The Socialist Democrats: An Election Primer

My article from the October 30, 2012, issue of Front Page Magazine:

The Socialist Democrats: An Election Primer

By Matthew Vadum

The socialist wing of the national Democratic Party is larger and probably more powerful than it has ever been.

But its numbers depend on how you define the term socialist and how you measure influence.

Labels can be misleading. Since the 1960s and the ascent of the so-called George McGovern/Jimmy Carter/Walter Mondale wing of the Democratic Party, being a socialist, or fairly close to a socialist, has become the norm in the party. The days in which a Democratic elected official could be slightly left-wing (i.e. favoring a mixed economy that was more capitalist than socialist) and at the same time pro-defense, as in the case of President Harry S. Truman and Sen. Henry M. “Scoop” Jackson, are long gone.

Nowadays it is generally safe to presume that a Democratic lawmaker is a socialist unless evidence suggests otherwise.

But the word socialist still carries with it a certain stigma in U.S. culture, even in the age of Barack Hussein Obama, easily the most radical president the United States has ever seen.

Even former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) resists calling herself a socialist even though she clearly supports that ideology’s planks. And even though Pelosi is not a member of the CPC, like its members she occupies a parallel universe in which the United States is evil, racist, imperialistic, and all the other unpleasant adjectives that Marxists apply to this country.

Only the bolder members of Congress, often those in safe Democratic districts, tend to openly associate themselves with socialism.

Members of the Congressional Progressive Caucus are undoubtedly socialists, though most shy away from the label. The CPC has long had ties to the far-left Institute for Policy Studies, Democratic Socialists of America (the largest Marxist group in the country), and the Communist Party USA.

The CPC, which is co-chaired by Reps. Keith Ellison (D-MN) and Raul M. Grijalva (D-AZ), has 75 members in the U.S. House of Representatives, including two nonvoting delegates, Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC), and Donna Christian-Christensen (D-VI). This means that of the 190 Democratic House members with voting privileges, 73, or nearly two-fifths of all House Democrats, are members of the radical caucus.

Even though Democrats no longer control the House, because CPC members comprise a large percentage of the Democratic conference, the socialists within that conference have greater sway over what direction the Democratic leadership takes in Congress. Radical Democrats have fewer moderate Democrats, such as members of the increasingly endangered Blue Dog Caucus, to struggle against in policy fights.

Communist Party USA on the rise

I never thought I'd put those words in any blog post but there they are.

According to researcher extraordinaire Trevor Loudon of New Zeal, the Communist Party USA (CPUSA) is experiencing a resurgence. Read his article here.

It's scary stuff. There aren't that many actual CPUSA members out there, but they tend to be very active in the labor movement, the Democratic Party, and in groups like ACORN which allows them to leverage their influence. Moreover, a large percentage of Democratic members of the House of Representatives (about 70 members in all) are virtually small-c communists. Look them up at the website of their deceptively named group, the Congressional Progressive Caucus.

Like ACORN, CPUSA members are committed to using violence to bring about a radical transformation of America.

Read more about ACORN's commitment to revolutionary violence and all-around thuggery in my upcoming book Subversion Inc.: How Obama's ACORN Red Shirts Are Still Terrorizing and Ripping Off American Taxpayers, which comes out soon. Pre-order it now!

Delegate Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-Crazytown)

I have long maintained that the District of Columbia's nonvoting delegate in the House of Representatives, Eleanor Holmes Norton, is a few fries short of a Happy Meal. She's buddies with racist agitator Al Sharpton and has long been a member of the kooky (and misnamed) Congressional Progressive Caucus, which is tied to America's largest Marxist group, Democratic Socialists of America.

Yet more proof has surfaced.

The Hill is reporting Del. Norton is very unhappy about the congressional fight over the budget, which has the effect of holding up the District's budget. “District residents are being treated as colonists of the Congress of the United States," Norton said. "We are absolutely outraged. This is the functional equivalent of bombing innocent civilians."

Norton continued blathering on:

"We've sustained attack after attack as the Republicans invade our right to govern ourselves," Norton said, adding she is not confident lawmakers will reach a deal.
"I'm not confident. But if they don't get a deal done, if these Republicans insist that if they don't get the whole pie, they'll take the whole country down with them, then we have got to make them pay the price."

Of course District of Columbia residents have no constitutional right to govern themselves. The District is subject to the will of Congress. If Norton doesn't like this arrangement she should campaign for a constitutional amendment to give the District true self-government.