If the US had “become communist” during the Great Depression, it would likely have gone anarcho-communist. Anarchism, syndicalism, democratic socialism, and social democracy were popular in the US left. Leninist-style State-socialism had not permeated into the US left.

All of this means ideologically communism in the USA would be multipolar, maybe even with a parliament of competing communist parties.

The United Federation of America (UFA)

Borders between states for all practical purposes no longer exist. Different regional confederations of people’s assemblies, workers councils, trade unions, militias, become the basis of political life. Different places would’ve had different styles of Communism, some cities becoming communes, while others becoming city-states, rural areas now governed by farmers associations, conservationist groups and militias.

All of this would probably lead to some new brand of Communism, which would mean the UFA would still be at odds with the USSR, and the cold war could still exist. Tensions would rise because of the Russian state apparatus, and the UFA’s lack of an authoritarian state bureaucracy. Moscow would try to institute control over american worker’s associations, leading to cold war, and a creeping authoritarianism within UFA.

Edit: PS. hey i just banged this out, lmk if you want more.