The Democratic Socialists of America Party is looking to hire a campaign manager to run an independent expenditure committee in support of Bernie Sanders' (I, Vt.) presidential candidacy.
The job listing, first obtained and reported on by the Daily Beast, seeks someone to "report to the Organizing Director and work closely with other staff to develop and strengthen Democratic Socialists of America's campaign work to elect Bernie Sanders President."
By forming an independent expenditure committee, the DSA would be able to spend on political communications that directly advocate for Sanders' nomination and election, but the committee could not coordinate their communications or activities in any way with the Sanders campaign.
According to its website, the DSA is the "largest socialist organization" in the United States. The Daily Beast reported it currently boasts a membership that exceeds 56,000.
"According to an official, the role that DSA would fill in bringing on a Sanders' campaign manager is, in part, to keep pushing the senator on various issues," the Daily Beast reported. "That includes areas where he and DSA are on the same page and areas where they disagree, including on issues like SESTA, a bill Sanders and his 2020 competitors voted for but which sex workers have said puts lives in danger."
The DSA endorsed Sanders last month. However, the AfroSocialist and Socialists of Color Caucus within the party asked that the endorsement not be delivered until Sanders came around in support of reparations for slavery.
"Should the organization move forward with an endorsement of the Sanders campaign, despite his failure to adopt specific policy stances to address matters of persisting racial injustice and despite his unwillingness to champion reparations to specifically address the experience of the descendants of African slaves, it will risk alienating not just members of color within the organization, but people of color in the communities in which the DSA works," the caucus said in a letter, reported on by Vox.com.
A blog post on the main DSA website authored by Steve Max made the case for the party supporting Sanders, saying the party could play a major role in the election but only if "if it moves immediately, forcefully, and visibly to a position alongside the Bernie Sanders field operation."
"The main danger Bernie faces now, is the proliferation of boutique candidates each of whom threatens to detach a piece of what should be the Sanders Coalition," Max added.