Sometimes history moves fast.

Almost two years ago, when I wrote “Blueprint for a New Party,” I thought of it mainly as a way to stimulate debate, not as an immediately actionable program. In the article, I called for the creation of a national left-wing political organization that, unlike the Democrats, would act in most respects like a genuine party: with a mass membership democratically determining the party’s program and forcing its office-holders to adhere to it.

It would differ from a conventional party in only one respect: it wouldn’t seek a separate ballot line. Instead, it would run its candidates on whichever line made the most sense for the race in question: an independent line in some cases, but more often — at least at first — in Democratic primaries.