Published in the Loveland CO Reporter-Herald Newspaper:
Sunday October 11th, 2026
pg. A16
When I think of political platforms, I’m reminded of the saying: “A camel is a horse designed by committee”. All kinds of things that don’t see the light of day beyond the political suggestions of a platform can be found - and endorsed candidates for the various parties can choose to take the platform’s advice, or not. One example of a politician not strictly adhering to the party line was John McCain during his run for president. The Republican platform at the time stated:
“We support a human life amendment to the Constitution, and we endorse legislation to make clear that the Fourteenth Amendment’s protections apply to unborn children.”
(the Fourteenth Amendment requires equal protection under the law)
McCain wanted exemptions added for rape, incest, and if the pregnancy threatened the woman’s life. So I thought that was a good example of a politician not wanting to strictly follow a party platform’s plank.
So a person might understand why I still don’t get excited when people get upset about what is in a political platform like the Democratic Socialists of America’s platform - there is nothing binding there. It can be ignored, modified, or stipulations can be added like John McCain wanted during his run. My thought is people should first look at what dsa-endorsed, or dsa-friendly politicians have to say or do before forming an opinion on these individuals.
- NYC Mayor Zohran Mamdani: this card-carrying member of the DSA emphasized NYPD levels should be kept at roughly existing staffing levels rather than shrinking it. But has supported shifting certain nonviolent crisis and social-service duties away from police. Maybe this could be considered his form of “defunding the police”, taking away duties the police aren’t qualified for and letting them concentrate on law enforcement - which they are trained for. What a concept – and he has been known to defend police and prisons, clashing with some in the DSA.
- Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders: is a Democratic Socialist and DSA-endorsed, but not a member of the DSA. He hasn’t generally endorsed abolishing ICE or eliminating immigration enforcement. But has supported immigration reform and protections for undocumented immigrants.
- Federal Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (AOC): is a Democratic Socialist, DSA member, and NYC DSA chapter-endorsed. She lost her national DSA endorsement when some of the DSA members felt she was too accommodating toward Israel. Her support for defensive aid like Israel’s Iron Dome was one problem. Some DSA members have been calling for a total arms embargo, which AOC didn’t support.
- 2026 Michigan Democratic U.S. Senate nominee Dr. Abdul El-Sayed: not a DSA member, not a Democratic Socialist, but has been described as a longtime friend by the Detroit DSA. He has found common ground with the DSA when it comes to things like reducing corporate influence in politics and universal healthcare.
Also consider that DSA is a decentralized organization with many various factions, which I like. It has many different chapters and individuals to hear from. Besides liking the decentralized nature of the DSA and their loose control of their local chapters, I also still like their embrace of much of the Scandinavian Nordic Model: such as universal health care, strong unions, generous social programs, and public services. While the Nordic countries have reformed their model, even center-right parties support the core welfare-state framework.
Yes, there may be some what I’ll call “fundamentalist” DSA members who have the 11th commandment: “Thou shall not stray from the party platform!!”. It wouldn’t surprise me. John McCain had to put up with party conservatives from his day who didn’t want to change the abortion plank I mentioned, which wasn’t changed. But as far as I can tell the DSA “fundamentalists” who can seem to be a bit out there, don’t seem to be holding much sway as far as I can tell.
Still worried about the socialists beating down your doors? You could encourage your representatives to fight back with social welfare programs like German Chancellor Bismarck did in his fight with socialists: health insurance in 1883, accident insurance in 1884, old-age and disability insurance in 1889. Bismarck’s programs succeeded in decreasing German workers’ attraction to socialism.
