What Do Leftists Think about the 2018 Election?
Only a few of the left-wing parties expressed themselves directly after the midterm elections, while others took some time to formulate their position.
Let's start with the avant-garde of the American leftists -- the Communist Party USA. Immediately after the elections, the communists declared a "historic victory." Communists clearly do not hide their sympathies. They fully support their ideological fellows -- the Democrats -- and rejoice in the loss of a Republican majority in the House of Representatives. Consequently, one gets the impression that they both receive talking points from the same source. The rhetoric of the Communists and Democrats is similar. They say all the followers of Trump are fascists, as they relentlessly talk about the “blue wave.” And now, after tirelessly speaking out against U.S. Attorney General Sessions for the last two years, they turn to come to his defense after his dismissal by Trump.
Another well-known left-wing party – the Democratic Socialists of America (the party that young Barack Obama joined immediately upon arrival in Chicago) -- clearly positions itself as the leader of the left-wing movement in the United States. In their statement after the elections, the Democratic Socialists do not hide the fact that the young communist Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez from New York and the anti-Semitic Rashid Tlaib from Michigan are members of the DSA who went to Congress under the banner of the Democrats. At the post-election victory party, the fresh member of Congress Tlaib danced, not with the U.S. flag, but with the flag of Palestine. So it is not surprising that this party’s position towards Israel, for example, parallels that of the Democrats and the Communists. Democratic Socialists also talk about “global warming,” support for LGBTQIA (I still can’t remember what the Q stands for, and now sign has appeared), and about Trump-the-racist.
The loudest-voiced leftist party in America is the Revolution Communist Party USA. This party, as usual, is trying to look like an “independent left party.” Immediately after the elections, they tried to distance themselves from both Republicans and Democrats. The Communist revolutionaries brought down all the standard epithets of Marxism to the "ruling class," and they did not forget, of course, to add the phrase that Trump is Hitler reincarnated. In fact, what else could be expected from those who seriously propose changing the U.S. Constitution to the constitution of the “Socialist Republic of North America”?
As for the American Green Party, it is difficult to answer the question – are they similar to Marxists, or are these Marxists similar to Greens as two peas in a pod? Judge for yourself – the press releases of the Green Party as a result of the elections are practically no different from the press releases of the Democratic Party and other left-wing parties. However, the Greens were forced to admit that their difficulties in the state of Georgia are connected to the methods of suppressing the opposition, introduced by the Democratic Party of Georgia back in 1943.
The Working Families Party, a breakaway from communists 20 years ago, does not hide its enthusiasm about the fact that dozens of members of this party won the election. The Working Families Party rightly notes that the newly elected House of Representatives will be "the most progressive in a generation."
The revolutionary Socialist Alternative party does not hide its joy of the fact that many of the newly elected members of the House of Representatives are socialists. The Alternative Socialists complain about Trump’s “reactionary regime” while they correctly emphasize that as a result of the elections, many anti-Trumpists got purged from the Republican Party.
The Marxist-Leninist Workers World Party sums up the results of the elections in a very original way. They call the victory of the Democrats “illusory” and call for the rejection of both “capitalist parties” -- the Republicans and the Democrats.
The only more or less significant Trotskyist party in America is the Socialist Equality Party. The party is a member of the Fourth International. The Trotskyists are trying to soberly assess the situation and note that many socialists who have gone to Congress diligently concealed their socialist roots and membership in socialist parties. Also, the Trotskyists criticize the Democratic party for the fact that it turns out to have made a "sharp turn to the right." They blame the Democrats for having some positions "to the right of the Trump administration." However, no one is surprised that the Trotskyists have declared the Democratic party "pseudo-left." Who would dare to be to the left of the Trotskyists?
Many left-wing parties in the United States did not express their opinion on the past elections. The official organization of the young communists -- League of Young Communists USA -- is still silent on the election. To this day, there is no word from The Marxist U.S. Marxist-Leninist Organization, League of Revolution for New America, Party for Socialism and Liberation, the Trotskyist Socialist Workers Party, and many others.
However, apart from ideology, all the leftist parties of the United States are united by the amazing ability to transform election day into election week, and then into election month. Moreover, if you gave free rein to the Trotskyists, then their slogan, "permanent revolution" would be replaced by the slogan, "permanent elections."
Differences in the assessment of the current events by the American leftist parties are not something extraordinary. Traditionally, the leftists criticize all those who appear to be to the right of themselves. Therefore, for example, the Trotskyists are always criticized only on the right, and no one criticizes them on the left. There is simply no one to the left of them in the American political spectrum.
The nonstop bombarding of Trump with political mud for two years has prevented Democrats and all other leftists from seeing the actual dynamics of what is happening in the White House. Additionally, this applies not only to the left but also, (judging by the recent vote on the post of minority leader in the House of Representatives) to the right-wingers. Indeed, during the first two years of his first presidential term, Trump once again abandoned the ideas and symbols of the party to which he formally belonged. It seems that only American conservatives have noted this dynamic, and this gives them some hope.
The results of the elections in 2018 mean that Trump has finally abandoned both the Democratic Donkey and the Republican Elephant. Now the tenant of the White House is the Lion, the leader of the American conservatives, Donald J. Trump.
Gary Gindler, Ph.D., is a conservative blogger at Gary Gindler Chronicles. Follow him on Twitter.