"If you can make it there, you can make it anywhere," goes the Frank Sinatra classic, "New York, New York." For socialists, that adage came true on election day in a big way. Five House members who are either DSA or DSA-aligned will sit in the august halls of Congress next January.
Even if Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) candidates didn't win, they didn't embarrass themselves either.DSA endorsed 25 candidates for the House. And while he claims he's not a DSA member, newly-minted Senator Abdul El-Sayed was able to win the demographically diverse state of Michigan with a decidedly pro-socialist agenda.
What's going on?
It's tempting to read far too much into the results. Democrats are already proclaiming "realignment" is upon us. Not so fast. Let's have a couple more elections, including a national election, before using the "R" word.
Meanwhile, the radical Left, which has virtually taken over the Democratic Party, is claiming a mandate to govern. The leadership of the party doesn't represent the heart and soul of Democrats, but they still run the show.
That's the biggest problem facing Democrats. The civil war is over, but the old guard refuses to step aside.
"Allies of the party’s leaders privately say that an insurgent left-wing has unnecessarily sucked time and money into races that should have been easier for Democrats, to the detriment of other candidates," says The Wall Street Journal. "Progressives say the party’s establishment isn’t doing everything possible to help them win, according to people familiar with the conversations."
If that argument sounds familiar, it's exactly the same argument that MAGA is making about the GOP establishment.
"Both factions want a Democratic Senate, and winning might soothe the acrimony," adds the Journal. "But whatever the outcome, Tuesday’s results are poised to accelerate an internecine battle for the future of the party."
Both parties are likely to make incorrect assumptions about their respective parties going forward. Republicans will assume they weren't "MAGA enough" and believe a stronger dose in 2028 will win them back the House of Representatives. Democrats will look at several races and tell themselves they could have swept the table if only the leadership wasn't going behind their back to the press and bad-mouthing them.
Both parties are trying to create a new math where you have addition by subtraction. "If only we could get rid of the squishes and put some real MAGA he-men in charge, we'd never lose another election." The radical left, as is typical of leftists worldwide, wants to initiate a purge that would bring about a socialist paradise in America.
The recent bloodbath in Michigan, where former Democratic primary candidate for the Senate, Rep. Haley Stevens, endorsed Republican Mike Rogers for the office, sounded alarm bells for Democrats. But it didn't hurt El-Sayed in the slightest. He won by 400,000 votes.
All the energy is coming from the hard left. Most of the cash is coming from the hard left. And most of the support among rank-and-file Democrats is with the hard left.
The Democratic Party Civil War is over. The war for America now begins in earnest.