International Socialism Project

Undercurrents of racist, anti-immigrant, anti-Muslim and social conservative politics have long coincided among the Republican base with the economic conservatism that more upscale voters support.

In an atmosphere of continued political polarization and of GOP expectation that it will regain the congressional majority in 2022, there is no incentive for Republican politicians or operatives to drive a wedge through its ranks.

Biden wants to draw a sharp contrast with Trump, but their foreign policies share similar assumptions, especially that of seeing China as the U.S.’s main competitor, economically and militarily, in the future.

However shocking, these events shouldn’t surprise us. In the last few years, our sense of what is politically “normal” has been stretched.

The fact that Trump has failed miserably in his attempt to overturn the election doesn’t mean that he will give up trying. Some impulsive gimmick such as a “Counter-Inauguration” is certainly on the cards.

The only thing that can alter that course of events is mass struggle, and a genuine commitment to political activity independent of the Democrats’ electoral calculations.

Three weeks before the election, the chatter of the 24-hour news cycle confuses more than it explains. This article will argue that underneath the chatter and against a backdrop of a marked decline in working class living standards and resurgence of COVID-19, Trump and his advisors have formulated an overall […]

It’s common today to hear pundits declare that the U.S. is facing an “unprecedented” crisis of democracy.             Liberals at the MSNBC network have banged on for years about how “Russian interference” in the 2016 and 2020 presidential election poses an existential threat to U.S. democracy and sovereignty.             At […]

Many Leftists in the US, including some former advocates of independent politics, have embraced the idea of socialists running on Democratic Party ballot lines. (Some have gone even further, urging a vote for Joe Biden.) The argument has been that this will give our side time to build up our […]

Trump prepares his crisis Donald Trump gave a clear outline of his post elections plans in the first of the TV Presidential debates. Trump will send teams of thugs to polling places under the guise of poll watchers. Mail-in ballots will be denounced as frauds and counterfeit.  A bottomless pit […]

The International Socialism Project has held a series of discussions on the rapidly changing US political scene. This article is based on an introduction made to a meeting on September 13. It covers three points: Trump and the far right, the mood of the working class, and the state of […]

In one of the most volatile political years in a generation, the stability and even predictability of the presidential election has stood out. On March 8, a few days after the Super Tuesday Democratic primary and before the full national weight of the COVID-19 pandemic asserted itself, former Vice President […]

Interview with Green Party presidential candidate Howie Hawkins The Green Party, at a virtual convention completed on July 11, nominated the ticket of Howie Hawkins and Angela Walker to run in the U.S. presidential election in November. To find out more about the candidates and their platform, visit their campaign […]

The following is chapter six of Lance Selfa’s The Democrats: A Critical History. The footnote references have been removed.     One of the enduring truisms of American politics since the 1960s is the notion that Republicans are “strong on national defense” while Democrats are “weak.” In 2004, largely on this […]

Bernie Sanders ended his second presidential bid in April—endorsing Joe Biden and urging his supporters to vote for him. Since then, the political climate in the U.S. has been transformed. The Covid-19 pandemic, the ensuing economic crisis and large scale unemployment, followed suddenly by the mass uprisings triggered by the […]