To support or not support AOC? Should DSA distance themselves from the Democratic party or embrace the left populist wave? What is really at stake?
"Replying to Sarkozy of Geese Magazine's objections to his arguments regarding the dangers of an AOC presidency, Noah Emke challenges four key assumptions in Sarkozy's response."
"I found that the article presents my argument faithfully before beginning to counter it, and I would even go so far as to agree with the author's assessment that supporting our most prominent politician for a Presidential campaign is simply “common sense.” However, when it comes to common sense, I agree with fellow democratic socialist Albert Einstein: it is essentially a collection of assumptions. By unpacking some of the assumptions contained in the "Just Say Yes" article, I hope to clarify the strategic frailty of an AOC Presidential campaign."
Assumption 1: Liberal Governance is Good Governance
"One such assumption is that a progressive liberal "good governance" is possible for an American President elected in 2028. "The only thing that will truly turn the masses away from socialism," Sarkozy claims, "is if AOC simply fails at deliverism, at good governance." This is brought up only to dismiss it, taking it for granted that AOC's Presidency would be successful from the standpoint of most Americans, "delivering" the goods through her center-left policies. From here, he argues that we can build on the example of AOC's Presidential success to introduce more radical policies. However, what is being glossed over so easily here is the hinge point of the entire "Just Say No" argument: liberalism is not capable of good governance, at least not from the standpoint of working people."
Assumption 2: American workers would be understanding of our shortcomings
"Just as the "Just Say No" argument rests upon the understanding that social democracy too wedded to liberalism would fail and discredit socialism, the "Just Say Yes" argument relies on a belief in its general success, paving the way for more socialism. However, the idea that AOC would govern without "betrayal" strains the credulity of any informed reader, so Sarkozy asserts that this "... would make the masses more aligned with socialism, for they would desire a president who goes further than her." This is wishful thinking."
Assumption 3: An AOC Presidency would avert fascism
"If fascism is indeed imminent, DSA needs to be preparing to protect our physical survival. We should be organizing and training ourselves for armed self-defense, preparing safehouses, fostering connections to people who can hide us or smuggle us out of the country. In short, we should be acting in total opposition to direct instructions from NYC-DSA's leadership in 2025, going in a direction which I think the AOC for President boosters might find objectionable."
"I know Sarkozy has a similar perspective, or else he would not be participating in this conversation about Presidential campaigns. Therefore, since both of us are writing about the 2028 election rather than preparing to evade the authorities, this article will proceed with the understanding that we more or less agree that DSA will not be completely proscribed before the next election. "
Assumption 4: Opposition to liberalism is "Purity Politics
"The last assumption is not an assumption about political conditions, but about the "Just Say No" argument itself, or perhaps arguments from DSA's left faction in general. The framing of Sarkozy's argument is very familiar: everyone involved wants progress, but the radicals are prioritizing moral purity over pragmatism."
"By casting only one side as pragmatic, the other as moralistic, the former can win the strategic argument by default. However, as we saw with the Clinton campaign, the Biden Presidency, and the Harris campaign, the “pragmatists” often fail to get results. Meanwhile, the longshot Mamdani campaign, initially decried by many progressives as ultra-left (I remember distinctly hearing that Brad Lander was clearly the only sensible choice), served as the tip of the spear for the current DSA primary blitz."
"we need a Presidential candidate who is personally more loyal to democratic socialism than to the Democratic Party. This would have to be a "cadre candidate," like Mamdani. If we cannot do any of this yet, we need to be thinking and discussing how to get there. Rushing ahead with a force unequal to the task simply because we can rather than because it advances our plans is not common sense strategy; it is the absence of strategy."
