Presidential endorsement: Claudia de la Cruz
An unapologetically socialist platform makes de la Cruz stand out in a field of vague progressives.
In unwavering opposition to America’s continued involvement in the wars against Palestine and Ukraine, and in defiance of the capitalist system that violently exploits and oppresses workers around the world, I hereby endorse Claudia de la Cruz and Karina Garcia for President and Vice President of the United States.
I make this endorsement fully aware of the threat posed by Donald Trump and his Republican Party. It is in fact precisely because of the failure of Democrats to prevent this threat that Americans needs a viable left opposition party. Trumpism has its roots in economic and identitarian pathologies that have thrived despite, and sometimes because of, the Democratic Party. Trumpism is the consequence of a capitalist system that confronts the middle class with persistent precarity. It is the consequence of racism that remains entrenched throughout our system. And it is the consequence of an antidemocratic system of government that allows enormously unpopular candidates like Trump to climb their way into power.
These problems did not go away when Trump left office, and neither did the threat of another Trump. Democrats, having won the White House in 2020, might have at least taken simple first steps towards dismantling our capitalist system and disempowering antidemocratic institutions like the Senate and the Supreme Court. They did not because they do not want to. Instead, the Democratic Party has spent the past four years passing a handful of tepid welfare measures, presiding over the end of others, waging war against our fellow workers around the world, and cracking down on those of us who have stood in protest.
The point of recounting these failures is not to establish that the Democratic Party is in some sense “worse” than its Republican counterparts. It is to establish that Democrats do not have a plausible plan for defeating Trumpism in the long term, which would require transforming this country into one where it is never on the ballot again. Instead, the Democratic political strategy is to continue to blackmail voters with lesser-evil reasoning, knowing full well that a “Democrats win every election forever” plan will periodically fail as a matter of statistical inevitability.
There are several liberal and left alternatives to the Democratic Party on the ballot this year. Jill Stein and Cornell West would both be a marked improvement over Democratic nominee Kamala Harris. Both have promised to end our participation in the wars on Palestine and Ukraine, and both have proposed expansive welfare states that would reverse the neoliberal governance that has dominated our country for decades. Neither candidate is above criticism, but here I will highlight only what I consider their decisive shortcoming:
Only Claudia de la Cruz and Karina Garcia have aimed their campaign squarely against capitalism. Both West and Stein talk about “corporate power” and “giant corporations”, but only de la Cruz is willing to say: “End Capitalism Before It Ends Us.” Only de la Cruz is willing to call for “building a socialist movement.” Only de la Cruz proposes that we should
“Seize the Biggest 100 Corporations”
“Overthrow the Dictatorship of the Rich — Build a Democracy That Serves the Working Class”
“Save the Planet from Capitalism”
This is a campaign that is aimed not just at the symptoms of capitalism, but at the cause.
I believe that there must be room for strategic disagreement among socialists, even when it comes to voting. My personal view is that no sound political strategy can focus on short-term electoral wins at the expense of the long-term. I encourage readers to read Claudia de la Cruz’s platform and make up your minds for yourselves.