DETROIT (Reuters) - For David Green, head of the Detroit chapter of the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA), Donald Trump's victory in November was both distressing and cause for optimism in his quest to pull the Democratic Party to the left. "We need a party that’s open to progressive forces, and that’s why we have to elect progressive leadership within the party," Green said, while attending the Michigan Democratic Party's spring convention in Detroit earlier this month. Membership in the DSA, founded in 1982, has surged since Trump's election on Nov. 8, putting the movement in a position to make inroads on the Democratic Party's energized left. In the 31 states plus the District of Columbia where party registrations are tallied, the Democratic Party alone has about 45 million members. At the Michigan Democratic Convention, Green and his DSA chapter were successful in getting several members elected to the Michigan Democratic Party's state central committee for the first time in over two decades.

Source: The Star February 21, 2017 11:19 UTC