NEW YORK—“The results are in, and to put it mildly, comrades, it ain’t pretty.”
That was the blunt assessment made by Joe Sims in his opening remarks to a Nov. 16-17 meeting of the Communist Party USA’s National Committee in Manhattan. It was the first in-person conference of the full CPUSA leadership since the victory of Donald Trump.
Despite their disappointment, however, Communists are not in a state of paralysis over the Trump win, the party’s national co-chair said. The mass labor and democratic movements are strategizing about what to do next, he pointed out, and hundreds of people have applied to join the Communist Party since Election Day.
Trump won’t be inaugurated for another two months, but “Resistance 2.0 is already underway,” Sims declared, and “Project 2025 is not inevitable.”
His report, along with major new initiatives taken by the party at its weekend meeting, indicate the situation is far from hopeless.
No shift to the right
“Trump won on the margins, or you could say Harris lost on the margins” Sims said, taking note of the fact that the MAGA leader probably eked out his popular vote win by only around one-and-a-half percent. “It’s not the national realignment to the right that the talking heads have been crowing about.
“Big sections of the ruling capitalist class moved right, and the government will certainly move to the right,” he argued, “but not the people.”
The 2024 Republican election machine put on “the most racist, sexist, and homophobic campaign in memory,” with issues like “the Gaza genocide; the price of gas, eggs, and rent; the crisis at the border; and student debt” combining in an electoral storm that propelled Trump back to the White House.
Contrary to the centrist commentators alleging that Kamala Harris spent too much time focused on “identity politics,” Sims said down-ballot results and referenda questions contradict that conclusion. “There was no major repudiation of abortion rights, LGBTQ rights, civil rights, and other equality issues,” he said. “Woke ain’t broke.”
The fact remains, however, that “a majority of those who cast their ballot did so for a Hitler-loving rapist and insurrectionist” and the “anti-MAGA majority did not show up in sufficient force.”
Context of capitalist crisis
Sims urged the assembled CPUSA leaders not to forget that “this bourgeois democratic campaign occurred within the context of a deep systemic crisis of capitalism.” Key to understanding the outcome was the fact that “our working class – citizen and non-citizen, Black, white, Latino, Asian, straight and LGBTQ, women and men, young and old – are hurting.”
Millions have lost trust in the presidency, Congress, the courts, mass media, big business, religious institutions, and both major political parties, he emphasized. “Union popularity is up though, and the number of people who say they’re independents is now larger than the combined total of both parties.”
The truth, Sims said, “is that neither of the parties or their candidates addressed the real underlying causes for the conditions our class is facing, nor did either of them propose solutions.”
Trump and the MAGA movement had years to prepare for this election, as they’ve been organizing since the day they left office in 2021. “There was no such momentum around Biden,” this time, though. Even in 2020, the massive 81 million-vote win that he scored was less about excitement for Biden per se, but rather due to the “public reaction to Trump’s mismanagement of the pandemic along with the impact of uprisings against police violence and murder.”
Harris entered the race with only 100 days to go, and there was an explosion, Sims said, of excitement among many for the prospect of electing the first African American woman president. In a short time, her campaign sparked mass rallies, the organization of tens of thousands of volunteers, and raised over $1 billion to take on Trump.
At the same time, Sims said there are serious questions to be asked about the Democratic campaign’s strategy of courting the “never-Trumper wing of the GOP.” He said many are asking whether it would have been better to focus on turning out the sections of the coalition who failed to show up on Election Day, particularly in blue states where turnout dropped.
Sims said it’s important to remember, though, that the Harris effort was a “multi-class coalition,” which pulled the campaign in often contradictory directions. “The ruling class was the dominant force in both campaigns, including the Democratic campaign, and the working class and trade unions were unable to adequately place their imprint on it.”
There was a failure by the Democrats nationally, Sims said, “to adequately voice the depth of frustration of both rural and urban working-class folks regarding their conditions of life and to put forward a convincing platform to address those issues.” The Harris proposals for raising the minimum wage, child tax credits, Medicare-paid home care, home ownership tax credits, and non-specific price gouging efforts were important, but “they did not address the scale of the crisis.”
Anti-MAGA majority still in place
While the analysis of what happened will continue, the CPUSA co-chair said there’s no time to waste when it comes to planning for what’s next.
“The anti-MAGA majority has not disappeared,” he said. “It may have gotten sidetracked on Election Day, but it’s still with us.” The Working Families Party, Win With Black Women, Indivisible, and other broad-based organizations have already been hosting strategy sessions, “and we have to be part of this effort.”
Sims emphasized coalitions and pushed back against any urge to go it alone or retreat into isolation at this crucial moment. “Coalitions, united front efforts, are a way of life for the Communist Party…and when we say coalitions and united fronts, we mean building unity of action on issues with anyone who agrees to work on the issue, without preconditions.”
While many may be disappointed about the direction this or that group of voters broke when it comes to Trump, now is no time to question the people’s front strategy.
“I hear some are questioning coalitions, claiming it doesn’t work, or if they favor coalition, it’s proposed that we bond with the sectarian left. That would lead us down a narrow path precisely when we need to build ties and influence broad sections of the population – including those influenced by Trump. That’s where the action is.”
Party of action
Reports and discussion from a number of other commissions, districts, and clubs filled the rest of the weekend after Sims’ opening report.
Joelle Fishman, chair of the party’s Political Action Commission, detailed the efforts of Communists in the 2024 election and outlined the developing “Resistance 2.0” movement.
CPUSA members, she said, “knocked on thousands of doors, participated in phone banks, voter registration, tabling, and traveled to Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, Michigan, and Arizona to boost the fight against Trump and MAGA.”
The party “made new friends and worked side-by-side with the AFL-CIO, SEIU and other unions, the Working Families Party, Poor People’s Campaign, Indivisible, Power to the Polls, Seed the Vote, and so many more.
“All our efforts materially contributed to victories in a number of House and Senate battleground races, and victories in state and local races and on ballot questions.”
She said the work done during the election is a foundation for organized and united action as the Trump administration takes power. “We’re not starting from scratch, and we’re not alone.” In fact, she said the resistance had already won a first victory when it forced a ‘no’ vote in Congress on the Trump proposal to defund any non-profit organizations who oppose him. Republicans are working to reintroduce the measure.
Fishman predicted that the Trump-MAGA crowd will barrel ahead in trying to pursue their extremist agenda and prompt many people to reconsider their view of Trump. “When they overreach,” she said, “we do outreach.”
The working class is entering a difficult period, she said, which will mean that the Communist Party is needed more than ever. “Our united front approach, support for real multi-racial democracy, and our working-class socialist vision will bring new members to our doors.”
The latter point was confirmed by Rossana Cambron, co-chair of the CPUSA alongside Sims, who said that over 300 applications for membership have been received since Election Day.
Members of the National Committee and guests from around the country reported on how the work they did during the election has strengthened bonds with allies.
“Having our clubs on the ground during the campaign allowed us to keep building trust with the community, it gave us direct insights into residents’ needs,” Jahmal Henderson of Connecticut told the meeting. “It ensured our ward had one of the highest turnouts, but we still have a lot of work to do on all fronts.”
Dom Shannon, from Pennsylvania, said that the Democratic Party didn’t have much of a ground game in some areas of Philadelphia and that the labor and people’s movements had to pick up the slack. CP members were a key part of the effort. “Some folks at the canvassing headquarters asked, ‘Are all these people Communist Party members?’ And we were like, ‘Hell yeah, they are.’”
Shannon said the CPUSA club in Philly concluded, “If the Dems aren’t going to fight fascism, we have to do it. Not for the sake of the Democratic Party, but for the sake of our working class.”
Noah Palm reported that the CP club in Peoria, Illinois, dispatched its members to assist in battleground races in Missouri, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin. While they went to help, he said they also learned a lot.
“We’re bringing that election experience of talking to working class people about economics and politics back to Peoria” to improve work there. He said that the local club’s first meeting after the election saw a turnout that was double its norm.
Similar stories were repeated by club and district leaders from other states.
Voice for the movements, voice of the party
The People’s World Editorial Board presented information on the publication’s election outreach efforts and fresh developments in its work. Over 500 election-related articles were published in 2024, with the website garnering nearly 2.7 million reads – 100,000 of those since Nov. 5.
People’s World’s first post-election analysis article, published the morning after the vote, has received wide circulation at home and abroad, including reprints in Britain, Brazil, Canada, India, and Spain and translations into Portuguese and Spanish.
The number of print digest editions of People’s World also continues to grow, with issues now circulating nationally among incarcerated persons and regionally in Connecticut, Michigan, Ohio, Oregon, and the South. Initial planning is also underway for a major revamp of the People’s World flagship website, which has not seen a substantial upgrade since 2016.
In a related issue, John Bachtell – the president of Long View Publishing, the companay which produces People’s World – brought it to the meeting’s attention that the 2024 People’s World Fund Drive has not yet been completed, with $36,000 still to be raised by the end of the year to reach the publication’s $200,000 goal.
In response, a motion was raised from the floor noting that since People’s World is the voice of the party, the membership should do more to make sure it keeps publishing. The motion suggested that each CPUSA club be asked to commit to contributing $360 by the end of December; if 100 clubs are able to do it, that would wipe out the gap. The proposal was adopted. Separately, CPUSA districts that have not yet set or fulfilled their own 2024 fund drive goals were asked to step up the pace.
SOCIAList SECURITY
In addition to surveying the election results and coalition work, the National Committee also took several steps to strengthen the party’s finances and organizational structure.
Roberta Wood and Daniel Carson made a presentation on behalf of the Finance Committee and launched a new legacy giving program called “SOCIAList SECURITY,” a name that is a nod to the Social Security insurance program that protects workers in their retirement.
“Our movement is 100% funded by its working-class members and supporters – including those who are no longer with us,” Carson said when unveiling the initiative. “We have no corporate backers or big money foundations.”
Much of the work that the CPUSA and the family of organizations under its umbrella do is only possible because of the contributions made by generations of Communist activists and allies.
“It’s not just the super-rich who have estates; working class people also accumulate some small resources,” Carson said. “They want to make sure their family is taken care of, and for many people, they also consider the party a part of their family.”
Wood said, “Legacy giving is really the bedrock of support for working-class struggle that is passed on from generation to generation.” In a new promotional video for the effort, 106-year-old Bea Lumpkin encouraged everyone to consider signing up: “The struggle for socialism will go on long after you and I are gone, but we can still be a part of the movement.”
Carson and Wood asked members and friends of the party and readers of People’s World to think about their own legacy and how they can go on supporting the movement for years and years to come. And they emphasized, it’s not only seniors who should be giving it some thought.
Details on how to join the Socialist Security community are available on the People’s World and CPUSA websites.
Education and organization
The CPUSA’s Education Commission and its Working Class Project are also taking up the challenge of preparing the party’s ranks for the struggles ahead.
Dee Miles, who chairs the work of these bodies, reported that a National Marxist School will take place from Jan. 18 to Feb. 25, 2025. She encouraged clubs and districts to start thinking now about who can attend.
A “Journalistic Writing Series,” with lessons on conducting interviews and writing news articles, will be held in conjunction with People’s World on Tuesdays in March. There are also ongoing sessions on a variety of topics under the theme “Mental Health for Activists,” and a book talk on Historical Materialism will be held in the coming weeks.
Miles said there is more to come. “We ask you: Invite the Ed Commission to your clubs and districts; tell us what you and your members need. Our movement’s Marxist analysis needs to be living, and it needs to be shared.”
Another step taken by the National Committee was the election of Anita Waters as the party’s new Organizational Secretary. The party’s National Convention, its highest body, voted to create the position earlier this summer and instructed the incoming National Committee to find a suitable candidate.
Having served as chair of the Ohio District, Waters played a major role in coordinating the growth of the state’s membership and organizing them into cohesive clubs – expanding from a single club to seven, so far. Waters is also involved in the party nationally, serving on its National Board and Executive Committee.
In nominating Waters, Co-Chair Rossana Cambron said that the role of Organizational Secretary is “not an administrative job, but a political one.” She said the job is about “facilitating conversations and relationships, building up clubs and districts so that the party acts as one.”
After being elected, Waters said she was excited to take on the assignment and overwhelmed by the possibilities the party has before it at this moment.
“I joined the party in 1980 when Reagan was elected,” she said. “In 2016, after Trump won, my youngest son threw two $20s at me and said, ‘OK, I’ll join.’ This moment is another one of those times when people are looking for how to join the movement for change.”
Make the seemingly impossible possible
On Sunday afternoon, Cambron surveyed the discussions of the weekend and offered thoughts about the way forward for not just the CPUSA but the whole labor and progressive movement.
“The discussion this weekend has helped us to get a clearer picture of what happened, helped us to not have knee-jerk reactions to the results. Because we’re Marxist-Leninists, we have the ability to objectively look at the situation, see where we are, and ask what options are available to us now.”
She encouraged the leaders of the party to “take stock of the opportunities before us in terms of what’s possible” and “share it with others.” She said, “Fear and division is the branding of the capitalist class, but optimism and unity is our branding.”
Speaking of the hundreds who’ve applied for CPUSA membership in the last several days, she said that people “are looking for a community, and they see our party as the community they want to be a part of.”
As the U.S. working class – and particularly people of color, immigrants, women, and LGBTQ people – brace for the onslaught of Trump’s return, she said, “It’s time to meet the moment, to make the seemingly impossible possible.”
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