Hard to say if the “America Party” is really getting off the ground or not, but I’d like to publish left-wing activists’ thoughts on that question
With the news that billionaire Elon Musk, a South African native, is forming the still-unregistered “America Party”—apparently an outgrowth of his ongoing spat with Pres. Donald Trump—a question immediately occurs to me: If Musk succeeds in using his vast wealth to finally carve out space for a third party at the federal level, would that make space for an independent left-wing fourth party?” And to be crystal clear, by left I mean the actual pro-worker left, not partisans of the corporate-controlled Democratic Party.
I touched on my own experience with national left party efforts past and my thoughts on what kind of groundwork would be required to found one in this political moment in my March 6 outing “The Minimum Program: A Strategy For Political Mobilization.” In which I pointed out that with the broad American left as fragmented and fractious as it has become, some of its more far-sighted activists need to start networking and mobilizing people around a united “minimum program” before federal party building can really have a chance of success. A simple program based on the big universal demands that defined successful left movements of the past—my initial suggestion being: “We fight for democracy, human rights, environmental restoration, peace, and key bread-and-butter economic guarantees, including decent food, housing, jobs, transportation, education, healthcare, retirement, energy, and telecom for all.”
However, when I wrote that piece I couldn’t have known that Musk was going to launch his own party. And, of course, no one yet knows if this new party thing is real or just another rhetorical flourish by an oligarch known for some impressively disastrous attempts at political grandstanding.
But let’s say that Musk is serious and does actually launch an effort to win some key Congressional seats in the midterm elections. What are the left’s chances for making hay while the sun shines?
I haven’t been active in left party-building initiatives for a long time, though I do keep tabs on what’s out there. So, on this matter, I think it’s better to help elevate the ideas of current left party organizers and advisors (and analysts who focus on US left party building) about whether they think Musk might inadvertently provide an opportunity for the left to form a new national party built around strong universal demands than to weigh in overmuch myself. Other than to say that I would like to see a renewed left take a serious shot at finally getting a block of our own Congresspeople seated—like Kshama Sawant is trying to do in Washington state—in tandem with efforts to take power in major cities like Zohran Mamdani is trying to do in New York City. Credible runs in gubernatorial races would also be welcome.
That’s why I’d like to formally invite left activists and intellectuals in the know to submit opinion articles on that topic for publication in HorizonMass over the coming weeks. I’ll spread the word to key folks in my personal network, naturally, but any readers with demonstrable and significant experience in left party building who want to take their best shots are also welcome to submit drafts (figure 700-1200 words) to me at editorial[at]horizonmass.news.
I understand that activists with the Green Party of the United States, Socialist Alternative, some factions of Democratic Socialists of America, and others will likely disagree with my framing, but that’s absolutely fine … better even, as I just want to publish a range of left opinions on the question at hand. I look forward to people’s submissions.
Apparent Horizon—an award-winning political column—is syndicated by the MassWire news service of the Boston Institute for Nonprofit Journalism.
