Brian Anderson(@BrianAcity):The DSA was once a debating group of aging Harringtonites—mostly harmless. Then came the big-tent radicals—Leninists, Maoists, Third Worldists, Hamas apologists—who seized it through entryism, relentless purity tests, and character assassination. Now the same disciplined networks are capturing the Democratic Party, says former DSA member Jake Altman. The Democrats’ choice, he believes, is is stark: out-organize these extremists and shut them down, or surrender to them. Walter Reuther once beat the Communists in the UAW by exposing them and building a democratic coalition. Maybe Democrat leaders need to revisit that history. Accommodation with the new radicals is suicide. Altman:

2026.07.10 01:31

The DSA was once a debating group of aging Harringtonites—mostly harmless. Then came the big-tent radicals—Leninists, Maoists, Third Worldists, Hamas apologists—who seized it through entryism, relentless purity tests, and character assassination. Now the same disciplined networks are capturing the Democratic Party, says former DSA member Jake Altman. The Democrats’ choice, he believes, is is stark: out-organize these extremists and shut them down, or surrender to them. Walter Reuther once beat the Communists in the UAW by exposing them and building a democratic coalition. Maybe Democrat leaders need to revisit that history. Accommodation with the new radicals is suicide. Altman: