The Democratic Socialists of America (DSA), who have defeated several Democrat incumbents this election cycle, will be hosting their “Socialists Summit” this weekend, July 31-August 2, in Chicago. At this summit, the DSA will offer socialist organizing training to its participants, including on “Governing as Socialists” and on “Building to a General Strike.” This event will include a surprise keynote speaker, and all those who attend will have to submit a negative COVID test.At the same time, the Young Democratic Socialists of America (YDSA), “the youth and student section of the Democratic Socialists of America,” are holding their convention, where they will be voting on whether to field and endorse a presidential candidate in 2028, as well as on whether to call for a new party outside the Democratic Party.The YDSA will be voting on several resolutions at the convention, most of them having to do with forming and supporting labor movements and other Socialist organizations. One of the more noteworthy resolutions is resolution 18, titled “Preparing for a Class-Struggle 2028 Presidential election.” If adopted, the YDSA would move to create an infrastructure to support a potential DSA candidate for president.In one of the resolution’s preambles, the YDSA criticize Kamala Harris for being too rightwing. In another, it characterizes the Democratic Party as “class-collaborationist,” and states its aim to “build an independent, socialist political force fighting to win a majority of society over to our politics,” implying that it believes a Democratic Socialist could win a majority of Americans over to the movement, despite the party’s many radical proposals. If DSA were to advance a presidential candidate, the YDSA would not “hide, minimize, or alter [their] platform and vision” for the sake of appealing to more voters. It also promises to criticize and differentiate itself from the DSA candidate, if it deems necessary, a strategy quite uncommon in presidential elections.The young Democratic Socialists will also be voting on a resolution (23) to call for the creation a new Socialist party in America:“Let it be resolved that the signatories of this resolution motion for the creation of a Socialist Party independent of the Democratic Party; one which should be fit for competing in state & local races no later than 2028, a roadmap to the accomplishment of which DSA/YDSA invites, as equals, other anti-capitalist, anti-imperialist & anti-Zionist associations or parties to participate in drafting.”According to the resolution, the DSA would invite other current leftwing organizations, including the Working Families Party, the Communist Party USA, and the Green Party into a new party, a “Socialist Party.” The resolution does not explicitly rule out contesting Democrat primaries, as the DSA has been winning many of them. It does, however, signal opposition to working within the Democratic Party framework, and accuses the Democrats of favoring “Fascists” to Socialists, while indicating a belief that Socialist candidates could win apart from the Democratic Party:“Whereas the recent successes of openly socialist candidates (DSA or otherwise) in state & local elections have demonstrated clearly the political appetite for a Socialist Party independent of the Democratic Party.”…“Whereas the liberal capitalists in control of the Democratic Party would sooner do battle with socialists than with fascists.”The Democratic Socialists of America currently have negative net favorability. According to a July 15th Echelon insights poll, 25% of Americans have a very or somewhat favorable view of the DSA, while 46% have a very or somewhat unfavorable view. A CNN poll suggests that around one in three Democrats identify as Democratic Socialists, though it is unclear whether they would leave the Democratic Party to vote for hypothetical Socialist Party candidates.