BS BULLETIN:

• Democratic Socialists of America chapters are increasingly using coffee meetups, softball, barbecues, game nights, running clubs and other social events to recruit and retain members.
• New York socialists have even tried “Socialist Speed Dating,” promoted as an alternative to dating and social lives controlled by for-profit companies.
• Behind the amusing event names is a serious political strategy: DSA says it now has more than 120,000 members and is working to turn casual newcomers into committed organizers.

Looking for love but tired of capitalism ruining everything?

The Democratic Socialists of America may have just the date for you.

As DSA expands its political footprint around the country, the socialist organization is increasingly using an old-fashioned recruiting technique with a modern ideological twist:

Give people somewhere to hang out.

The Wall Street Journal reports that DSA chapters around the country are filling their calendars with coffee gatherings, softball games, barbecues, beach outings, running clubs, happy hours, karaoke, game nights, reading groups and other activities designed to attract newcomers and bind existing members more closely to the organization.

In Brooklyn, there’s “Coffee With Comrades.” In Queens, members play socialist softball. And in New York’s Lower East Side, socialism has entered the dating market with “Socialist Speed Dating.”

The pitch for that event managed to blame capitalism for dating apps, too. “In the era of late-stage capitalism, our dating and social lives are more and more controlled by for-profit companies,” its promotional flier declared, according to the Journal.

Apparently even bad first dates have structural causes. But beneath the easy jokes is a political strategy that appears to be working. DSA membership has climbed above 120,000 nationally as socialist candidates and causes have gained influence inside Democratic politics. Rather than relying exclusively on political meetings and campaign rallies, organizers are creating communities where members make friends, play sports, date and spend significant chunks of their social lives together.

One 25-year-old member estimated to the Journal that roughly half of her social life now revolves around DSA.

Longtime member David Duhalde offered an even more revealing comparison. “It really fulfills a social function that a church would,” he told the newspaper.

That’s important.

Political organizations have always understood that people are more likely to remain involved when participation gives them something beyond politics — friendships, community and a sense of belonging.

DSA is now becoming increasingly systematic about it.

New York’s chapter has developed an onboarding app for newcomers. Brooklyn organizers distribute a “Red Card” listing six activities new members are encouraged to complete within 90 days.

Attend a coffee meetup. Go to a branch meeting. Canvass for a candidate. Bring a friend. Complete an activity and collect a red-rose sticker.

The objective is to keep new recruits from becoming what DSA organizers call “paper members” — people who sign up but never actually participate. And participation can eventually become political manpower.

Democratic analyst Van Jones has pointed to DSA’s ability to build networks of activists who attend meetings, organize together and ultimately turn out voters as one reason socialist candidates have been able to defeat more moderate Democrats in primaries.

The organization has enjoyed a surge of attention following the political rise of New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani, while DSA-aligned and DSA-endorsed candidates have scored victories elsewhere.

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez recently rejoined the organization after allowing her membership to lapse for years.

So while “Socialist Speed Dating” practically begs for jokes, Republicans and establishment Democrats probably shouldn’t laugh too hard.

DSA is doing something American political organizations once did routinely: Building a community instead of merely buying television commercials.

And once someone joins the softball game, meets friends at coffee and perhaps even finds a fellow comrade to date, asking that person to knock on doors Saturday morning becomes a considerably easier sell.

The socialists, it turns out, have discovered socializing.

MY QUICK TAKE

I have questions about Socialist Speed Dating.

Who pays for dinner?

Can one person order the steak or does everybody at the table collectively own it?

And most importantly, if there are ten attractive people and only three dates available, do they redistribute them?

Laugh all you want, though. The political part of this isn’t stupid.

Churches, unions, civic clubs and political machines understood for generations that people organize around relationships, not hashtags.

DSA apparently figured that out.

The rest of Washington might want to put down the polling memo and pay attention.

DBS WIRE SOURCES:

• Wall Street Journal — The DSA is using Coffee With Comrades and socialist softball to convert the curious
• Political Wire — Democratic Socialists turn to social events for recruitment
• The Guardian — Leftist insurgents are storming the midterms
• New York Post — Hotel workers protest outside Socialism 2026 conference