and is a more important geopolitical state. 

Donald Trump, who, in part, won the 2016 Republican nomination by being seen as an outspoken critic of the Iraq War, was then able to successfully position himself on a platform of no new wars as the peace candidate when contrasted with Hillary Clinton in the general election. 

In practice, much of this perception was always false. The budgetary priorities of campaigning for massive tax cuts and large increases in defense spending inevitably would lead to direct actions taken by the Trump administration in its first term that were never going to be peaceful. The implementation of these policies contributed to the events of October 7, the ratcheting up of the ethnic cleansing of Palestinians in the West Bank, and more than two years of genocide in Gaza that followed, and laid the groundwork for the War with Iran. 

Trump unilaterally pulled the United States out of a six-nation nuclear agreement with the Iranian government that was working to prevent Iran from developing a nuclear weapons program. Toward the end of his first term, he recklessly assassinated a top Iranian general, and we only avoided war because of Iran’s restraint with a narrow and orchestrated response. 

The annexation of the Golan Heights, the moving of the embassy to Jerusalem, the implicit support through inaction on the further expansion of illegal settlements in the West Bank, and the pursuit of the Abraham Accords that normalized relations between Israel and the countries of Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates, and later Morocco and Sudan all were major factors in the continued isolation of the Palestinians and contributed to the rationale behind the October 7 attacks by Hamas. 

A brief discussion of the historical context in which the current war arose is helpful. In 1953, the United States and the United Kingdom initiated a successful coup to oust the democratically elected government in Iran by strengthening the powers of the Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi to stop the nationalization of the Iranian oil industry. The monarchy ruled with an iron fist and an indifference to the suffering of the Iranian people. Decades of political instability in the country ensued, culminating in the Islamic Revolution in 1979. The monarchy was abolished, and the Islamic Republic of Iran was formed, initially with popular support following an anti-imperialist revolution. 

For the last 47 years, Israel and the United States have been deliberate in their efforts to shift the Arab states from a position of adversarial opposition to the brutality of the Zionist apartheid state to client states that now consistently work for the interests of the Western powers while having to appease the sympathies of their populations, who remain with the Palestinian cause. Like the Shah’s rule in Iran, Israel has calculated that they benefit from having an Islamist opposition in Hamas, and has done everything in their power to weaken all secular Palestinian alternatives. 

Iran is viewed by Israel as one of the last remaining states in the region that is providing real economic assistance and military support to the Palestinians through Hamas. Much of this is overstated, as the Iranian regime is primarily invested in remaining in power, and like the other autocratic regimes that dominate the region, has little interest in liberation that could threaten their legitimacy if a viable democratic state were to be formed in Palestine.

The continuation of the Trump polices under the Biden administration, about Israel and its ongoing support as Israel conducted its systematic genocide in Gaza, along with its failures to adopt a more humane approach to immigration, depressed the Democratic party’s voting base and helped Trump win the 2024 election. Once again, Trump presented himself as the peaceful anti-war candidate, in contrast to Kamala Harris, who refused to distance herself from Biden on these issues. The dye had been cast, and this time, Trump retook the presidency, now having complete control of the Republican party, and surrounding himself with a cabinet of sycophants willing to go along with his worst impulses.

On immigration, he has been more draconian in the targeting of all immigrants regardless of their status, detaining many who were engaging in the legal process by revoking previous legal protections like temporary protection status, deferred action for childhood arrivals, student visas, and ignoring the international right to seek asylum. The overwhelming majority of immigrants who have been detained have no violent criminal record and are being held indefinitely amidst squalid conditions in concentration camps, awaiting deportation or court proceedings. He has used the violent arm of the state to occupy major U.S. cities, violate people’s rights to lawful protests with mass arrests on dubious charges that are almost always later dropped, and has killed protestors. 

Trump has brought the same cruelty and disregard for the rule of law he exercises domestically to the international stage, murdering Venezuelans in fishing boats without evidence to support his accusation of drug trafficking, kidnapping the Venezuelan president and his wife, and starving the people of Cuba through an oil blockade. He has also threatened to annex Greenland and Canada.

The failures of the political opposition in the United States and Israel, the absence of accountability from both the domestic and international institutions for the unlawful actions, have neutered our ability to confront the aggression and illegality of Putin‘s invasion of Ukraine, or the violent suppression of protests in countries like Iran, where a theocratic regime has been able to escape from under the boot of U.S. imperialism, only to stifle the aspirations of its own people.

For Iranians, whose liberation is long overdue after decades of oppression from both ends of the imperialist boomerang, history has shown us that no foreign military force can ever lead a people to freedom. This war is only being fought to serve the interests of capital and the imperial powers. Wars are often promoted and fought under the guise of liberation for the marginalized, but in reality, they suppress all ability to achieve social progress. For the bravery of the dissidents in Iran who have never stopped fighting for their rights over the years, only to be killed and imprisoned, this war will only make their struggle harder and the collective suffering greater. 

The oil barons of yesteryear stand in the way of a sustainable clean energy future. The tech oligarchs of today use algorithms and surveillance tools to censor our dissent and determine our fate with targeted strikes, like the one on the girls’ school in Tehran that further separate us from our humanity. These masters of war, the old and the new forces of capital, can only be defeated when the working classes, the oppressed in all corners of this world, can recognize our shared morality and begin to organize ourselves to build a better world, one without artificial hierarchies and violently enforced borders.

The post High Peaks DSA Statement on Iran appeared first on High Peaks DSA.

Several months into the second year of his second term, Trump’s might-makes-right strategy, at home and abroad, has spurred more mass disgust among his opponents and even among a few previous supporters. But does that mean Trumpism is in decline? As we confront the need to build an anti-war movement, resist ICE repression, and defend civil liberties and voting rights, it’s useful to think through our political opponents’ strengths and weaknesses. In a previous article, I suggested three scenarios that might play out in the next few years. This piece looks at the strengths and weaknesses of two of them: Clintonism 3.0 and Trumpism 3.0. (The third, AOCism 1.0, will be the focus of the next piece!)

Old wine, old bottles

Clintonism is the rule of centrist politicians who believe in neoliberal, international free trade, a moderately funded welfare state, the rule of law within the framework of mass incarceration, and market mechanisms to mitigate climate change. They tolerate unions and nonprofits, but believe that anyone to their left is “unelectable.” They yearn for a return to bipartisan normalcy where elite “adults” run the government and dominate the global economy through “multilateral” (i.e., Western) banking relationships and military might. Although it’s hard to remember now, the Republican Party used to sing a version of the same song.

The most important factor in the power of Clintonism is the lack of an organized, working-class political alternative. Social movements and unions — and working people in general — have suffered forty years of bipartisan neoliberalism. The percentage of workers who have a union and who are confident enough to strike — the most basic measure of working-class clout — both remain near historic lows. In 1970, unions represented nearly 30% of workers. Today that number has slipped to 10%. 

That 7 million people attended No Kings rallies in October indicates widespread rejection of Trump among an important segment of the population, but that power remains only potential. For instance, while communities in Chicago, Los Angeles, Minneapolis, and Maine have stood up to ICE and slowed down their operations — no doubt saving many families from detention — the body snatchers continue to operate with impunity. Democratic leaders in Congress like Chuck Schumer and Hakeem Jeffries want ICE agents to attend a few sensitivity seminars in exchange for re-upping their funding. Clintonism 3.0 hopes to displace just enough Republicans to win a majority in Congress and begin negotiating with Trump. 

This makes Clintonists a weak force against Trumpism; however, they have huge reserves of power and money and just might pull it off. Critically, despite their own low polling numbers, establishment Democrats’ political theory — namely, that capitalism is just fine, it simply needs to be modified to reduce the worst outrages — is widely held among large parts of the electorate. A centrist return to power will be felt as a huge relief for many. But that would hardly end the crisis. A Democratic majority in one or both houses of Congress will only raise the stakes for MAGA while doing little or nothing to improve the lives of the vast majority of working-class families. Trump is not afraid of Clintonism. He proved that by defeating Biden/Harris/Walz handily in 2024.

What is MAGA?

Trumpism represents a new political phenomena: namely, a specific version of American fascism. Stefanie Prezioso warns us that knee-jerk analogies between the contemporary far right and earlier fascist movements “may risk anchoring us too firmly in interpretations of the past, hindering a rigorous analysis of today’s realities and the development of effective responses.” We should listen to her. At the same time, the human brain has used analogy to good effect over the years: If that animal is a different color but almost as big as a bear, if it doesn’t growl but it does howl, if it’s hunting in a pack instead of on its own… I should probably get out of here! This kind of thinking can be life-saving. 

If Hitler and Mussolini represented fascism coming “from below” (through a mass fascist movement) and Chile’s Pinochet and Spain’s Franco represented fascism coming “from above” (through military coups), all four constructed similar regimes once in power. But the specific character and ferocity of these fascist states was shaped by their social bases and the particular political crisis that brought them to power. 

There are obvious parallels between earlier fascist movements and regimes on the one hand and MAGAism and the Trump administration on the other. Fascists — and this distinguishes them from ordinary conservatives — insist they are fighting for “the little guy” and often powerfully criticize aspects of capitalism because they want to build a cross-class, mass movement. 

But fascists are not consistent anticapitalists. Their goal is not to build an international movement of working-class people against global capital. Rather, they seek to build an alliance between “good” nationalist capitalists and “productive” people (workers, small businessmen, professionals, etc.) from the dominant racial or religious groups who share their supremacist ideology. To do so, they must find scapegoats. Capitalists per se are not the enemy, only “disloyal” capitalists are. Hitler blamed German capitalism’s real crisis on imaginary culprits: Jewish capitalists (and Jews in general) and the Versailles Treaty. Trump blames American capitalism’s real crisis on his own imaginary culprits: immigrants, the Paris climate accords, etc. 

The fascist story can provide a powerful explanation for millions of people who want something different for themselves and their children. As Leon Trotsky put it when describing growing support for Hitler, “Despair has raised them to their feet and fascism has given them a banner.” This is what gives Trump his power, and until that story can be replaced by a more compelling explanation from the left based on strong unions, multiracial solidarity, and material reforms that change workers’ lives for the better, MAGAism will remain a strong force in American politics.

Despite his sagging poll numbers, Trump’s power is not limited by normal electoral mechanisms. The results of elections — real or imagined — still matter a great deal to MAGA, because Trump cannot yet dispense with the formal levers of state. That’s why the administration is putting so much effort into gerrymandering. But Trumpism is more than a right-wing electoral machine; it’s an inchoate fascist movement attempting to turn the state into a fascist instrument for repression. 

If previous fascist movements in Italy and Germany first had to build an armed, mass movement powerful enough to destroy their enemies (unions, left-wing political parties, etc.) in order to then take over the state and wield its power, Trump has turned the map upside down. He has built a certain kind of movement, but his real political genius (stable or otherwise) is based on two realizations. 

First, Trump understands that the institutionalized democracy represented by the American federal state was so corroded by Clintonism that he could simply bully it aside. In this, he learned from India’s Modi, and he is teaching France’s Le Pen. As Ugo Palheta notes, “In France, the civil liberties and social rights won by the working class and its organizations over the last two centuries have been worn down by a series of governments. The traditional mechanisms of parliamentary democracy are systematically undermined, marginalized, or hollowed out by the ruling class itself, in favor of unelected bodies or procedures to circumvent its processes.” 

Second, Trump won over the billionaire class. Three generations of oligarchs grew up and prospered under Clintonism — even as they dismantled the New Deal and the Great Society — and they could not understand why anything should change. As Hillary Clinton famously insisted, America was already great for them, why rock the boat?

Fast forward to 2026: They now realize they were suckers to let any crumbs (progressive taxation, regulations, global trade rules, etc.) fall from their tables. Trump kicked open the door to unfettered AI development, military spending, a drill-baby-drill fossil fuel revival, and stunning tax cuts, paid for by robbing Medicaid. So far, Trump hasn’t needed a well-disciplined, volunteer fascist army or a military coup to wield state power. 

With the state and billionaires in his pocket, Trump has transferred hundreds of billions from the working class to the ruling class through tax cuts, turned up the thermostat for global warming, and launched a new round of military misadventures. Trump’s rage against Chief Justice Robert’s decision to strike down part of his tariff policy shows that he intends to bend any remaining institutional barriers to his will. To do so, he will need a weapon his fascist forefathers wielded — that is, an extralegal military force to break through the limits of legality to authoritarian lawlessness and brute force. 

The old Confederacy needed the KKK to smash the post–Civil War Reconstruction era and impose Jim Crow. Hitler needed 3 million members of the SA and SS to destroy the unions. Franco needed his bando franquista to destroy the Spanish Republic. Where is the Trump-Bannon-Miller MAGA militia? 

The Proud Boys and the tangled mess of squabbling wannabes must be a disappointment. Trump pardoned them all for January 6, and they still failed to make anything of themselves… yet. And herein lies Trump’s key weakness: his base remains essentially passive. Trump’s MAGA crowds want America to be great again, but they do not want to have to make it great themselves. They want it done for them. To revise Trotsky’s comment about fascism in Germany, “despair has raised them to their keyboards, and Trump has sold them a brand.” The core MAGA belief is “don’t tell me what to do.” 

Steve Bannon wants a white Christian nationalist volunteer army of a million willing to fight for the fatherland. What he has at this moment is a band of hostile snake oil salesmen. Their voices are amplified by right-wing media funded by billionaire ideologues, but they remain (so far) unable to march. 

So if Trump does not yet have the extralegal ground troops to force through his extralegal desires, how can he remedy this shortcoming? Three letters: I.C.E.

According to the Department of Homeland Security, ICE hired 12,000 new agents in just four months in 2025, bringing its total force to 22,000. Although that force remains small as a percentage of the total 750,000 armed law enforcement personnel in the U.S., the Big Beautiful Bill allocated ICE an additional $75 billion to spend in the next four years. To get a sense of its room for growth, if each new ICE agent costs taxpayers approximately $100,000, that means 10,000 new agents costs $1 billion. In other words, there is plenty of money in their piggybank to hire masses of agents. And there can be no doubt that they will be recruited from the far right.

What will Trump do with such a force? Clearly he will intensify his war against immigrants and civil liberties. He aims to normalize ICE invading cities and towns, rampaging for weeks or months, and then withdrawing. All the while, ICE will dole out favors and funding to local and state police who learn to play the new game. Indeed, this process is well underway in many of the deepest red states. 

But it seems foolish to assume that Trump will stop at street terror. He still needs the formal levers of state power to stay the course. He may chafe at the Supreme Court and internal squabbles in the GOP, but he is not yet strong enough to rule without Congress, and as his prospects dim for winning a fair and free election come November, ICE looms large. Trump has already announced he wants “federal” control in 15 major Democratic cities. If he unleashes ICE in October and November to create havoc, he can claim fraud, throw contested election results to friendly state legislatures, and then fight out a Constitutional crisis. This is a playing field on which he has demonstrated he can defeat the Clintonians time and again. After Venezuela, after Iran, we must take this gambit seriously.

So how do we get out of this mess? Having assessed Trump’s strengths and weaknesses, in my next article, I’ll examine the prospects for AOCism 1.0 — leftwing electoral growth and the rise of fighting social and union movements — and review some lessons from three words that start with the letter M: Minneapolis, Maine, and Mamdandi.

***

This piece also appears in The Call, a publication by Bread & Roses, a caucus within the Democratic Socialists of America

The post Aiming for Trump’s Achilles’ Heel: MAGA Before the Elections, Part II appeared first on Pine & Roses.

The war in Sudan has lasted for over two years, pitting state forces against foreign-backed paramilitary group that has been waging a genocidal campaign throughout the country.

Enjoy your March National Political Committee (NPC) newsletter! Our NPC is an elected 27-person body (including both YDSA Co-Chairs) which functions as the board of directors of DSA. This month, find out how chapters are melting ICE and improving their communities, stand against war, get involved with DSA labor work, and more!

And to make sure you get our newsletters in your inbox, sign up here! Each one features action alerts, upcoming events, political education, and more.

• From the National Political Committee — Melt ICE, Stop War, Build Labor
• Tonight, Thursday 3/12 — Join Our International Migrant Rights Working Group ICE OUT Training Call
• Union Members: Organize Against the War on Iran! Here’s How
• RSVP for National Electoral Commission: Standing Up to ICE Call Tonight Thursday 3/12
• Save the Date — DSA National Organizing Conference This Summer!
• Help Support DSA! Sign Up for Development Phonebanks Sunday 3/15 or Sunday 3/29
• Learn Fundraising Skills for Your Chapter — Join Our Sunday 3/22 Training
• Join Our Workers Organizing Workers Salt Training Series this April! Sessions Begin Monday 4/13
• DSA National Labor Commission May Day Organizing — Get Involved!
• Religious Socialism News and Events — Calls Starting Friday 3/20
• Join Our National Labor Commission Today
• Welcome New DSA Organizing Committees and YDSA Chapters!

From the National Political Committee — Melt ICE, Stop War, Build Labor

“They tell us that we live in a great free republic; that our institutions are democratic; that we are a free and self-governing people. That is too much, even for a joke. Wars throughout history have been waged for conquest and plunder. And that is war in a nutshell. The master class has always declared the wars; the subject class has always fought the battles.” — Eugene V. Debs, Speech at Canton, OH, 1918

These words, pulled from the speech which famously got Comrade Eugene Debs thrown in jail (where he carried on his 1920 campaign for President on the Socialist Party ticket), are a universal truth. This truth could not be more evident as Trump and the Republicans, with the complicity of far too many Democrats, march us into yet another deadly forever war, this time with Iran, while continuing to starve and saber-rattle in their siege against Cuba. sell weapons to Israel, and use sanctions and violence to destabilize countless other people. Who suffers? The working class, always. Who benefits? The ultra-wealthy. 

But we aren’t backing off from the fight for working class power here or abroad, and we know that all of our fights are connected. For every new union contract we win, every tenant we organize to protect, every wealth tax we pass, every privatized good we make public, every socialist we put in office, we chip away at the power that the ruling class holds over us and consolidate it for the working class. It’s easy to feel hopeless when things seem so bleak, but we draw our strength from these wins, knowing that each one builds toward true working class power and total liberation.

Here are just a few of the blows against the capitalist class that are bringing us strength this month:

• Twin Cities DSA co-hosted an incredible Melt the ICE Week of Action, which included rallies, marches, trainings, and more, to share lessons learned from standing with immigrant neighbors on the frontlines of occupation by ICE. That included much discussion of the massive strike against ICE that recently took place on January 23, when many workers withheld their labor and almost 100,000 people took to the streets despite subzero temperatures. People in Minnesota are letting the ruling class know that a moderate step-down of ICE forces is still unacceptable — they want ICE gone, and they’ll keep organizing to kick them out from every part of civil society until that happens. 
  • For more reportbacks and reflections about the 1/23 mass actions against the ICE incursion in Minneapolis, join organizers from Twin Cities DSA and our National Labor Commission for a mass call on Tuesday 3/31 at 8pm ET/7pm CT/6pm MT/5pm PT!
• Chapters across the country, from New Orleans to Philly to Seattle and beyond, hit the streets the day after the bombing began. Our National No War With Iran Rapid Response Committee mobilized members to send over 30,000 letters to Congress saying NO to war with Iran and YES to the War Powers Resolution, and held a mass call for over 1200 people to talk about the context and next steps for this mobilization. Watch the recording here if you missed it!
• NYC-DSA and chapters from around the state met up in Albany for a day of action demanding that Governor Kathy Hochul TAX THE RICH and spend that money on public goods — protecting New Yorkers from devastating SNAP and Medicaid cuts, instead of co-signing President Trump’s $12 billion giveaway to millionaires and billionaires. Meanwhile in the city, our socialist mayor Zohran Mamdani has set out to seize buildings from bad NYC landlords in order to improve life for tenants — and City Council is exploring a legal pathway to do it. 
• Symbolically, we love to see Zohran as NYC’s first Muslim mayor observing Ramadan side by side with workers — sharing a pre-dawn suhoor meal with sanitation workers about to take on a citywide blizzard, breaking fast with delivery workers — and hosting Palestinian activist Mahmoud Khalil for an iftar dinner at Gracie Mansion, a public show of solidarity after the ordeal of his prolonged detention by ICE under Trump’s crackdown on campus protests one year ago.
• Seattle DSA threw down to support socialist-in-office Assembly Member Shaun Scott in passing an amendment that successfully axed a massive tax break for corporations as part of a new state tax bill — more money out of the hands of the ruling class and into the goods and services the working class demands.
• New Orleans DSA, along with coalition partners at the BDS National Movement and elsewhere, successfully pressured the world-famous French Quarter Festival to drop Chevron as their title sponsor, connecting our national Stop Fueling Genocide campaign with their vibrant local arts scene and snatching away a primeaux reputation-laundering opportunity for one of the world’s worst (and wealthiest) companies.
• Atlanta DSA member Kelsea Bond motivated the Atlanta City Council to vote unanimously to support their first resolution in office as a socialist city councilmember, to prioritize pre-arrest diversion and examine the arrest procedures of the Atlanta Police Department as the FIFA World Cup nears, playing a critical role in preventing further jail overcrowding and punishing low-level offenses, and shifting toward community-based care.

This is just a taste of the work that our members are taking on. We are organizing from coast to coast and we’re not stopping! 

Later this month, DSA chapters across the country will be joining the No Kings mobilizations on Saturday 3/28 to say No Kings, No Cuts, No Billionaires! Over the past year, millions of Americans have turned out to these massive rallies against the Trump administration’s authoritarianism and horrific, cruel policies. We’re showing up in solidarity with everyone getting politicized right now, when we must show mass opposition to Trump’s power grabs and the rise of fascism. We need an opposition that isn’t funded by billionaires and special interests, who often stand against meaningful reforms like universal healthcare and working-class institutions of power like unions. Powerful opposition requires organization that keeps building through moments of mass mobilizations — and DSA is ready to keep building powerfully and democratically, as our organization of over 100,000 is funded by member-dues, and accountable to the working-class, not the billionaire class.

On the same timeline, we’re looking ahead to May Day this year, where we’re joining with the May Day Strong coalition and workers across the country to plan for May 1, 2026 as a day of action to rally, march, and plan for a day of no school, no work, and no shopping! When the billionaires break every rule, it’s going to take more than rallies to stop them. An upsurge of working class resistance is happening across the country against the violent repression by the Trump administration, most clearly on display in Minneapolis. We have to keep flexing our collective muscles and show our power to hit them where it hurts economically — it’s workers over billionaires!

If you’re not engaged with your local chapter’s work, we challenge you to connect with them today. Join your comrades for a rally, a canvass, or even just a fun social event, and get involved. Nothing helps combat despair like being an active part of this movement for the better world we know is possible. 

In Solidarity,

Megan Romer and Ashik Siddique
DSA National Co-Chairs

Tonight, Thursday 3/12 — Join Our International Migrant Rights Working Group ICE OUT Training Call

287(g) agreements allow ICE to deputize local law enforcement and embed ICE into jails, police departments, and even university campuses. ICE relies on local collaboration to create the neighborhood-to-prison pipelines for mass deportation, and we can and must organize to stop our local government and resources from being hijacked by Trump’s anti-worker and anti-immigrant agenda.

Join DSA’s International Migrants Rights Working group tonight, Thursday 3/12 at 8pm ET/7pm CT/6pm MT/5pm PT to learn how to map and expose local collaborations with ICE and build coalitions to end them.

Union Members: Organize Against the War on Iran! Here’s How

If you are a union member, DSA’s National Labor Commission calls on you to talk to five of your union siblings about the war and begin organizing your union to take anti-war action!

• Contact Congress and demand they pass a War Powers Resolution on Iran to require congressional approval for any continued intervention in Iran.
• Take direct action with your union siblings by attending or organizing a mobilization against the war. DSA has endorsed the following ANSWER Coalition actions.
• Ahead of May Day 2026, talk to your coworkers about what labor actions they’d be willing to take in the face of prolonged war or election interference.
• Consider organizing a solidarity school or joining your local May Day coalition as a socialist unionist.

Stand with the people of Iran and take action today as a proud union member!

RSVP for National Electoral Commission: Standing Up to ICE Call Tonight Thursday 3/12

Tonight, Thursday 3/12 at 8pm ET/7pm CT/6pm MT/5pm PT, hear from DSA Socialists in Office Robin Wonsley (Twin Cities) and Alex Brower (Milwaukee), as well as chapter electoral leaders in New York and Los Angeles as we discuss the role our electoral efforts have played in the response to ICE’s siege of our cities across the country. This is a members-only event!

Save the Date — DSA National Organizing Conference This Summer!

DSA is hosting a National Organizing Conference in Chicago, July 31–August 2. Save the date if you’re interested in attending — application details will be shared in the coming weeks.

Help Support DSA! Sign Up for Development Phonebanks Sunday 3/15 or Sunday 3/29

Join the Growth and Development Committee for an upcoming phonebank!

• Solidarity Dues Phonebank on Sunday 3/15 at 5pm ET/4pm CT/3pm MT/2pm PT
• Recommitment Phonebank on Sunday 3/29 at 5pm ET/4pm CT/3pm MT/2pm PT

Training will be provided at the beginning of each call. We’ll see you there!

Learn Fundraising Skills for Your Chapter — Join Our Sunday 3/22 Training

Join the Fundraising Committee for a training on chapter fundraising on Sunday 3/22 at 5pm ET/4pm CT/3pm MT/2pm ET. RSVP today!

Join Our Workers Organizing Workers Salt Training Series this April! Sessions Begin Monday 4/13

Are you looking for a new job? Want to join the labor movement and build power on the shop floor with your co-workers? Join our Workers Organizing Workers (WOW) Salt Training Series! This three-session series will be held Mondays in April beginning 4/13. All sessions will be held at 8pm ET/7pm CT/6pm MT/5pm PT.

Salting, or getting a non-union job and organizing your workplace, is a key tactic that organizers have used for decades to build the labor movement. Join a historic tradition today! We’ll cover organizing basics, share information about our priority industries, and help you get a job you can organize. No organizing experience required.

DSA National Labor Commission May Day Organizing — Get Involved!

This year it’s more important than ever for DSA members to take the lead in bringing socialist politics to May Day by organizing May Day actions with their local unions and labor bodies. Whether your chapter is organizing a march, a solidarity school, a political education event, a movie night, or something else entirely, you can help organize successfully for  May Day 2026, International Workers Day! Contact your chapter for details. If you have any questions, please contact the National Labor Commission at nlc@dsacommittees.org.

Religious Socialism News and Events — Calls Starting Friday 3/20

If you are a person of faith, check out the DSA Religion and Socialism Working Group (RSWG). We are unique on the Left as a multifaith socialist group. This month, we have three calls and a new sub-group starting. Get involved today!

• The Black Liberation Socialist Circle is organizing Black Christians who are interested in the Black Radical Tradition and liberation struggles. Join our Discord here for more information. This space brings together political education, fellowship, and strategy rooted in the long tradition of Black freedom movements.
• On Friday 3/20 at 9pm ET/8pm CT/7pm MT/6pm PT, join the Democratic Socialist Episcopal Association (DSEA) for “A Socialist Way of the Cross Service: Who is the Empire Crucifying Today?”. This solemn service places the passion of Christ in direct conversation with the suffering of our own time. At each station, we will reflect on Christ’s journey to Golgotha, and on the systems of political domination, economic exploitation, racialized violence, and carceral control that continue to crucify the poor and marginalized today. This service asks where Christ is being condemned, beaten, and executed in our communities. Through prayer and reflection, we will confront the powers of death while proclaiming a hope rooted in collective liberation. Come prepared to meditate, lament, and recommit yourself to the work of justice. You can sign up for the call through the DSEA’s Discord.
• And help build the Buddhist Circle. What might it look like? How can Buddhist precepts and practices (e.g., meditation, 4 noble truths) deepen socialist ethics and be of benefit to organizers, activists, everyone? Join us Thursday 3/26 at 7pm ET/6pm CT/5pm MT/4pm PT. Meetings are held the last Thursday of every month. You can find notes here.

For more about the Religious Socialism Working Group, please sign up for our email list to join our monthly online meetup on Tuesday 3/24 at 8:30pm ET/7:30pm CT/6:30pm MT.

Join Our National Labor Commission Today

Are you:

• A union member?
• Trying to organize your workplace?
• An aspiring labor writer?
• Active in your chapter’s labor working group?

Join DSA’s National Labor Commission (NLC) and get involved in socialist labor work at the national level! Whether it’s salting your workplace, organizing towards May Day 2028, sharing strike support strategies with solidarity captains in chapters across the country, writing reports about national labor issues, or building up our national listwork, there’s an NLC campaign for you to plug into. Apply to join today!

Welcome New DSA Organizing Committees and YDSA Chapters!

And a warm welcome to our newest DSA Organizing Committees and YDSA chapters!

DSA Organizing Committees

• DSA Maui, Hawaii
• Cadillac DSA, Michigan
• DSA Wooster, Ohio

YDSA Chapters

• Indiana University Bloomington
• Santa Monica High School
• Millersville University
• University of Missouri Kansas City
• Western New England University
• Lehman College
• University of Wisconsin Eau Claire
• St. Mary’s College of Maryland

The post Melt ICE, Stop War, Build Labor — Your National Political Committee Newsletter appeared first on Democratic Socialists of America (DSA).

by R.K. Upadhya

The American Civil War is a key moment of US history. If you grew up in the US, you almost certainly spent a good chunk of time in grade school learning about the Civil War. It is also likely the case that this education was boring and unengaging. This is a tragedy, for in fact the Civil War era had profoundly radical and revolutionary dimensions, and should be a source of education and inspiration for the modern Left and the US socialist movement. Case in point: after Abraham Lincoln’s re-election victory in 1864, Karl Marx himself helped pen a letter of congratulations to Lincoln, celebrating the Union cause as a universal interest of the working class, and encouraged him toward complete victory over the Southern slavers. It is not often that we think of Marx and Lincoln as being contemporaneous – but they were, and while it is unknown if Lincoln actually read Marx’s letter, it is likely that Lincoln read at least some of Marx’s many articles in the New York Daily Tribune.

The Civil War was the culmination of the abolitionist movement, which emerged out of free Black communities of the North, and the slave revolts which rocked the South in the 1830s. And the abolitionist movement is where the US Left was truly born; it was in this fiery struggle against slavery that many of the ideas we hold dear today – anti-racism, democracy, anti-imperialism, and anti-capitalism – went mainstream and became a permanent part of American politics. There is a grand history for how this happened, with many moving parts. But one fascinating thread is the way in which the abolitionist movement in the US was connected with the emerging revolutionary socialist movement in Europe. Abolitionism being the birthplace of the American Left wasn’t just a matter of converging values, but based on a direct exchange of ideas and militants between the US and Europe – and in particular, the cohorts of revolutionary German exiles who immigrated to America in the 1850s.

Historical Context

The abolitionist movement started in earnest in the 1830s, after Nat Turner’s Rebellion in 1831, which galvanized free Black communities across the North and put an end to any doubts that enslaved people were happy with their lot in life. Over the course of the next few decades, it grew dramatically in popularity, organization, and militancy; its electoral expression was the Republican Party, founded in 1854, while its more revolutionary tendency was expressed via the likes of John Brown, Harriet Tubman, and other insurgent figures. By the 1850s, the question of slavery was the defining political issue in the US, fostering an intense amount of political and civil unrest.

At the same time, Europe was also undergoing convulsions. In parallel to the growth of the abolitionist movement in the US, the revolutionary socialist movement was growing, and founding figures like Karl Marx and Fredrich Engels were coming into the spotlight. The tremors finally erupted into an earthquake in 1848, when a wave of uprisings and revolutions shook the foundations of Europe, particularly in Germany. Workers, peasants, and other parts of a “revolutionary citizenry” assaulted and overthrew centers of monarchical and feudal power. Marx and Engels wrote and published The Communist Manifesto during this tumult; Engels himself was in the streets as a revolutionary soldier.

Unfortunately, the revolution in Germany gets crushed, and millions of Germans escape to Western Europe and beyond, fleeing harsh counter-revolutionary reprisals as well as general economic ruin. Many of these refugees and exiles end up in the United States; about one million Germans emigrated to America in the 1850s. And among this number, roughly 4,000 were hardcore revolutionaries, socialists and communists, organizers and militants, in addition to tens of thousands more supporters, followers, and sympathizers. This cohort was known as the “Forty Eighters”, exiles of the 1848 Revolution. And once in the US, the Forty Eighters immediately bolstered the ranks of an increasingly revolutionary abolitionist movement. This was a natural alliance; the nature of the Southern slaver elites was an uncanny mirror image of the tyrannical aristocrats that they had attempted to overthrow at home. And for the abolitionist movement, these veterans brought military experience, organizational discipline, and expansive ideas about liberty, labor, and capitalism, which coupled well with the parallel works of the leading abolitionist intellectuals.

Colonel Weydemeyer and General Willich

Two figures in particular represent the radical edge of the Forty Eighter abolitionists: Joseph Weydemeyer and August Willich. Both of these men were German communists and revolutionaries, who eventually ended up as high-ranking military officers in the Union Army.

The initial trajectories of the two men were similar. Both were Prussian military officers in the 1840s, who became radicalized by Marx’s writings about capitalism, class, and revolution. They rebelled in 1848 on the side of the Revolution, and fled west when the revolution was crushed. They made personal acquaintance with Karl Marx in London, and joined the Communist League and helped further develop revolutionary socialist politics in Europe. After a few years, both men emigrated to the United States, where they planted themselves among fellow Forty Eighters and made a living via political organizing and radical intellectual writings. And when the Civil War began, they enlisted along with large numbers of fellow Germans, and quickly rose up the ranks due to their previous military experience and their political fervour.

Compared to Willich, Weydemeyer was more of an intellectual type. He was a friend of Marx and Engels; in fact, it was Marx who directly suggested to Weydemeyer that he emigrate to New York City. Once there, he quickly got to work in left-wing journalism and organizing, joining a growing cohort of revolutionary Marxist voices that joined the abolitionist movement. He was a co-founder of what was arguably the first socialist organization in the United States, the American Workers League (which, despite its broad name, was almost entirely an organization of radical German immigrants). This group would later become the New York Communist Club.

When the Civil War began, Weydemeyer enlisted and quickly ended up as a technical aide to General Fremont, an abolitionist and a radical rival to Abraham Lincoln. Within a year, Weydemeyer was a Lieutenant Colonel and in charge of a volunteer artillery regiment. Later on in the war, he served as a Colonel of the 41st Missouri Infantry Regiment. Amusingly, throughout his active duty service, Weydemeyer kept up his intellectual pursuits, exchanging letters with Marx and Engels about the war, writing opinion pieces for local newspapers near his posts, and engaging in local debates. In 1864, when Marx helped found the International Workingmen’s Association (a.k.a., the First International), Weydemeyer printed out copies of the inaugural address and passed it out to his men (it is unclear how many of these Missouri infantrymen subsequently joined the cause of international communism).

After the war, Weydemeyer remained in politics, winning an election for the St. Louis County auditor. He ran the office as a Marxist, using his powers to strengthen tax laws and chase down war profiteers. Unfortunately, his tenure was short-lived; Weydemeyer passed away in August 1866 from cholera.

August Willich led a similarly colorful life, albeit one more oriented around military affairs.

An excellent book on his entire life, only a tiny fraction of which can be discussed here, is Radical Warrior: August Willich’s Journey From German Revolutionary to Union General.

Like Joseph Weydemeyer, Willich also knew Marx & Engels; indeed, Engels was Willich’s right-hand man during several battles in the final stages of the 1848 Revolution. But unlike Weydemeyer, Willich did not like Marx at all. Willich led the left-wing faction of the Communist League, and thought Marx was too conservative and was not eager enough to wage revolutionary struggle; for his part, Marx was not impressed by Willich’s intellectual standing. There may have also been some more personal animosity at play; Willich apparently was quite interested in Marx’s wife, Jenny, and would regularly come visit her at their home in London and engage her in long conversations about theory and politics. As Jenny Marx described, “He would come to visit me because he wanted to pursue the worm that lies in every marriage and coax it out.” It’s not clear if Willich ever coaxed out the worm; within a few years, he emigrated to the United States, engaged in radical writing, and organized among other German immigrants and Forty Eighters in the midwest.

When the Civil War began, Willich played an important role in recruiting fellow Germans into the military; he would become a Colonel, and then a General in command of an all-German infantry unit, the 32nd Indiana Infantry Regiment. Willich and his men quickly distinguished himself on the battlefield, helping win one of the few Union victories in 1861 at the Battle of Rowlett Station in Kentucky. This battle saw about 500 German infantrymen defeat over 1,000 Texas Rangers and assorted Confederate infantry. This battle is also commemorated in what is the oldest surviving Civil War monument, the Bloedner Monument, which was carved by a member of the regiment a couple of weeks after the battle. It’s a remarkable piece of history, since it’s likely that this battle is mentioned in many Civil War textbooks – but the radical historical context, that this victory was one of a revolutionary communist veteran and other revolutionary exiles, is papered over or ignored.

Willich and the 32nd would go on to fight in other major Civil War battles, including the 1862 Battle of Shiloh, the 1863 Siege of Chattanooga, and General Sherman’s “March to the Sea” in 1864. After the war, just like Weydemeyer, Willich went into government service and was elected as a county auditor in Ohio. In his later years, he went into academia. August Willich passed away in 1878.

Forty Eighters in Texas

The legacy of the Forty Eighters is also present right here in central Texas, where many Germans settled in the 1850s. San Antonio and the Hill Country were particularly popular – a legacy that still continues today, with cities like New Braunfels and Fredericksburg remaining centers of German culture, as well as smaller towns like Boerne and Comfort. Despite being in a southern slave state, just like their brethren in the midwest and the north-east, German immigrants to Texas were generally anti-slavery and pro-Union. In 1854, Germans in San Antonio caused a major political firestorm when they held a convention and passed a resolution condemning slavery. In 1861, during the Referendum on Secession, the counties with the most Germans tended to vote against secession.

As the war progressed, repression against Unionists escalated, with Germans being a major target. In 1862, the Confederacy passed a conscription law to mandate military service, which provoked German Texans Unionists to escalate into armed resistance – which in turn, brought martial law across the Hill Country and waves of violent reprisals. The struggle culminated in August 1862, when a band of Germans gathered up arms and attempted to escape to Mexico. Unfortunately, the Confederates caught wind and chased them down, eventually cornering them on the banks of the Nueces River, and defeating them after a pitched battle. Despite being right at the border, the German Unionist rebels were captured, and 34 executed on the spot. The dead were buried at a cemetery in Comfort, Texas, where after the war a monument was erected – the Treue der Union Monument, or, the “Loyalty to the Union” Monument – to honor them and the pro-Union beliefs that they died for. This monument remains in Comfort to this day.

Conclusion

These stories – of German Texan rebels, communist commanders, and the surprise emergence of Marxism in antebellum America – should make us recognize the importance of tracing back our own political lineage to this period. It was the abolitionist movement that established a long and unbroken legacy of socialist politics and struggle in the United States. Abolitionists went on into different movements after the war, expanding the struggle into labor organizing, civil rights, anti-imperialism, and feminism. After the abolitionist movement, came Radical Reconstruction; veterans of that went on into the Knights of Labor, and then the Industrial Workers of the World; then emerged the Socialist Party and the Communist Party, the Civil Rights Movement and the Black Panther Party, and so on. We should look at abolitionists as our own political ancestors, and with the connection to radical German immigrants, appreciate that revolutionary socialist politics has been in this country for a very long time.

And to draw a final parallel to then and now: the Civil War didn’t start out of nowhere. It was preceded by years of civil unrest, violence around elections, and collapsing legal boundaries. And one dynamic in particular, was the escalation of violence in the 1850s by federal agents against Northerners. After the 1850 Fugitive Slave Act, federal agents and southern bounty hunters and slave catchers had free legal reign to indiscriminately hunt down Black people to kidnap and enslave. This enraged public opinion across the North and galvanized abolitionists and their allies, who organized Vigilance Committees to track and disrupt federal operations, preventing arrests, staging jailbreaks, and engaging in pitched battle against the feds.

And it is a remarkable parallel today, when we have federal troops engaging in indiscriminate violence with impunity, hunting down immigrants, assaulting and murdering protestors, kidnaping people and whisking them off into a growing network of concentration camps. And in response, just like over 150 years ago, people are organizing and mobilizing, forming rapid response networks, tracking and disrupting federal operations. It is a beautiful thing, and shows how our political ancestors can echo through us today, even without our conscious knowledge. The struggle has been going on for a long time; and if there is to be another civil war, let us make sure we finish it for good this time around.

The post Between Marx and Lincoln: German Communists in the American Civil War first appeared on Red Fault.

Before we start, we’re asking everyone to write to your elected officials to support H.794 and S.282. Tell them that you want to tax the rich for healthcare and schools!

GREEN MOUNTAIN DSA MONTH IN REVIEW

February was a month of incredible momentum for Green Mountain DSA, bookended by electoral victory and direct action. We are thrilled to open this newsletter by congratulating our endorsed Burlington City Council candidate, Marek Broderick, on their decisive Town Meeting Day win! Marek defeated a Democratic opponent with a strong tally of 301 to 187, securing a second term representing Ward 8. In the weeks leading up to the vote, our members made phone calls and knocked doors (again and again) across the entire ward to ensure voters had a plan. We are proud to stand behind a proven champion for renters, UVM students, and working-class Burlingtonians. Marek's leadership in passing a resolution to address deteriorating student housing is just one example of the socialist leadership we are building in Chittenden County.

At our February General Membership Meeting in Montpelier, members discussed our growing chapter-wide priority campaign, "Tax the Rich," supporting H.794 and S.282—legislation championed by our own State Senator Tanya Vyhovsky and Rep. Kate Logan that would generate hundreds of millions in revenue by making the wealthiest Vermonters pay their fair share. Green Mountain DSA organized a press conference at the State House in February and coverage by WCAX features Rep. Kate Logan detailing just how much working Vermonters stand to win by taxing the rich. The February General Membership Meeting also featured updates on our Palestine solidarity work (“No Appetite for Apartheid” campaign), and local ballot initiatives (“Proposition Zero” in Burlington). Alongside these campaigns, our chapter is deepening its foundation by launching weekly Saturday-Sunday socials to build comradeship and expanding our reach to southern counties through our “Statewide Expansion Working Group”. From electoral wins to anti-war action in coalition, your Green Mountain DSA is proving that another Vermont—one centered on working-class power and solidarity—is not only possible, but already being built. In solidarity, and see you at a meeting, social, or on the streets some time soon!

WE’RE BUILDING A FAMILY-FRIENDLY GMDSA

Green Mountain Democratic Socialists of America is working towards making our organization more accessible to parents and guardians. You can help us by letting us know if you would benefit from childcare being offered at our general meetings.

Please fill out our Childcare Needs Survey: https://forms.gle/6Mq1KHWGrc3QgLGv8 

GREEN MOUNTAIN DSA MEETINGS AND EVENTS

Our Labor Committee meets on the second Monday of every month at 6:00pm on Zoom, including Monday March 9th. 

  Our Electoral Committee will meet on Tuesday March 10. The electoral committee meets at 6:00pm on Zoom. 

🌹The next May Day Coalition meeting is Tuesday March 10 at 6:00pm at Migrant Justice (179 S. Winooski Ave., Burlington) and on Zoom. 

Talk about your job and learn about shop-floor organizing from peers at Workers' Circle (co-hosted with the Green Mountain IWW) on the second and fourth Wednesdays of each month, including Wednesday March 11 at 6:00pm at Migrant Justice (179 S. Winooski Ave., Burlington).

💰Our Tax the Rich Working Group will meet on every Sunday, including March 15 at 6:00pm on Zoom..

Find out how you can help our Membership Committee improve recruitment and involvement in our chapter on Monday, March 16. The Membership Committee meets on the 3rd Monday of every month at 6:00pm on Zoom. 

GMDSA's East and West branches will come together for another general meeting on Saturday March 21 at 11:30 a.m. at TBD (Most likely the Public Library in South Burlington). Newcomers are encouraged to show up at 10:30 a.m. for an optional “DSA 101” orientation. Everyone is welcome to join for coffee hour with snacks and discussion at 11:00 a.m. prior to the start of the general meeting.

🇵🇸 Our Palestine Solidarity Committee will meet on Monday March 23. The Palestine solidarity committee meets on the 4th Monday of every month at 6:00pm on Zoom. 

📱Our Communications Committee will meet on Monday March 23. The communications committee meets on the 4th Monday of every month at 7:00pm on Zoom. 

📑 Our Steering Committee meets on the first Monday of every month at 7:30pm on Zoom, including Monday April 6. All members are welcome to participate in the meeting discussion, only members of the steering committee can vote. We will have a hybrid meeting this month. We will be meeting at the Queen City Lodge Oddfellows Hall. The address is 1416 North Ave in Burlington. Email hello@greenmountaindsa.org for the Zoom link if you would prefer to join online

Add our Google Calendar 📅 - Check out our website 🌐

IMPORTANT DATES THIS YEAR

• International Workers’ Day: May 1, 2026

• 2026 Labor Notes Conference: June 12-14

• Vermont Primary Election: August 11, 2026

• Labor Day: September 7, 2026

• General Election: November 3, 2026

• Next GMDSA Convention: November 2026

• Next DSA National Convention: August 2027

We’re living in interesting times, comrade.

As I write, we are witnessing the opening salvos of what will likely develop into a major war of aggression by the US and Israel against Iran. The imperialist order is in decline across the globe. But, that also means the capitalist class that benefits from that order has never been more desperate — or more dangerous.

It’s clearer than ever that we have two choices: socialism or barbarism. We can have a world defined by peace, justice, and a dignified life for all people, or we can have a world defined by endless war, oppression, and suffering for all but an ever-shrinking circle of elites. It can feel hopeless sometimes, but that’s when we need to remember: there’s a power at the core of this monstrous machine. The force that keeps the wheels of this machine turning is our labor.

Our hands are on the switch, and we can turn off the war machine any time we choose. We just need to have enough hands pulling in unison.

The DSA is now more than 100,000 members strong, spread across all 50 states. We’re the largest socialist organization in US history by membership. And, our ranks are still growing fast.

Read on to see what we’ve been up to… and learn what’s coming next!

February Highlights

We started off the month with members braving the cold to kickoff the canvassing efforts to re-elect PDSA member Richie Floyd to St. Pete City Council. This is a critical project of our Electoral Committee, and although it’s only been a couple of weeks, we’re already well on the way to collecting enough petition signatures to secure Richie’s spot on the ballot (rather than buying ballot access, as most candidates do).

The Ecosocialist Working Group continued to advance our ongoing Dump Duke campaign, with organizers facing off against a representative from Duke Energy’s dark-money front group, to argue the merits of public power.

Our Education-Social Working Group hosted Capitalism vs. Socialism, the latest installment of our core training on the basics of organizing with DSA. In the session, which attracted nearly three dozen attendees (pretty good for a Friday night!), organizers explained why we believe that socialism is a superior system to capitalism, and how a socialist society compares to our existing capitalist one. And, our International Solidarity Working Group stayed busy, too, hosting a demonstration at the Chevron station on Sunset Point Road in Clearwater to protest Chevron’s complicity in the genocide in Gaza as part of the ongoing #StopFuelingGenocide campaign.

CAMPAIGN UPDATE: Re-Elect Richie Floyd

Our campaign to re-elect Richie Floyd to the St. Petersburg City Council is shifting into high gear!

Since launching the campaign last month, DSA members have doggedly showed up, weekend after weekend, braving both the cold and the heat to knock doors in District 8. While the campaign could simply buy ballot access, as most elected officials do, the members of our chapter agreed to take the same approach as we did with Richie’s first election campaign, doing it the grassroots way and collecting petition signatures to gain a spot on the ballot instead.

After just one month, we’ve already collected more than half of the 500 signatures needed! As of right now, the campaign is in good shape. But, we need to keep up the energy and get those signatures. This is a people-powered campaign, so let’s show the members of the capitalist class here in St. Pete what the people can do!

CAMPAIGN UPDATE: End 287(g)

Pinellas DSA, as a member organization of the Tampa Bay Immigrant Solidarity Network, hosted a public volunteer meeting on Saturday, February 21 at WonderWorks in Gulfport. Much like neighboring St. Petersburg, the Gulfport Police Department has signed a 287(g) agreement with ICE, volunteering their officers to work as deputized enforcers for the spear of the US regime’s fascist immigration policy. Our ongoing campaign aims to pressure local police departments in Pinellas County to end these agreements and to refuse to collaborate with ICE.

Following a presentation on local 287(g) agreements — including how they undermine public trust in law enforcement, drain public resources, fuel racial profiling, and erode due process — attendees went out to canvass neighborhoods across Gulfport, raise awareness about 287(g), and invite community members to sign petitions calling for an end to the city’s collaboration with ICE.

Our demand of local government officials is simple: No collaboration with fascism! No ICE in our streets!

CAMPAIGN UPDATE: Dump Duke

DSA members spearheading the Dump Duke campaign continue to pressure St. Pete officials to explore the feasibility of creating a publicly owned power utility in the city. We’re up against mounting resistance from dark-money groups funded by Duke Energy, including the Clearwater Energy Alliance and the St. Pete Energy Alliance. But, even with all the money Duke is throwing against us, we’ve got the people on our side!

Organizers with Dump Duke faced off against a representative from the Clearwater Energy Alliance as part the “Opposites Attract” debate series at Bayboro Brewing on February 9. We laid out a clear, practical case for public power — a publicly-owned municipal utility that puts reliability, affordability, and accountability ahead of corporate profit.

Dump Duke organizers also hit the streets at the Mezzo Market, speaking to St. Pete residents, asking their feelings about Duke Energy, and getting the word out that an alternative option is a real possibility!

If you haven’t already, make sure you sign the petition calling on city officials to fund a feasibility study on public power, and to begin negotiations with Duke Energy to end St. Pete’s relationship with the company. Also, if you’re interested in helping build support for public power, go to dumpdukefl.com to learn how you can get involved!

Upcoming Events

We have more than two dozen political events, working group meetings, and social outings scheduled in March. You can always view our full calendar of upcoming events, along with the most up-to-date times and locations, on our website: https://www.pinellasdsa.org/home.

Health Justice Working Group Meeting

Monday, March 2 from 7:00–8:30pm at Allendale United Methodist Church (3803 Haines Rd N. in St. Petersburg). Meeting will be hosted in Wesley Room & virtually via Zoom.

Housing Working Group & St. Pete Tenants Joint Meeting

Tuesday, March 3 from 7:00–8:30pm at Allendale United Methodist Church (3803 Haines Rd N. in St. Petersburg). Discuss and take action on the housing crisis in St. Pete at this joint meeting between the St. Pete Tenants Union and Pinellas DSA.

Socialists in Office Working Group Meeting

Wednesday, March 4 from 6:30–8:00pm at Allendale UMC.

Run DSA: Glow in the Park 5k

Thursday, March 5 from 6:30–8:00pm at Allendale UMC. Join us in the Hybrid room for a basic training on protest marshalling.

Canvas for Richie Floyd

Saturday, March 7 from 10:30am–1:30pm at Gladden Park Recreation Center (3901 30th Ave N. in St. Petersburg). RSVP at richiefloyd.com/volunteer-rsvp.

Self-Managed Abortion Canvass

Saturday, March 7 from 2:30–4:00pm at the President Barack Obama Main Library (3745 9th Ave N. in St. Petersburg).

General Meeting & Social

Sunday, March 8 from 2:00–3:30pm at Allendale United Methodist Church (3803 Haines Rd N. in St. Petersburg). To be followed immediately after by the Socialist Social Hour, with food and (non-alcoholic) drinks provided!

International Solidary Working Group Meeting

Monday, March 9·from 6:30–8:00pm. This will be a virtual-only meeting. Zoom Link.

Book Study: Health Justice Now!

Tuesday, March 10 from 6:15–8:00pm at Allendale UMC. Join us to read and discuss Timothy Faust’s Health Justice Now: Single Payer and What Comes Next. We will be meet in-person in the Hybrid Room and via Zoom.

Bylaws Meeting

Wednesday, March 11 from 6:30–8:00pm. At Allendale UMC, in the Teresa Room.

Cuba: An American History Reading Group

Thursday, March 12 from 6:30–7:30pm at Allendale UMC. Meet us in the Wesley Room for our final discussion of Cuba: An American History.

North County Meeting & Social

Friday, March 13 from 6:30–9:30pm. Location TBD.

Canvas for Richie Floyd

Saturday, March 14 from 10:30am–1:30pm. Location TBD. RSVP at richiefloyd.com/volunteer-rsvp.

Safe Self-Managed Abortion Info Session

Sunday, March 15 from 11:00am-12:00pm at the President Barack Obama Main Library in St. Pete.

Boca Ciega Apartments Canvassing

Sunday, March 15 from 1:00–2:00pm. Canvass the Boca Ciega Apartments (3401 37th St S. in St. Petersburg) to inform and encourage tenants to attend a tenants meeting, where they can tackle the issues facing their property together!

Steering Committee Meeting

Sunday, March 15 from 7:00–8:30pm at Allendale UMC.

Fundraising Committee Meeting

Monday, March 16 from 6:30–8:00pm. Our chapter’s monthly fundraising check-in and brainstorming session at Allendale United Methodist Church (3803 Haines Rd N. in St. Petersburg). Will be hosted in the Hybrid Room, as well as virtually. Zoom link.

Electoral Committee Meeting

Wednesday, March 18 from 6:30–8:30pm. To be hosted at Allendale UMC in the Wesley Room.

Ecosocialist Working Group Meeting

Thursday, March 19 from 6:30–8:00pm. Hosted at Allendale UMC in the Hybrid Room.

Labor Committee Meeting

Friday, March 20 from 6:30–8:00pm at the Pinellas Classroom Teachers Association offices (650 Seminole Blvd. in Largo).

Canvas for Richie Floyd

Saturday, March 21 from 10:30am–1:30pm. Location TBD. RSVP at richiefloyd.com/volunteer-rsvp.

Dump Duke Social & Canvass

Sunday, March 22 from 10:30am-2:00pm at Dell Holmes Park (2741 22nd St S. in St. Petersburg).

International Solidarity Working Group Meeting

Monday, March 23 from 6:30–8:00pm. Meeting at Allendale UMC in the Hybrid Room.

Canvas for Richie Floyd

Saturday, March 28 21 from 10:30am–1:30pm. Location TBD, but RSVP at richiefloyd.com/volunteer-rsvp.

Pinellas DSA Orientation

Saturday, March 28 from 2:30–4:00pm. New member orientation hosted at Allendale UMC in the Hybrid Room.

DSA Nature Walk

Sunday, March 29 from 10:30am-12:00pm. All this organizing can wear you out — refresh and recharge with comrades on a nature walk at Sawgrass Lake Park (7400 25th St N. in St. Petersburg)!

NOTE: All dates and times are subject to change, so check the website regularly for updates!

Based on recent polling, it doesn’t look good for Gov. Janet Mills. Two new polls show her down by somewhere between seven and 38 points in her race for the Democratic nomination to unseat Sen. Susan Collins. And the poll showing her down seven, had her up ten a few months ago! 

At this point, the easiest call for a political pundit to make would be that the primary will go to Graham Platner, an incredibly on-point veteran turned populist oysterman.

And they would be right.

In truth, if Mills wants to save face, and save Democratic donors a lot of money, she should probably drop out. But, in truth, I don’t really believe she should. I think primaries are good. They are a testing/training ground for candidates, so everyone is better prepared for the big show in the fall.

And let’s be honest, Platner needs some testing. While I haven’t officially endorsed anyone yet, the Maine People’s Alliance, of which the Maine Beacon is a project, has endorsed Platner. Rightly so. His economic populist message, anti-ICE courage, and vociferous anti-war positions on Gaza and Iran, put him squarely in the lane where Democrats need to be for the good of our state and the nation. That said, his past statements about women, people of color, and rural voters are obviously problematic and could be huge liabilities in the general election. Having a robust primary will make sure voters have fully heard everything, so, if (when) he wins, nothing Collins’ says will be new information to voters.

Indeed, Mills’ strongest (and perhaps only) strength in the race is that she is already known and tested. It’s pretty much all her supporters are saying about her, and what she emphasizes the most on the campaign trail.

But being known and tested is simply not enough for most voters. Beating Collins is going to be very difficult regardless of who we pick (Collins is polling in basically the same low place as where she polled in 2020, before cruising to victory). To that end, we aren’t going to waste our vote on someone, if that person doesn’t, at a minimum, boldly address what we care about.

And this is where Mills has fallen woefully short. From guns to the environment to workers, and most especially around affordability and income inequality. Meanwhile Platner is putting forward a populist agenda that focuses on taxing the rich, expanding Medicare to all, providing affordable childcare for parents, protecting the rights of workers to organize, and raising the national minimum wage. That’s an agenda people can get behind.

We have not seen this from Mills, either in her language, or in her legislative agenda. Just the opposite in some cases, which is likely why she is so far behind. But as someone who has no small amount of power right now, Mills has the chance to get more popular by actually getting behind and pushing through an affordability agenda.  

The legislature is in session for about six more weeks. If Mills wants people to believe she’s got the goods, she should use her advantage as governor by submitting emergency legislation to impose a 4% tax on Maine millionaires, expand the inheritance tax on the same people, subsidize the ACA subsidies that expired for Maine families, match the state’s minimum wage to Portland’s ($19 by 2028), pay for every district to expand universal pre-K down to three year olds, put a cap on all rent increases tied to CPI, and push out a $250 million bond to build affordable housing.

If she does all that, or even some of it, it will be good for all of us. Win, lose, or draw the primary.

If not? Then I take it back. Just drop out and save us all the time.

***

This story was originally published by The Beacon, a nonprofit and nonpartisan news organization. To get regular coverage from the Beacon, sign up for the free Beacon newsletter here.

The post Opinion: It’s time for Mills to drop out (or step up) appeared first on Pine & Roses.

STATEMENT ON DSA-LA’S ENDORSEMENT FOR MAYOR

Two left candidates who are DSA-LA members are now challenging Mayor Karen Bass in her re-election campaign: Councilmember Nithya Raman and Reverend Rae Huang. This has raised questions about DSA-LA’s endorsement for Mayor.

As with all major decisions for our local chapter, political candidate endorsements are driven and democratically decided by DSA-LA members.

Our endorsements require thorough discussion and debate because an endorsement from DSA-LA is not just another logo on a campaign mailer. When our members vote to endorse a candidate, it comes with a serious commitment of resources and time. We have a detailed and robust process for ensuring that any campaign we endorse is also building our movement.

At this time, DSA-LA has not endorsed anyone for Mayor in 2026, and any future endorsements will only be considered if motivated by a petition and approved if voted on by the chapter’s membership.

Should a mayoral candidate receive DSA-LA’s endorsement, we will throw the full weight of our power behind their campaign. For now, we are focusing that power on our already-endorsed candidates that make up the Shake Up City Hall slate—Marissa Roy for City Attorney, Rocio Rivas for LAUSD School Board, and Hugo Soto-Martinez, Eunisses Hernandez, Faizah Malik, and Estuardo Mazariegos for City Council.

Our Shake Up City Hall slate is made up of renters, immigrants, union members, and devoted DSA-LA members who are going to fight against ICE, the fascist Trump administration, bad bosses, and billionaires. That’s why we endorsed them. Winning these six races—the most we’ve ever endorsed in one election cycle—will be a monumental achievement toward building a Los Angeles for the working class. Sign up to get involved at shakeup.la.

-2026 DSA-LA Steering Committee