I’ve been around long enough to see how most long-term political plans eventually crack and disintegrate under the harsh heat of reality. So, I try not to get too worked up over the recent rise in Democratic socialists winning primary elections, or over the movement’s supposed aims, which sound closer to Marx than to Jefferson or Madison.
But those who hope a post-Trump future might revert to the calmer political days of our youth may be disappointed. The far left seems to be on the rise to compete with the far right.
And while that rise is still small, if politicians don’t stem the fearsome rise in the national debt, a possible economic collapse and the chaos it could cause might bolster all kinds of radical ideologies.
But those who hope a post-Trump future might revert to the calmer political days of our youth may be disappointed. The far left seems to be on the rise to compete with the far right.
And while that rise is still small, if politicians don’t stem the fearsome rise in the national debt, a possible economic collapse and the chaos it could cause might bolster all kinds of radical ideologies.
Not that the far-left is concerned with the debt.
Among the Democrats who recently won primaries was Darializa Avila Chevalier in New York’s 13th Congressional District. CNN has reported that she deleted thousands of her own more controversial social media posts supporting the outright abolition of “police, prisons and borders, as well as seizing private property and nationalizing major industries and calling into question Israel’s right to exist.”
They included attacks laced with expletives against more moderate Democrats and favorable comments toward communism and the nationalization of large portions of the economy.
She responded to critics of these posts, some going online as recently as 2022, by saying she has outgrown them.
“My opponent wants to live in the past. He is re-litigating social media posts from half a decade ago, and continuing to champion an outdated politics that fails to serve our people,” CNN quoted her saying.
But her old posts were strikingly similar to what many Democratic Socialists are saying these days. Some observers see a sinister plan for the far-left to co-opt the Democratic Party the way MAGA has captured Republicans. Some posit a strange strategy of destroying the party in order to conquer it.
A Washington Post op-ed written this week by leaders of the moderate Third Way said the Democratic Socialist agenda “hands Republicans attack ads that write themselves.”
They could guarantee Republican control of Congress, which, as Jonathan Chait wrote Wednesday for The Atlantic, could be part of a long-term strategy, at least for some leaders of the movement. Let the Democratic Party lose elections, then break off into a separate party “after which the husk of the old Democratic Party would wither and die.”
As I said, I’ve heard grand plans come and go for years. However, recent polling gives rise to some concerns.
Last November, a poll by the Deseret News and the Hinckley Institute of Politics, conducted by Morning Consult found that 51% of voters in Utah who identify as Democrats professed a favorable view of socialism. That compared to 48% of Democrats nationally.
Also, 65% of Utah Democrats said they approved of newly elected New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s agenda. Nationally, the figure was 54%. A whopping 70% of Utah Democrats had a favorable opinion of Democratic socialism generally.
As someone intimately associated with polling, I know how general questions don’t always translate into votes. The Deseret News/KSL editorial board interviewed all Democratic candidates for last month’s primary election in Utah’s first congressional district. We heard a lot about a wealth tax, unfettered support for Palestine and opposition to Israel, and universal health care.
We did not hear much about nationalizing big corporations or praise for China and Cuba. The national debt was seen as trivial. Utah’s far-left candidates seemed more anxious to be seen as progressives rather than socialists.
Still, voters in the heavily Democratic district chose the more moderate candidate, Ben McAdams, by more than 60%.
Regardless of what strategy the movement is using, the far left’s record of governance has been one of failure, and that ultimately will determine its long-term success.
As Third Way president Jon Cowan and executive president Matt Bennett wrote for the Post, far-left leaders in San Francisco led to widespread organized shoplifting, and ultimately the election of a more moderate government. Chicago’s mayor, backed by Democratic Socialists, has a low favorability rating. Seattle’s democratic socialist mayor has backtracked on some policies in order to maintain public safety.
Democracy has a way of taking the sharp edges off radical ideologies, eventually. The MAGA movement benefitted from a charismatic leader, which the far-left currently lacks.
A Gallup poll last year found a majority of Americans still feel favorably toward capitalism, but support is waning.
As I said, that trend could accelerate if the economy collapses under the weight of the national debt and its annual interest payments, which already exceed the nation’s military budget.
Among the Democrats who recently won primaries was Darializa Avila Chevalier in New York’s 13th Congressional District. CNN has reported that she deleted thousands of her own more controversial social media posts supporting the outright abolition of “police, prisons and borders, as well as seizing private property and nationalizing major industries and calling into question Israel’s right to exist.”
They included attacks laced with expletives against more moderate Democrats and favorable comments toward communism and the nationalization of large portions of the economy.
She responded to critics of these posts, some going online as recently as 2022, by saying she has outgrown them.
“My opponent wants to live in the past. He is re-litigating social media posts from half a decade ago, and continuing to champion an outdated politics that fails to serve our people,” CNN quoted her saying.
But her old posts were strikingly similar to what many Democratic Socialists are saying these days. Some observers see a sinister plan for the far-left to co-opt the Democratic Party the way MAGA has captured Republicans. Some posit a strange strategy of destroying the party in order to conquer it.
A Washington Post op-ed written this week by leaders of the moderate Third Way said the Democratic Socialist agenda “hands Republicans attack ads that write themselves.”
They could guarantee Republican control of Congress, which, as Jonathan Chait wrote Wednesday for The Atlantic, could be part of a long-term strategy, at least for some leaders of the movement. Let the Democratic Party lose elections, then break off into a separate party “after which the husk of the old Democratic Party would wither and die.”
As I said, I’ve heard grand plans come and go for years. However, recent polling gives rise to some concerns.
Last November, a poll by the Deseret News and the Hinckley Institute of Politics, conducted by Morning Consult found that 51% of voters in Utah who identify as Democrats professed a favorable view of socialism. That compared to 48% of Democrats nationally.
Also, 65% of Utah Democrats said they approved of newly elected New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s agenda. Nationally, the figure was 54%. A whopping 70% of Utah Democrats had a favorable opinion of Democratic socialism generally.
As someone intimately associated with polling, I know how general questions don’t always translate into votes. The Deseret News/KSL editorial board interviewed all Democratic candidates for last month’s primary election in Utah’s first congressional district. We heard a lot about a wealth tax, unfettered support for Palestine and opposition to Israel, and universal health care.
We did not hear much about nationalizing big corporations or praise for China and Cuba. The national debt was seen as trivial. Utah’s far-left candidates seemed more anxious to be seen as progressives rather than socialists.
Still, voters in the heavily Democratic district chose the more moderate candidate, Ben McAdams, by more than 60%.
Regardless of what strategy the movement is using, the far left’s record of governance has been one of failure, and that ultimately will determine its long-term success.
As Third Way president Jon Cowan and executive president Matt Bennett wrote for the Post, far-left leaders in San Francisco led to widespread organized shoplifting, and ultimately the election of a more moderate government. Chicago’s mayor, backed by Democratic Socialists, has a low favorability rating. Seattle’s democratic socialist mayor has backtracked on some policies in order to maintain public safety.
Democracy has a way of taking the sharp edges off radical ideologies, eventually. The MAGA movement benefitted from a charismatic leader, which the far-left currently lacks.
A Gallup poll last year found a majority of Americans still feel favorably toward capitalism, but support is waning.
As I said, that trend could accelerate if the economy collapses under the weight of the national debt and its annual interest payments, which already exceed the nation’s military budget.
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