The Solution to the Democrats’ DSA Problem Is Very Simple

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With the primaries winding down and several Democratic Socialists and other progressives having defeated more moderate Democrats, there has been a lot of hand-wringing on the center left about whether these “insurgents” are so radical that they will impede a blue wave in the midterms.

Since Republicans have few accomplishments of their own to run on and lack a platform that appeals to anybody other than their MAGA base, the right-wing propaganda machine has been working overtime to push the narrative that the Democrats have been taken over by communist lunatics.

To back up those talking points, they highlight some of the most radical ideas that can be found on the platform of the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) — such as abolishing the Senate, the presidency, and the Supreme Court — and the fact that real socialism has failed where it has been attempted.

To be fair, that last part is certainly true, and some items on the DSA’s agenda are way out there; but are they any crazier than, “Let’s give all the money to billionaires and hope some of it trickles down to regular Americans,” or “Our top priority must be the construction of a grand ballroom”?

Still, it begs the question of whether the Democrats have a socialism problem. 

First of all, Democratic Party leaders should count themselves lucky that DSA candidates are running in their primaries instead of launching independent bids in the fall. Because, while Republicans may not be able to win a lot of competitive races against single opponents in this political environment, even they could come out on top against two of them that are splitting the progressive vote.

This, by the way, also shows the pragmatic side of the DSA. Even though its platform calls for an end to the two-party system, the only way to get some of their people into Congress is on the Democratic ticket.

That being said, the party establishment isn’t thrilled that some of its moderate candidates have been losing their primaries because the traditional thinking is that Democrats closer to the center have a better chance of beating Republicans.

Of course, that’s also how the GOP felt before it won two of the last three presidential elections with a mentally ill crook at the top of the ticket who managed to mobilize the legion of far-right voters who felt neglected by the John McCains and Mitt Romneys of the party.

However, as the primaries have shown, there are also a lot of disenchanted Americans on the left who don’t feel that corporate Democrats are serving their interests or are even fighting for them.

Therefore, we would argue that the party doesn’t have a “socialism” problem, it has a policy problem.

Because here is the thing: The vast majority of the voters who chose DSA candidates didn’t do so because they want to abolish the Senate, “end the legacies of slavery and colonialism,” “fight for queer liberation,” and establish a “free Palestine with Jerusalem as its capital.”

Instead, they want their hard work to amount to more than barely scraping by, and for their kids to have a better life than they do, aka “the American Dream.” 

What they don’t want is: for billionaires to keep getting richer while everybody is struggling; to be a minor medical procedure away from bankruptcy; to be chained to a certain job because that’s the only way to get health care; and to live in a country that is falling apart because the money goes to the military instead of schools, scientific advances, and infrastructure improvements.

And, boy, does the DSA have a platform for those voters.

We imagine that the last thing that all of the Republicans, Fox News types, and corporate Democrats want is for voters to actually take a look at what it says on these subjects because a lot of the main policies it includes are very popular: universal health care, free education through college, paid family leave, getting money out of politics, and aggressively taxing the uber-rich with the added revenue being used to benefit all.

Now, the GOP and the right-wing media machine will say that those proposals are liberal fantasies.

However, hundreds of millions of people in America’s peer nations from Canada, Oceania, parts of Asia, and much of Europe will disagree.

Because they have been enjoying all or most of these things for decades… and voters in the US want them, too, and are yearning for a change.

Asked how they feel about the US economic system, nearly 7 out of 10 Americans said they are dissatisfied or angry. Even more of them (rightfully) think that the gap between the rich and the middle class is increasing, and two-thirds think that the wealthy aren’t paying their fair share.

Sizeable majorities said they would be willing to pay more taxes for health care, education, and food assistance but not for the military or border and immigration enforcement.

In addition, more than 60 percent believe that artificial intelligence will result in fewer economic opportunities for them.

Two-thirds say it is the government’s responsibility to provide universal health care, about the same support free public education including college, and even more want paid leave and getting money out of politics. Not surprisingly, taxing the rich is also popular.

What isn’t popular, however, is “socialism.”

Only 9 percent of Americans have a “very positive” view of it compared to 21 percent who feel the same way about capitalism. Conversely, 28 percent have a very negative view of socialism.

Broken down along party lines, only Democrats have a positive view of the ideology. Independents are somewhat split (36 percent to 42 percent), but only 8 percent feel very positively about socialism while 26 percent hold a very negative view of it.

What this means is that, ironically, the only party that has a socialism problem is the DSA.

It stands to reason that, if it had named itself the “Progressive Party of America” or something like “Forward USA,” its candidates would likely be even more popular.

This is especially true because it is not actually a truly socialist party.

Yes, it advocates for doing away with capitalism as a broad aspiration, but many of its individual policies aspire for the US to resemble Europe’s market-based social democracies more than socialist Cuba.

Ultimately, we imagine that the DSA will quickly learn that its candidates can win when they run on those individual policies but not when they talk about “seizing the means of production.”

Then again, for those on the far left, that has always been easier said than done because they have a tendency to be hobbled by their own fervor.

The best example is the “Woke 1.0” era that many of them now want to leave in the rearview mirror because they realize that the only way you can enact policy is when you are in power and that fringe issues are keeping them out of it. That is also why Democratic socialists who are already in office, like New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (NY), are focusing on the popular policies of the platform and not the more radical proposals in the DSA agenda.

Republicans, of course, would like nothing more than to talk exclusively about “men in women’s sports” or Democrats wanting to abolish the police.

So, what does all of this mean for all of the candidates running with a “D” behind their names in November?

More than anything, they need to be champions of the working class. To get voters excited, they can’t just be a “GOP Lite” and offer tepid policy proposals that don’t significantly change a status quo that most Americans are clearly unhappy with.

That doesn’t mean that every one of them has to support Medicare for All, free college, or a year of paid maternity leave. But candidates who want to win have to show that they are willing to take on the system instead of being part of it.

The midterms will be all about who can turn out their voters, and it is very clear what Democrats want: 83 percent of their voters want the party to “show they are fighting for people” while a mere 17 percent want detailed policies.

And, by a margin of more than 2-to-1, they want the party to champion “big or fundamental changes in policies and approach,” even if that means fighting for policies that are difficult to achieve rather than small, incremental changes that can be accomplished more easily.

Finally, only 8 percent of Democrats believe that their party is more progressive than they would like while 44 percent are saying it is not as progressive as they want it to be.

In light of those numbers, all the recent electoral victories by the party’s left wing are hardly surprising, and all Democrats should take note if they want voters to be excited about the core Democratic agenda when they decide whether they will vote and for whom.