North Star Caucus Strategy Worked Well in the Election

The North Star Caucus came into existence to advance a practical democratic socialist politics within DSA. The 2020 election clearly revealed the value of this approach and the caucus.

We first advanced a position on voting to defeat Trump and Trumpism in one of our resolutions to the 2019 DSA convention.
 
"Whereas, our first priority is the electoral and political defeat of Donald Trump, the Trumpist Republican Party and all of the authoritarian forces aligned with them. The white nationalist authoritarianism of Trumpism poses a ‘clear and present danger’ to working people and their unions, to people of color, to women, to LGBTQIA people, to immigrants, to members of minority religious faiths and to democracy itself. Trumpist victories in the 2020 elections would mean the consolidation of an authoritarian state with the most reactionary politics, the expansion of imperial aggression abroad and the collapse of the political space for democratic and left forces at home. The defeat of Trumpism is thus a strategic imperative, the most important political task of our time."
 
Our position did not get consideration at the convention, competing views won out.
 
We then developed an effort to advance this position as an educational and activist campaign within the broad left.  We organized this petition that was published in the Nation and circulated broadly.
https://www.dsanorthstar.org/defeattrump.html
​www.dsanorthstar.org/defeattrump.html
 
“We, the undersigned democratic socialists, want to make clear that the priority for the left in 2020 should be the electoral defeat of Donald Trump and the Trumpist Republican Party in November. At present, the only way to accomplish that will be to vote for his Democratic opponent.
The racist, xenophobic, misogynist authoritarianism of Trumpism poses an immediate existential danger to people of color, to immigrants, to reproductive rights, to trade unions, to LGBTQIA people, to Muslims, to Jews, to members of other religions, and to democracy itself. A Trump victory would fortify our authoritarian State, expand imperial aggression, and collapse the political space for democratic and left forces at home. Reversing the creeping neo-fascism at play in our country is a strategic imperative, the most urgent political task before us.”
 
The obvious facts  in the nation, on the  electoral ground, led thousands of left organizers, union leaders, political activists and citizens to adopt similar emphases.

My conclusion is that the effort of North Star Caucus provided leadership in developing a democratic socialist position in the election.  Good work to all.

Additional notes.  Newsperson Juan Gonzalez provides an important critique of main stream media’s coverage of the Latino Vote.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tIrr4Ka6KAg&feature=emb_logo


​and provides this graphic.

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Duane Campbell,
North Star Caucus.  DSA. 

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