DSA's impact in 2020

[Donerail]

Not gonna comment at length on this but the differences between Praxis and Momentum are primarily the result of the differences between small and large chapters, respectively.

[Chief Justice Keef]

Their membership is still only 24,000 members, but if they really start to become popular over the next few years, I could see them having a small but notable voice in the Democratic primaries.

[GoTfan]

Their membership is still only 24,000 members, but if they really start to become popular over the next few years, I could see them having a small but notable voice in the Democratic primaries.

Mainly in the very liberal states though

[Shameless Lefty Hack]

Libertarians have 250k card carrying members and nobody listens to them.

If DSA gets up to 1 million...then maybe

DSA is not a political party.

[Famous Mortimer]

Libertarians have 250k card carrying members and nobody listens to them.

If DSA gets up to 1 million...then maybe

DSA is not a political party.

This is a semantic issue.

[Shameless Lefty Hack]

Libertarians have 250k card carrying members and nobody listens to them.

If DSA gets up to 1 million...then maybe

DSA is not a political party.

This is a semantic issue.

No it isn't. Feel free to correct me if I'm wrong, but the Libertarian Party doesn't get itself involved in Republican Primaries, doesn't direct volunteers to local philosophically libertarian Republicans, etc. Forming a third political party is a guaranteed way to make sure that you're not listened to. By avoiding that pitfall, DSA stands to punch above its weight.

[Crumpets]

Libertarians have 250k card carrying members and nobody listens to them.

If DSA gets up to 1 million...then maybe

DSA is not a political party.

This is a semantic issue.

No it isn't. Feel free to correct me if I'm wrong, but the Libertarian Party doesn't get itself involved in Republican Primaries, doesn't direct volunteers to local philosophically libertarian Republicans, etc. Forming a third political party is a guaranteed way to make sure that you're not listened to. By avoiding that pitfall, DSA stands to punch above its weight.

My understanding from someone who used to work for the Libertarian Party is that the party has changed dramatically in this respect in the last few cycles. In 2008, the name of the game was absolutely to change the Republican Party in their image. In 2012, it was mixed, with attempts to get Paul to be the presidential nominee, but more Libertarian Party empowerment on the local level. By 2016, it was operating almost totally independently of the Republican Party, with a major schism among the "Reddit faithful," with some just jumping ship and joining Trump, while the more purist members focused entirely on promoting "true" Libertarian candidates outside of the Republican party (with maybe a couple of exceptions, such as Amash).

[Famous Mortimer]

Libertarians have 250k card carrying members and nobody listens to them.

If DSA gets up to 1 million...then maybe

DSA is not a political party.

This is a semantic issue.

No it isn't. Feel free to correct me if I'm wrong, but the Libertarian Party doesn't get itself involved in Republican Primaries, doesn't direct volunteers to local philosophically libertarian Republicans, etc. Forming a third political party is a guaranteed way to make sure that you're not listened to. By avoiding that pitfall, DSA stands to punch above its weight.

DSA doesn't run in elections. Just say "they don't run in elections". "Party" is just a term for a political group, it has nothing to do with running in elections.

[Shameless Lefty Hack]

Libertarians have 250k card carrying members and nobody listens to them.

If DSA gets up to 1 million...then maybe

DSA is not a political party.

This is a semantic issue.

No it isn't. Feel free to correct me if I'm wrong, but the Libertarian Party doesn't get itself involved in Republican Primaries, doesn't direct volunteers to local philosophically libertarian Republicans, etc. Forming a third political party is a guaranteed way to make sure that you're not listened to. By avoiding that pitfall, DSA stands to punch above its weight.

DSA doesn't run in elections. Just say "they don't run in elections". "Party" is just a term for a political group, it has nothing to do with running in elections.

It gets tetchy when there are crackpots in the organization who do want to make a third party.