Tag Archives: news

Nixon Then, Trump Now?

Future Hope, , , ,

“Donald Trump is running the biggest grift in American history. The unprecedented scale of the president’s corruption was exposed by the recent release of his financial disclosure report, which revealed that he made $2.2 billion since he returned to the White House. His various crypto schemes, thousands of stock trades, and financial entanglements with foreign governments such as Qatar and Saudi Arabia are practically the definition of conflict of interest. Trump made $635 million by issuing a meme coin, $TRUMP, while nearly 1 million investors in the coin collectively lost $3.8 billion. Trump’s thousands of stock trades often occur just before or after he makes market-moving decisions. . . Republicans are almost all silent as Trump and his family shamelessly exploit the presidency.” Editorial, The Free Press, July, 2026

Observing the deepening, outrageous actions and transparent and massive Trumpfascist corruption; following the repeated reports of Trump’s seriously declining health; seeing the latest polls just coming out showing Trump only having the support of 1/3 of the US American people; and remembering that on August 9, 1974, 52 years ago, Richard Nixon resigned the Presidency, it feels like it is increasingly possible that, one way or the other, Trump will be gone from the Presidency many months before his four year term is up.

As a former National Co-coordinator of the National Campaign to Impeach Nixon, the shortest and most successful organization I’ve ever been a part of, literally in existence for nine months before Nixon was gone, I’d say August 9, 1974 is an anniversary to be remembered by all of us who believe in democracy and justice. It is a way to remind the US American people that as bad as things can look, things do change. We are a long way from the early days in January and February of 2025 when we were filled with dread about what was in store for our country, our peoples, and the world.

Nixon was at one time much more popular than Trump has ever been. When he was re-elected in 1972 he had a 23% margin of victory in the popular vote and won every state except Massachusetts and DC. In 2024 Trump didn’t make 50% of the popular vote, was only 1 1/2% percent ahead of Kamala Harris, and carried many less states than Nixon did.

Other than his term running out and him needing to leave in January, 2029 (ugh), if not voluntarily but because of massive political pressure and many millions in the streets, how could Trump no longer be President? He could die or be seriously incapacitated health wise and no longer be able to do Presidential duties. He could decide to resign, maybe in the spring of 2027 after Democratic control of both the House and Senate, or even just the House, makes it clear that it will be much more difficult for him to do what he wants to do. He could be removed by a majority vote of his Cabinet (25th Amendment) as they confront and act on the drag that he is on parts of their agenda and Republican electoral prospects in the future. Or perhaps something else might happen.

These are not idle wishes. They are possible because of Trumpfascist incompetence and corruption, massive voter dissatisfaction, and the growing political strength of the progressive movement, one which is working with a broader cross-section of people who hate Trump but who don’t identify as “progressive.”

Of course, the absolute last thing those of us who want Trump gone should do is slacken up on electoral work for November 3 and our street activism and grassroots organizing on all the many issues. Indeed, it is critical that as many Democrats and pro-working-class Independents as possible win their races so that votes in the House and Senate are forward-looking and positive [note: there are at least two viable US Senate Independent candidacies in Montana and Nebraska and a number of Independents running for House seats]. The higher the percentage of such folks in office the stronger our pro-democracy and justice movement will be.

Ted Glick has been a progressive activist and organizer since 1968. He is the author of two books, Burglar for Peace and 21st Century Revolution, published in 2020 and 2021 and both available at https://pmpress.org . More info can be found at https://tedglick.com

It’s the Corruption!

Future Hope, , , ,

“We who think about politics all the time rarely have a good handle on what’s going on in the lives and minds of those who do not. That’s what makes focus groups so fascinating. I usually see voters holding on to conventional thinking and subconsciously absorbed conservative talking points, and I have to figure out how to communicate with them in ways that open their minds to the possibility of bigger change. This year, I walked in hoping to find a little more awareness of the system-wide nature of our economic dysfunction, and not only were voters already there, they had continued on to the wholesale corruption of government. As a lifelong campaign finance reform advocate, I had resigned myself to the idea that voters weren’t ready to “go there” when it came to money in politics, but much to my absolute delight, they have arrived!”
          –Antonia Scatton, from “Voters are Leaving Politicos Behind,” Antonia Scatton | Substack, July 22, 2026

Until yesterday I had never heard of Antonia Scatton, who describes herself in this way at her Substack: “Antonia works with George and Lisa Greene of the Connections Lab on a mission to get the Democratic Party’s messaging back on the right track. They worked with DNC Chair Ken Martin when he was President of the Association of State Democratic Committees, to bring in-person messaging and framing workshops to state and local leadership, staff, candidates and others in key target states, along with video training and other supporting materials.”

I suppose if I had been a long-time activist in the Democratic Party, something I definitely am not, I would have heard of her long before now, but in this case, for sure, it’s undoubtedly “better late than never.” This brand-new column, published yesterday, is one that, imho, should be checked out and reflected on by all of us who are actively working to defeat the Trumpfascists at the polls on November 3.

Scatton may be someone “up there” in the higher levels of the Democratic Party, which honestly gives me some pause given my much more independent and progressive politics and personal history, but, hey, she clearly is an important part of the broadly-based movement for democracy and justice which has emerged since Trump was elected.

Here’s another important paragraph from her latest article:

“American voters’ feelings are evolving so fast that politicians and their advisors can’t keep up with them. They started at “prices are too high,” briefly alighted on “our economic system is broken” and leapt right ahead to “because our government is working for the mega-rich and not for us.” Candidates have been told that voters are mad about the cost of living and hate data centers. If they’re not talking about WHY, they risk getting caught pandering to public opinion (following) rather than articulating what voters are feeling but have not yet put into words (leading).”

And one more:

“When the voters in my focus groups talked about “corruption,” they defined it more broadly. They also meant that our economic system works for wealthy elites, not the American people, because our government is under the influence of, if not the control of, wealthy elites. Those who have accumulated extreme wealth have used it to “rig” the economy to their advantage. And my focus group voters were not alone. According to the same poll, while 97% of voters understand “corruption” in the usual sense of “officials using their position for personal gain,”94% also defined it more broadly as ‘prioritizing the interests of billionaires and big corporations over those of the public.’”

Obviously, this information should inform how all Democratic candidates, as well as Independents on more local levels, campaign in the next 100 days leading up to November 3rd, but some will not. Some have benefited personally from that rigged economy. Others, not so corrupted, are concerned about being attacked as socialists or communists by the Trumpists. But many, hopefully a growing number, will learn from what Scatton’s focus groups are exposing and then apply it on the ground where they are campaigning.

Then, after the House and the Senate are controlled by Democrats and a small number of Independents, we as a country can finally get down to the business of moving for real towards a truly democratic and justice-based society. It’s time!

Ted Glick has been a progressive activist and organizer since 1968. He is the author of two books, Burglar for Peace and 21st Century Revolution, published in 2020 and 2021 and both available at https://pmpress.org . More info can be found at https://tedglick.com

Independents and Pro-Socialists Rising in US

Future Hope, ,


I don’t let polls determine my beliefs or my actions, but when it comes to US elections my experience with polling is that, generally speaking, it is important to follow them. Although some polls are significantly non-objective with a decided tilt one way or the other, most of the ones that haven’t popped up during this Trump era, which are clearly Republican-leaning, are pretty objective.

What do recent polls say about macro political trends in the USA and what it looks like with about 3 ½ months until the November 3 Big Election Day?

Here are the main takeaways from my recent research. This information comes from polls done by Data for Progress, Quantas Insights, CNN, NBC and Economist/You Gov over the last month and a half.

-Bernie Sanders has a very high rating, probably the highest for any known politician nationally right now. AI Overview reports “46% viewing him favorably compared to 36% unfavorably. Trump’s net favorability is between minus 7 and minus 16, with job approval ratings dipping further.”

Given Bernie’s visibility and leadership nationally right now in support of progressive candidates and a massive voter turnout in November, this is hugely important.

-As far as what are considered “swing voters,” according to a recent Data for Progress poll, they are for Dems over Reps by 33-21%, with 46% undecided. That is a lot of “undecideds,” and underlines the importance of serious campaigning leading up to November 3.

-According to a CNN poll a month and a half ago, 47% of voters consider themselves “independent” or “no opinion.” D’s and R’s are virtually tied, 26% for R’s and 27% for D’s. However, a recent NBC poll reported that independents want Democrats to control Congress by a 46-34% margin. Also, an Economist/You Gov poll at the end of June reported that D’s have a net favorability rating of 33%, nine points higher than R’s 24%.

-Finally, a July 7 article in the Christian Science Monitor has reported that: “A recent YouGov poll found 71% of Republicans viewed socialism unfavorably. Among independents, though, just 34% held unfavorable views of socialism, while 30% were favorable. Asked whether they would ever vote for a democratic socialist candidate, 24% of independents said they would, compared with 3% of Republicans and 62% of Democrats.”

Clearly, all of this data indicates that the political project of the Trumpfascists is failing. Their extreme, racist and regressive positions and actions on issue after issue have led to falling poll numbers and a very real possibility that they will lose control of not just the House of Representatives but the Senate this fall, if the pro-democracy movement keeps at it and does what we are called to do.

That is why the Trump regime is upping their repressive moves on a number of fronts. They clearly have every intention of doing what they think will intimidate Democrat, Independent and progressive voters, but every indication is they are doing just the opposite. And, significantly, they are losing a lot more in the courts, particularly but not only at local levels, than they are winning when it comes to election challenges.

Who knows what they will try to pull off in the next 100 or so days. Whatever it is, I believe that they will fail. I believe that we will win, and not just these November elections. The political trends in the USA are clearly away from repressive and pro-billionaire domination and towards something very different, something which will give our children and grandchildren hope for a better future. Each of us individually has to keep at it and keep rising to resist, whatever they try to do.

It is only our resistance, many millions of us, in all kinds of ways, who have prevented a fascist takeover so far. There is now a clear light at the end of this tunnel because of it. Si, se puede!

Ted Glick has been a progressive activist and organizer since 1968. He is the author of two books, Burglar for Peace and 21st Century Revolution, published in 2020 and 2021 and both available at https://pmpress.org . More info can be found at https://tedglick.com

Election Protection, Movement-Style, on November 3

Future Hope, , ,

All objective analyses and data point to the Democrats numerically defeating the Republicans on November 3 in at least the House of Representatives and possibly the US Senate. It is a realistic possibility that on November 4th we will wake up to learn that one or both houses of Congress will no longer be under Republican control come early January.

Without a doubt, IMHO, this is the most important issue before progressives and decent-minded people in the USA right now and up until November 3.

The Trumpfascists are making efforts to reverse their massive unpopularity, not by changing their policies but by using a variety of tactics. They lie about who the Democratic candidates really are and what they stand for. They go all-in on the “culture war” approach. They do all they can to both suppress the vote, particularly the votes of Black and Brown and Indigenous people, and/or to create such confusion and division over the way that elections are conducted that they can then somehow parlay that into maintaining control of at least the Senate. We know they will again try to enlist the support of a majority of the US Supreme Court for their nefarious and regressive purposes.

And of course they are clearly enlisting most of the billionaire class and their filthy money in this endeavor.

Arrayed against these regressive, backwards-looking political and financial forces are 1) public opinion, which is strongly opposed to most Trumpist policies and 2) the efforts of both independently organized groups all over the country in every state and the Democratic Party.

As has been true for decades, there are important “election protection” efforts to frustrate the anti-democracy and un-American groups’ efforts. Common Cause is probably the most well-known. Another one is https://protectthevote.net. Here is how they summarize their efforts:

“Every election year, we recruit, train, and deploy thousands of Election Protection volunteers across the nation. These trained, nonpartisan volunteers serve as voters’ first line of defense against confusing voting rules, outdated infrastructure, rampant misinformation, and needless obstacles to the ballot box.

“With misinformation running rampant on social media and thousands of proposed new anti-voter restrictions, we need our programs to match or exceed that effort in every election this year. This is simply an unprecedented time for our elections, and that’s why we’re asking for your help today.”

Two other important initiatives are https://goodtroubleliveson.org and https://blackpowerwarroom.com/freedom-summer.

Even more is needed this time. This time, the democracy mass movement which brought out over 8 million people in 3,300 localities in all 50 states on March 28 must be prepared to come out into the streets, specifically outside polling places, with our phones and cameras and info about who to call if and when the anti-democracy, racist groups attempt to suppress the vote.

Almost all of these groups will be made up of backwards-looking white people, predominantly white men. At least one government agency, ICE, could also be involved. These anti-democrats will likely be particularly at polling places where the forces of reaction determine they have the most chance of winning hotly-contested election campaigns for the US House and/or Senate, primarily in “red states.”

Perhaps I will be wrong about ICE’s involvement. Perhaps voting rights lawyers will be able to enjoin their direct and overt, or any other, involvement; I hope so. But we must get prepared, appreciate that the power of the people, organized, connected through social media and signal groups and with links to objective mass media sources, must visibly, intelligently and nonviolently show itself as needed at early voting and election day polling sights in late October and on November 3. Truly, the people, organized, must not be defeated this time!

Ted Glick has been a progressive activist and organizer since 1968. He is the author of two books, Burglar for Peace and 21st Century Revolution, published in 2020 and 2021 and both available at https://pmpress.org . More info can be found at https://tedglick.com

Racist Redistricting Response: Historic Voter Turnout November 3

Future Hope, , , ,

The election redistricting decisions made last week by the Virginia Supreme Court, by a 4-3 margin, and the US Supreme Court, by a 6-3 margin, have outraged, depressed and/or confused millions of US American voters, while temporarily, at least, energizing racists and Trump supporters. But there’s been no substantive change in the polling numbers for Trump. Averaging out the latest polls reported on this week by CNN, The Economist, Reuters and Financial Times, Trump is disapproved by 59% and supported by only 38%.

As important is the issue of who is most motivated to vote. A poll several months ago reported that those leaning Democratic are more motivated to vote compared to those learning Republican by an almost 2-1 margin, something like 49% to 27%. This is not a small thing.

It is important to keep these facts in mind as we continue forward toward the historic November 3 election day. But what happens on that day is too important not to take seriously this redistricting challenge.

It is possible that legal challenges to these court decisions will have some impact in lessening their impact, but we can in no way depend on that happening. The odds aren’t good.

The most important thing radicals, progressives, liberals and other people who support democracy can do is to get involved with voter outreach and communication efforts all over the country. This means doing phone-calling. It means “getting on the doors,” knocking on them and talking to as many people as possible about how important this election is.

Sometimes this will mean relating to those alienated from the system as a whole, for very good reasons, but explaining why the Trumpfascists are such a threat to so many of us that they should vote against Republican House and Senate candidates even if they’re skeptical it will change things or don’t like the Democrats.

Sometimes it will mean talking for 5-10 or more minutes if people aren’t sure what to do because they’ve voted for Trump in the past. We need to have the patience and the discipline to listen, take what they are saying seriously, and do our best to make them feel not dissed but supported in their efforts to rectify past mistakes. People can change!

White anti-racist activists have a particular role to play. In those southern states where much of the hurried efforts are taking place to redraw House of Representatives lines to try to eliminate Black members as much as possible, we need to take on those who are doing this and those who are supporting it. We need to combine our belief, on the one hand, in the need for continued steps to be taken, electorally and non-electorally, to improve the lives of Black, Brown and Indigenous people, those historically disenfranchised and most oppressed, with support for government policies that benefit working-class and low-income people of all colors, cultures and nationalities.

We won’t reach white people influenced by historic racism by making them feel guilty. We’ll do so only by doing our best to get them to see that solidarity is the way forward for all of us, for all working people against the billionaire and multi-multi-millionaire class.

And turnout is key! Orban in Hungary was defeated and his opposition big winners last month because close to 80% of the eligible voting population turned out to do so. If that same thing, or close to it, happened in the USA on, or in early voting before, November 3, the results would likely be similar. The Dems would control both the House and the Senate, almost certainly, with a strengthened progressive wing. The political playing field would be very different than it has been for the last year and a half. Trump and the Republicans would be seriously weakened; not fully defeated but much less able to do the things they are now doing.

Less than six months to go! It won’t be the revolution, but it will be immensely empowering and hopeful for people everywhere. Let’s defeat the Trumpfascists!

 Ted Glick has been a progressive activist and organizer since 1968. He is the author of two books, Burglar for Peace and 21st Century Revolution, published in 2020 and 2021 and both available at https://pmpress.org . More info can be found at https://tedglick.com.

Millions in the Streets Nationally Make History

Future Hope, , , ,

I’ve been surprised the past week to hear some people, not many but some, telling me that they or people they know aren’t planning to attend a No Kings action this Saturday. These are people who have progressive or liberal or radical ideas, who oppose what is happening under the Trump regime and who are activists of some sort.

For some people it’s because they don’t think the message of No Kings is as radical as they would like it to be. For others it’s because the coalition of groups organizing these actions isn’t as multi-racial, led by people of color, as they would like it to be. And for some it’s because the tactics being used are seen as too tame, not at the level that the urgency of our situation calls for, as in direct action that risks arrest.

There’s truth to all of these concerns, but to stay away from the Saturday actions because of them is a mistake. Right now, as has been true since Trump and the Republicans were elected into White House and Congressional power 17 months ago, the power of the people, people mobilized and visible in very big numbers all over the country—this is a crucial component of the resistance against these Trumpfascists.

What if all of these types of mobilizations had not taken place last year, 2025? History will absolutely record that the multiple days of local actions all over the country, beginning in early February, 2025 with 50 actions in 50 state capitols organized by 50501, organized primarily by young people, and continuing through to 7 million coming out on October 18 organized by No Kings, played a, if not the, major role in turning US politics around in a progressive direction on a mass scale.

The Trump regime is underwater in the polls, down by 15% or more, partly because of their policies and incompetence, but also because of our movement’s visible resistance all last year. This resistance took many forms, a lot of it in on-the-ground opposition to ICE, and it included these nationally coordinated days of action.

Our job in 2026 is to keep building upon those political victories to keep up the pressure on the Democrats to get them to put up stronger fights for the many things that matter as far as major issues. In the process we can and are building our own independent political organizations and candidacies for electoral office that put the needs of working people and our disrupted climate and environment absolutely first, before anything else.

No Kings Day this Saturday will help that process continue and grow. Not to take part in it, to consciously decide not to do so, is a mistake.

All out for resistance Saturday! And let’s just keep going afterwards.

 Ted Glick has been a progressive activist and organizer since 1968. He is the author of two books, Burglar for Peace and 21st Century Revolution, published in 2020 and 2021 and both available at https://pmpress.org . More info can be found at https://tedglick.com.

Not a Third Party, a Third Force, or, 21st Century Common Sense Part 5

Future Hope, , , ,

In Part One of this planned series of articles, I wrote about the historical timeliness of a ‘third force’ strategy. I said, “This isn’t something pulled out of the air, or someone’s lofty dreams. It is grounded in historical experience in the United States over the last 60 or so years.”

A progressive “third force,” one that is both activist and electoral, that does day-do-day community, workplace and school organizing, that brings together those who see themselves as independents, who are critical of both the dominant sector of the Democratic Party and the Republican Party, those who have a critique of “the system,” combined with those who may have a similar critique but who have decided for practical reasons to carry on that fight in part within the Democratic Party—this is what is needed right now to defeat fascism and lay the basis for more positive change going forward over coming years and decades.

What “historical experience in the United States over the last 60 years” am I referring to?

In the early 1970’s, as the Vietnam War was coming to an end, a civil rights lawyer, Arthur Kinoy, wrote a 60-or-so page document, “Toward a Mass Party of the People,” which articulated his reasoning about why this was not just a good idea but a timely idea.

This was NOT the kind of direction seen as the right one by many of the Black Freedom, anti-war, women’s and other activists who had taken part in the movements of the 50s and 60s. Older Left groups criticized this idea and continued to work primarily within the Democratic Party. Younger people rejected the idea and, for a decent percentage of them, instead wrongly acted as if the USA was like Russia or China prior to their revolutions. These US revolutionaries created organizations which attempted to use similar approaches toward systemic change, ideologically and organizationally, as did revolutionaries from those two very different kinds of countries. By the early 80’s those approaches were revealing themselves to be political dead ends in the USA.

What WAS having an impact, however, were the Mayoral candidacies in 1983 of Mel King in Boston and Harold Washington in Chicago. Both were progressive, movement-oriented Black men with long histories in community organizing. King came in first in a multi-candidate primary but because he did not get a majority of the overall vote, lost in a runoff against the second place finisher, but Washington won in Chicago and became Mayor.

King called his campaign the Boston Rainbow Coalition, emphasizing its multi-racial character. In 1983 Jesse Jackson began to openly explore running for President to build a national “rainbow coalition.” His campaign consciously and openly brought together both progressive Democrats and those in the Mass Party group, Independent Bernie Sanders, the Vermont Progressive Coalition, and others who were NOT Democrats.

History has shown the relative success of this approach to politics. Jackson polled about 3.3 million votes in total in 1984 and about seven million votes in 1988. Unfortunately, he did not support the continued building of a nationwide Rainbow Coalition in 1989 despite it starting to take root and developing in many parts of the country.

Next up were groups like Campaign for a New Tomorrow, the Labor Party, the New Party (which became the Working Families Party), and the Green
Party. CNT and the Labor Party died out but Working Families and Greens continued and still exist, with the Greens following a strategy of running for President every four years. Their high point with that strategy came in 2000 when Ralph Nader ran for President as a Green, but he polled only 2.7% of the vote. The Green Party nationally has been floundering ever since, with no Presidential candidate getting more than 1.1% of the vote.

So has anything worked over these many years of various efforts? Yes!

The two Bernie Sanders campaigns for President in 2016 and 2020 and the successful campaigns in Democratic primaries of many other more local candidates, people like AOC and Ilhan Omar as two major examples, have worked. They have without question strengthened the overall progressive movement, not just when it comes to elections but as far as other forms of organizing and activism that are non-electoral.

When Bernie was considering his first run for the Presidency in 2015, he openly asked for input into whether he should run as an Independent—the only way that he had run for office up to that point in time—or within the Democratic Party. I, along with Bill Fletcher, wrote an article with our ideas on this. We said, in part:

“The political reality of the United States of America today is that the vast majority of strong progressives who run for political office, people with similar politics as Bernie’s, do so within Democratic primaries. We may wish it was different, but it is not. This has to be taken into account in determining the tactics of a strong progressive Presidential campaign. . .

“The last ‘third party’ candidate to actually be elected was Abraham Lincoln, winning with 36% of the vote because there were four major Presidential candidates in 1860. . .

“The bottom line for us, and we believe for Bernie, should be that he runs for President in a way which brings together, holds together and builds that broad progressive coalition. He should be very clear and forthright that this is the path to ultimate victory and social and economic transformation in this country and make his decisions accordingly.”

Bernie’s national “third force,” not “third party,” strategic/tactical approach was right then, and it still is today. At some point in the future, particularly if there is significant growth in the number of progressive candidates running on non-two-party lines for local offices and winning, that could change, but until that happens history and experience are telling us: it’s time for a conscious Third Force!

 Ted Glick has been a progressive activist and organizer since 1968. He is the author of two books, Burglar for Peace and 21st Century Revolution, published in 2020 and 2021 and both available at https://pmpress.org . More info can be found at https://tedglick.com.

Facing Up to Our Historical Tasks

Future Hope, , , ,

or, 21st Century Common Sense, Part 2

By Ted Glick

Rebellions against injustice and poverty go back centuries, millenia, throughout the world. People “on the bottom” of human societies, sooner or later, get themselves organized to put up a fight. Because of this historical reality, when it is combined with changes in consciousness and/or guilt among some middle- and even upper-class people, and despite our human weaknesses whatever our class, gender or color/culture, humanity has made some progress over these many decades and centuries. 

This column addresses some of what I see as happening since Karl Marx and Frederich Engels wrote and published the Communist Manifesto in the 1840’s, 180 years ago. This and other writings by them significantly impacted those in Europe, as well as elsewhere, who were trying to overthrow or change the oppressive and violent governments of that day.

One of their most famous sayings as far as what they were working for was human society governed by the principle, “from each according to their ability, to each according to their need.” This was very similar to the teachings of Jesus of Nazareth 1800 years before in Palestine, as written by and about the early Christians after he had been killed. This is what was said in the Bible Book of Acts, Chapter 2, verses 44 and 45: “All the believers were together and had everything in common. 45 They sold property and possessions to give to anyone who had need.”

We in the US and the world have the great misfortune of being currently ruled by someone who would like to be the world’s Pharaoh. A big part of the reason for this is the control over US political life by the billionaires and multi-multi-millionaires (MMM’s). This has been true for both the dominant sector of the Democratic Party, as well as the Republican Party, though different in the societal results. This, plus other aspects of the US electoral system, like winner-take-all (not proportional) elections and corporate control of mass media, have extremely stacked the deck against those of us who want society to be motivated not by greed and power-seeking but by justice and higher love.

However, things are changing for the better.

Rev. Jesse Jackson’s US President campaigns in 1984 and 1988 were an essential part of that change, followed 30 years later by Bernie Sanders’ 2016 and 2020 campaigns. Sanders’ campaigns showed visibly that broad masses of the US American people were ready for something very different. This independent socialist received over 13 million votes nationally in the 2016 Democratic primaries.

Also responsible for our improving prospects are the myriad number of popular-based, visible, action campaigns and day-to-day organizing on a wide range of issues going back to historic impact of the South-based civil rights movement of the 1950’s: racial and economic justice, women’s rights, lgbtq+ rights, workplace and labor organizing, environmental protection and climate defense, actions for peace, new forms of progressive mass media, and more.

As a result of all of this, we are not without weapons as we fight the 21st century fascists. Inspiring, refuse-to-give-up, organized mass resistance against militaristic ICE over the last many months in Los Angeles, Portland, Chicago, Minneapolis and elsewhere has won important victories. It has shown us that when masses of people are organically connected with those of us with shared values and organizing skills, we can win.

What do we need to keep in mind as we continue onward?

From my activist and organizing experiences over the years I see these as continuing issues we must keep addressing:

A Third Force: In Part One of this planned series of articles, I wrote about the historical timeliness of a “third force” strategy. This isn’t something pulled out of the air, or someone’s lofty dreams. It is grounded in historical experience in the United States over the last 50 or so years. A “third force” that brings together those who see themselves as independents, who are critical of both the dominant sector of the Democratic Party and the Republican Party, those who have a critique of “the system,” combined with those who may have a similar critique but who have decided for practical reasons to carry on that fight in part within the Democratic Party—this is what is needed right now to defeat fascism and lay the basis for more positive change going forward over coming years and decades.

Anti-racism among the masses: It is not enough to be anti-racist on a personal level or even, if you are a white person, to be in active solidarity with the struggles of people of color. Also essential, particularly in this critical election year, is conscious work among other white people who have been so infected with the ideas of white supremacy that they’ll support a white, corrupt, billionaire-loving fascist before they’ll support a Black, Brown or Indigenous, working-class fighter for justice for all. Breaking more white people away from, or beginning to question, MAGA ideology and practice is very strategic in 2026.

-Anti-sexism among the masses: The dominance of white, upper-class, backwards-thinking men over government or business is central to  Trumpfascist thinking and practice. They have set themselves against the so-needed, historical trend toward the liberation of women and societal change in so many ways. Progress in this area has been made on the part of human society over the last half-century that clearly threaten the rich, white, male ruling class. Upholding those changes and resisting Trumpist efforts to return society to 1950’s-style lifestyles is a potent issue in 2026.

-Class-consciousness: Throughout all of this on-going work must be an understanding that US society and human society worldwide has not made significant advances beyond the basic unfairness of an economic system that maintains differences in class for most people over many generations. It is true that, to some extent, life for more working-class people today is better than it was before FDR’s New Deal, the Chinese anti-colonial revolution, and other anti-colonial victories, but we still have a long way to go. Working-class people are a majority in US and most societies. A movement for positive change in which they are not significantly in leadership is a movement which will likely fail.

-Nonviolence as a tactic and a way of life, not necessarily our overall strategy: This could be the most controversial of all of these views of mine. I have never seen myself as a pacifist, have always believed that there have been and may be in the future situations which leave no choice but to use force, including armed force, to bring about much-needed change. However, the specific tactics I have used as part of the progressive movement in the USA since the 1960’s have always been nonviolent, and I have come to believe very strongly that a “nonviolent,” humane, loving way of living with other people, day after day, hour after hour, is the way we should all try to live. This isn’t just for personal reasons, my trying to be the best human being I can be. It is also because, very clearly, the use of overt violence can be used by those we are fighting against to try to discredit us with masses of people who do not know us on a personal level. I believe that this understanding must—and generally already does—pervade all of our collective work for social change.

Finally, a positive internal culture: This is not a new idea; far from it. For example, in 1996 a predominantly people of color, multi-racial group of people met in Jemez, NM and came up with a set of “Principles for Democratic Organizing.” Their staying power and adoption by many groups ever since reflect a growing understanding of the need for a more group-centered, loving and respectful way of organizing. There are six principles: Be Inclusive. Emphasis on Bottom-Up Organizing. Let People Speak for Themselves. Work Together in Solidarity and Mutuality. Build Just Relationships Among Ourselves. Commitment to Self-Transformation. The final three sentences are: “As we change societies, we must change from operating in the mode of individualism to community-centeredness. We must ‘walk our talk.’ We must be the values that we say we are struggling for and we must be justice, be peace, be community.”

There are many reasons to despair in today’s world, but there are more to maintain hope and resilience. Learning from the past, committed to helping to develop a new world for our children, grandchildren and the seven generations to come, let us make 2026 a turning point year in the USA toward that objective.

Ted Glick has been a progressive activist and organizer since 1968. He is the author of two books, Burglar for Peace and 21st Century Revolution, published in 2020 and 2021 and both available at https://pmpress.org . More info can be found at https://tedglick.com.

21st Century Common Sense, Part One

Future Hope, , , ,

A quarter of the way through this century, there is no doubt that the USA and the world are in deep trouble. This is true for everyone, even the families of those most responsible for this state of affairs, the “Epstein class” and those supporting them. Given the fact that the burning of fossils fuels and nukes, the continued reliance on destructive war as a way of determining who runs individual countries, and the growing disparity between the billionaire/multi-multi-millionaire (MMM) class and those who must work for a living, often barely making it—these and related injustices are what must be transcended, must be overcome, asap. The future of the world literally depends upon whether we can transcend them over the coming years.

For us in the United States of America, the immediate issue is the Trumpfascist efforts to impose dictatorial rule to the benefit of the billionaire class and those MMM’s hoping to become billionaires. As of the time of this writing a key next step in the resistance to these efforts is the November, 2026 federal elections, which should result in the Democrats, aligned with progressive Independents like Bernie Sanders, winning control of at least the House of Representatives, as things now appear is very likely.

But even if they take the House and Senate, and even if the percentage of House and Senate members who are strong and consistent progressives grows significantly, this alone will not yield the kind of changes the world desperately needs. For one thing, would-be dictator Trump will still be President, able to use his White House power in destructive ways, like unnecessary and brutal wars, rising economic, racial, gender and other inequality and hateful discrimination, and major attacks on wind, solar and electric vehicles.

A huge problem, up there at the top of the list, is that the history of efforts over the last many centuries to create truly just and democratic societies, run by organized people, not oligarchs, has at best yielded mixed results since the Russian Revolution of 1917.

In a book I wrote and self-published in 2021, five years ago, here is what I put forward as the key aspect of a “winning strategy, the one that is the key link to the social transformation process so urgently needed: the building and deepening of a way of working together and developing organizations that is collaborative, respectful, democratic its core and which, as a result, is truly transformative, built to last.” 1) 21st Century Revolution: Through Higher Love, Racial Justice and Democratic Cooperation, p. 22

This has to be our starting point as we try to determine how we change the world. Also necessary is an understanding of the urgency of the climate crisis. More than any other issue, this is one which must always be seen as a top priority. The amount of damage already done and sure to be done in the future, particularly to low-income people, the vast majority of the world’s population, primarily people of color, cannot be underestimated. We are literally running out of time to transition away from fossil fuels and to be about much more community-building and collaborative approaches to solving problems as they escalate as ecosystems, food and water supplies become increasingly less dependable.

Indeed, this existential reality for the entire planet is a reason that change is not just necessary, not just possible, but very much on the agenda of humankind.

As stated by the late Father Paul Mayer, “What history is calling for is nothing less than the creation of a new human being. We must literally reinvent ourselves through the alchemy of the Spirit”—or however one describes that unseen, powerful force in the universe which, down through history, has inspired people to do things which seem impossible—“or perish. We are being divinely summoned to climb another rung on the evolutionary ladder, to another level of human consciousness.” (2)  Paul Mayer, “Wrestling with Angels”, back cover

To be frank, it is not enough to be against Donald Trump and MAGA, or against the control of both major parties in the USA, the Democrats and the Republicans, or even to be committed to hard work for the next eight and a half months here in the USA to defeat the billionaire-supporting, fascist President Donald Trump. Our problems are too deep to accept this essential next step as the ultimate goal. Short-term, essential goal yes, but looking at things historically, it can only be the first major step in a fundamental, revolutionary process that over time not just saves the planet and its people but, at long last, matches our desires as a species with the way that we organize ourselves, economically, politically, culturally and socially.

  Ted Glick has been a progressive activist and organizer since 1968. He is the author of two books, Burglar for Peace and 21st Century Revolution, published in 2020 and 2021 and both available at https://pmpress.org . More info can be found at https://tedglick.com.

Are Republicans and Democrats the Same?

Future Hope, , , ,

Early in my progressive activist/organizer life, begun in 1968, I was a big believer in the need for a “third party.” A primary reason was the prosecution of the Vietnam War by Democratic President Lyndon Johnson. As I studied in college in 1967 about the history of that war, I learned that the USA had taken over from France the role of imperialist colonizer in the mid-50’s after the French were defeated by the Vietnamese independence forces.

US imperialism in Vietnam was not benign. Hundreds of thousands of Vietnamese by 1968 had been killed as the US supported a series of brutally repressive South Vietnamese governments. By 1968 tens of thousands of US American soldiers had been killed. And the war was escalating.

Republican and Democratic politicians supported all of this. Begun under Eisenhower, this war was continued under Kennedy and then under Johnson. It is similar to the many, many months of bipartisan support for Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza. There were progressive Democrats in Congress who were calling for a ceasefire very soon after Hamas’ October 7th attack in southern Israel, but their numbers were small at first. Over time and as the genocide continued, it was among Democrats only that larger numbers of them spoke out.

There are lots of other examples of usually bipartisan support for a US foreign policy all about world domination. That is why there are 750 or more US military bases in 80 countries and a trillion dollars a year military budget.

US foreign policy is not about “freedom.” It is about dominance to benefit the fossil fuel industry, the weapons of war industry and other US corporate investments throughout the world.

However, and it is a big “however,” some of the opposition to all of this has always come, in part, from within the Democratic Party, stimulated by independent, issue-oriented, peace and justice organizations. In March of 1968 Eugene McCarthy almost won the New Hampshire Democratic Presidential primary, after which Robert Kennedy, another critic of the war, entered the Presidential race. In response, on March 31, Lyndon Johnson announced he would not run for reelection.

Nothing like this has ever happened within the Republican Party, and we can all see how thoroughly Trump/MAGA has taken it over in its drive to destroy democracy, institute fascist rule and be even more world-dominant. There are a very small number of Republican House and Senate members who have refused to always kiss Trump’s ring, but they are, indeed, a very small number.

What’s the point?

The Democratic Party for at least the last 65 years, since the election of John F. Kennedy, has always contained both a progressive component and a pro-corporate, pro-imperialist component. Even with the reality that the corporatists are almost always dominant, this is a very distinct difference from the Republican Party.

Right now there is no question that the progressives are in the ascendency, not in control but ascendent. This is a trend that began with Bernie Sanders’ 2015-2016 Presidential campaign and has continued and deepened ever since. The recent House of Representatives, Democratic primary, election victory just this past week of working-class activist and organizer Analilia Mejia in northern New Jersey is the latest example of this so-important political trend.

For a small sector of the political Left, this important political development isn’t seen as of much significance. That’s true for some whose ideological perspective is grounded in anarchism, which has always, from what I know, been skeptical if not hostile to electoral activity. Others are not necessarily anarchists but are so pissed off by the systemic injustices of US corporate capitalism and the dominance of billionaire money over it that they see electoral politics as too tame of a tactic. I can definitely identify with these feelings even as I believe that, strategically and tactically, we have no choice but to be involved in electoral politics if we are serious about systematic change in the USA.

Others are what I’d call “true believers” in the idea that another party, a “third party” running candidates right now at all levels, including for President, is the way to go. I used to be in this category. From 2000 to 2017 I was a member of the Green Party. I was actively involved on a national level in the Presidential campaigns of Ralph Nader in 2000 and David Cobb in 2004. After that, however, I pulled back and mainly worked on a local level in northern New Jersey on environmental, peace and racial justice issues within an activist Green Party group. I got back involved in national electoral politics only when Bernie announced his historic campaign in 2015.

I left the Green Party when I saw a tweet from Jill Stein, their 2016 Presidential candidate, saying that the Sanders campaign was all about being “sheepdogs” for the duopoly, bringing progressives into the Democratic Party. That was the last straw for me.

For 40 years I was part of efforts to form a “mass party of the people,” as described by the first “third party” group I was part of, beginning in 1975. It was called the “Mass Party Organizing Committee,” led by progressive and civil rights attorney Arthur Kinoy. One thing I liked about it was that it understood the need to forge an alliance between independents outside the Democratic Party and progressives within it. Because we did, we were among the first predominantly white progressive group to come out publicly in 1983 in support of Rev. Jesse Jackson running for President in the 1984 Democratic primaries.

Jackson talked publicly about the need to build a “third force,” different than a “third party,” and his campaign reflected that. It included both Democrats, particularly African Americans, and independents.

The Bernie Sanders campaigns in 2016 and 2020, though not grounded in the African American community to the extent of the Jackson campaign, something that ultimately undercut his 2020 efforts, are another example of the strategic and political power of this “third force” approach. He received over 13 million votes in 2016 and 9 ½ million in 2020. In 2025 he and AOC and their Fighting Oligarchy rallies all over the country were a critical component of the fightback against Trumpfascism.

As this absolutely crucial 2026 election season unfolds, off to a good start so far, let’s learn from the lessons of progressive electoral campaigns over the last 50 years, both inside and outside the Democratic Party. Up with the growing and deepening progressive third force!

  Ted Glick has been a progressive activist and organizer since 1968. He is the author of the recently published books, Burglar for Peace and 21st Century Revolution, both available at https://pmpress.org . More info can be found at https://tedglick.com.