It would differ from a conventional party in only one respect: it wouldn’t seek a separate ballot line. Instead, it would run its candidates on whichever line made the most sense for the race in question: an independent line in some cases, but more often — at least at first — in Democratic primaries.

Since then, there’s been an explosion of left-wing activism, including a more than quintupling of DSA’s membership, and the idea of independent, organized left-wing electoral politics has taken on a life of its own. On the heels of a series of victories for DSA-backed state and local candidates, the defeat of Queens Democratic Party boss Joe Crowley at the hands of DSA member Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez represents a kind of proof-of-concept that independent socialist electoral politics can work.

But from the standpoint of my proposal in “Blueprint,” the most interesting aspect of Ocasio-Cortzez’s campaign wasn’t her victory, but her attitude toward the Democratic Party. In a televised pre-election debate with Crowley, the Queens Democrat posed a question to her that he no doubt thought was a clever trap. Here’s what he said:

In the playbook of US politics, this has historically been the go-to “gotcha” question to level at any insurgent primary candidate who criticizes the party’s political outlook: fine, criticize all you like, but will you support me on election day? The question is a trap. If the insurgent says “yes,” he or she has essentially told their own supporters: “Whatever I say now, when it comes down to it, I’m a loyal Democrat; whatever I might promise today, whatever political alternative I claim to embody, I’ll end up doing the opposite if Chuck Schumer or Nancy Pelosi needs me to.”

But God help them if they say “no.” Then they’ll be a spoiler. A Republican enabler. Or in nineteenth-century lingo, a “sorehead.”

But instead of falling into the trap, AOC, deftly sidestepped it. Here was her reply:

What Ocasio-Cortez’s answer reveals, I think, is that rooting left-wing electoral politics in independent membership organizations isn’t just a way to acquire electoral muscle on the ground. It’s also a powerful tool for candidates and office-holders to use in political combat. When you ground your decision-making in the will of a democratically organized constituency, on the one hand, yes, you’re relinquishing some power: you now have an organized constituency to answer to, and sometimes they won’t go along with what you want.

But on the other hand, that arms you with a powerful form of legitimacy whenever you find yourself butting heads with powerful, entrenched party interests: sorry, Chuck and Nancy, I don’t represent you, I represent those who worked to put me in office.

And now Ocasio-Cortez has gone further. In an interview with Dan Denvir on Jacobin Radio’s The Dig podcast, she was asked about the prospects for organized left politics within Congress itself:

What we’re witnessing in embryo is the emergence of a new way of approaching left-wing politics. It’s still early, and the obstacles to the sort of plan AOC describes are formidable. She won’t find many other Alexandria Ocasio-Cortezes in the House Progressive Caucus, and the pressure she’ll come under to act like a “team player” and go along with the leadership will be intense.

But two things in particular are immensely encouraging. First, she obviously understands the obstacles she’s facing, as her quote makes clear. She’s no naïf. And second, the mere act of floating this idea gives her power. From now on, every time the House Democratic leadership finds itself in conflict with its left flank, this idea will pop up; it will be discussed; and it will serve as an implicit source of bargaining leverage.

These ideas can’t be put back in the bottle. And as someone once pointed out, ideas becomes a material force once they’ve gripped the masses.