Joe Sims
Joe Sims is a co-chair of the CPUSA and, in Infrared coverage, the face of the party's Democratic-Party-adjacent line — the object of Haz Al-Din's sustained "ditch the Democrats" polemics and later of a guarded outreach.
The polemic
In Why the Communist Party Needs to DITCH the Democrats, addressed directly "to Joe Sims and Rossana Cambron," Haz argues:
- The CPUSA's popular-front-with-the-Democrats line subordinates the working class to "the Rockefeller bourgeoisie of the Democratic Party" — while Lenin made clear the monopoly bourgeoisie is inherently reactionary, with nothing progressive about it.
- The CP's entire rubric for judging "progressive" vs. "reactionary" derives from foundations and institutions funded by that same monopoly bourgeoisie.
- On January 6 and election politics: the CP defends "the illusion and veneer of democracy, not an actual democracy."
The opening
By 2025, with the ACP's rise reshaping the terrain, Haz flagged Sims' public repositioning ("Guess who's breaking out of their shell? Joe Sims... if there's no difference between Joe Sims and ACP anymore, then let's talk") — offering unity talks conditional on the CP actually breaking from the Democrats (COMMUNISM WINNING | WE'RE SO BACK).