They have seen a meteoric rise in recent years. Their sister/front organisations like ANSWER, Codepink, People’s Forum, BTnews have all become household names. When I look at protests in the U.S., it seems so many of them are organised directly, or indirectly, by them. In comparison, organisations like the CPUSA or the DSA are lacking behind.
How and why?
In addition to what’s already been said here, their presidential campaigns and their extremely strong media strategy have really set them apart from a lot of other orgs. People hate on the presidential campaigns but they really put the party out there in a way that nothing else does.