Stop donating money, we need to dry the well
and yes, that includes AOC and Bernie as well ....
Two Blogs for the Price of One
This week, we’re sharing a double blog post. On the Social Democrats of America blog, which you can read here: https://socialists.substack.com/p/my-draft-sda-may-newsletter
We explain how we’re working within the Democratic Party—combining the "chassis" of a corrupt American Democratic Party with a European-style Socialist movement—to clean out the RepublicRATs.
But we need everyone to contribute three hours per month to the project. Yes, that starts with drying up the funding pipeline.
At the bottom of the post, you'll also find the early framework of a French-led project called The Dam, a European initiative to counter CPAC.
I’ve shared the contact information of Team AOC and a few DSA leaders with the European delegation to see if they can break through the AOC/Bernie bubble.
Can you chip in $5?
I could—but I won’t, because I know it’s feeding the snakes in Washington, D.C.
Instead, I contribute:
$100/month to Progressive Victory, an online group of real-life organizers working inside the Democratic Party.
$500/year in dues to my local Social Democrats of America branch, because they organize inside the Democratic Party.
$25/year in dues to my local Democratic Club, because they are the Democratic Party.
I don’t give to individual candidates. But they can count on:
My professional expertise for campaign organizing
My time walking my electoral district on their behalf
My vote on Election Day
Let’s Look at What Money Buys
As a candidate, the first thing you need to analyze is the number of voters in your district—on a granular level.
Take the real-life example of Paperboy Love Prince.
When Paperboy decided to run for Congress, they reached out to a few friends in Washington, DC, who referred them to professional consultants.
The consultant asked for $5,000/month to start and advised Paperboy to begin calling friends for donations. Next came the election lawyer: $7,000. Then the voter database in usable format: $10,000.
Total for the first month: $22,000. But as a candidate, Paperboy could only self-contribute $3,500.
The campaign was over before it started.
That’s why we build tools and make them available to candidates for free—so they don’t need large sums of money just to launch a viable campaign.
All the resources that Draft AOC is tapping into are helping turn a dream into reality
To organize effectively across the United States, we must break the country down by county and build grassroots support around the idea that AOC should be the next President in 2028.
Paperboy’s Campaign for Mayor of NYC
As of this week, Paperboy Love Prince is polling at 2.7% in first-round votes—ahead of two better-funded candidates: Democratic liberal Michael Blake and Republican-aligned Whitney Tilson (who is registered as a Democrat but promotes Republican policies, similar to Public Advocate Marty Dolan).
https://emersoncollegepolling.com/nyc-2025-poll
Paperboy only used about $200 in supplies material to print and bind the petitions to make the ballot.
Michael Black Campaign Finance Board summary
Whitney Tilson Campaign Finance Board Summary
I advised both Marty Dolan and Whitney Tilson to register with the Republican Party, but they haven’t yet understood why I made that suggestion.
Hopefully, next year, with Rep My Block tools, they’ll consider running a different kind of campaign.
Paperboy’s campaign demonstrates that money isn’t the main driver of voter behavior—it’s belief and participation in the electoral process.
Paperboy and I hosted a series of Zoom sessions to explain the process. There’s no secret: https://www.repmyblock.org/web/training/zoom/withpaperboy
The DSA Departure and the Draft AOC Vision
Many AOC/Bernie activists are reluctant to organize within the Democratic Party. That’s why Michael Harrington created DSA in the first place. In 2017, the new DSA leadership shifted strategy by adopting Green Party mechanics and leaving the Democratic Party.
That shift allowed us, in 2021, to create from scratch an organization that clearly follows Michael Harrington’s original vision.
AOC has declared many times that she is a Socialist. It’s only natural that we want to protect and build on her Socialist legacy.
We hope to bring the same energy fans have for the New York Knicks to AOC’s 2027 candidacy, as we work toward a Socialist project to challenge Trump’s Project 2025.
GO NEW YORK GO!
If nothing else, I hope I’ve convinced you to stop donating money to politicians—and instead give it to your local bartender while watching the Knicks beat your favorite team.
Join Our Monthly SDA Onboarding Zoom
If you want to learn more about how the Draft AOC and the DSA project work together, join us this Wednesday at 9 PM Eastern / 6 PM Pacific: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/89566597580?pwd=RKRywn6CutEDBSTaPewucjg68QZhAV.1
