DP

Well, this is the Democratic Party nationally that won’t impeach Donald Trump, the Democratic Party nationally that is reluctant to even have a debate about climate change. There’s a lot of talk locally as if the San Francisco Democratic Party is fundamentally different and more progressive than the national party. We put that to test in our race with an unapologetically left campaign and a strong base in the district but ran up against the brick wall of careerism and corruption within the local party.

I have mixed feelings about it. You know, you hope that with this wave of candidates that are moving forward, inspired by Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and others, that in a city like San Francisco, which prides itself on being a progressive city, they’ll see the potential and importance of embracing candidates with a left agenda. But it’s a reminder that despite all the talk on being progressive on certain kinds of issues, when you’re really talking about challenging the system, a lot of folks who may call themselves progressive are not really fighting for something fundamentally different than what we have now.

We missed blocking the endorsement of my opponent by one vote of a thirty-two-vote body. So, you know, give credit where it’s due. There are some good folks in there who are willing to push the envelope. But there are certainly divisions in San Francisco among the pool of people who call themselves Democrats and even among people who call themselves progressives. I think those tend to show up most when it comes to challenging corporate interests and particularly around land use issues.

Even the big developers and landlords that are funding my opponent, they fund a lot of so-called progressive candidates, too. I think that our campaign, which is not taking any of that money and is an explicitly democratic socialist campaign and is pushing against business-as-usual in this city, it’s too much for even some progressives right now.

When I say I have mixed feelings though, what I mean is that many working-class people in this city have given up on the Democratic Party as a vehicle for change and are excited by candidates who are putting forth a bigger vision and challenging the status quo. Our message resonates with people, and you see that in the enthusiasm of a lot of our base and of our volunteers.