Like It or Not, If We Run Third Party, We Will Lose

Socialists say they either want to “realign” the Democratic Party or break with it entirely. But those aren’t political strategies — they are outcomes of political struggle. We need a way to develop working-class politics without condemning ourselves to third-party marginality.

Bernie Sanders Holds Campaign Rally In Richmond, Virginia

Sen. Bernie Sanders speaks during a rally at the Arthur Ashe Junior Athletic Center on February 27, 2020 in Richmond, Virginia. Zach Gibson / Getty


I’m asking the same question as everyone else this month: Where do we go now?

With Bernie Sanders exiting from the presidential primary, thousands of other left-wingers are hurt, demoralized, and looking for answers. Once again, the media, the establishment, the billionaires, and Elizabeth Warren succeeded in frustrating Bernie’s nomination.

After two failures in two consecutive cycles to capture the Democratic nomination, we’ve seen the return of familiar calls for the creation of a new political party, one free of a ballot line that has long been inhospitable to radicals. Yet, for over a hundred years, we’ve been imploring workers to “break with the elephant and break with the ass” in an effort to build a party of the working class. And, despite our noble efforts, we seem no closer to that goal than we did a century ago.

Sorry, but this article is available to active subscribers only. Please log in or become a subscriber.