It’s called Betteridge’s law of headlines: “Any headline that ends in a question mark can be answered by the word no.” Like Occam’s razor, it’s not a bulletproof absolute, but Betteridge’s law is right a helluva lot more often than it’s wrong.
Which takes us to today’s (July 3) headline from the New York Times’ 47-paragraph-long feature story: “A Big Gamble for the Left: Can Socialism Appeal in a Swing State?” (Hint, hint.)
But first, let’s take a step back.
When you’re planning an adversarial PR campaign, there are plenty of ways to skin the cat. You could focus like a laser beam on your own strengths and attributes. Or what animates your target audience. Or what you hate the most about your opponent.
But sometimes, your best bet is to shut up and listen: If you pay attention, your opponent usually tells you where he’s most vulnerable.
Again, this isn’t an absolute. It’s possible your opponent suffers from proximity blindness: He’s so close to the problem that he can’t see the forest for the trees. But more often than not, your enemy knows himself a whole lot better than you do. He’s studied the subject matter longer. He knows which parts of his organization are being held together with duct tape.
So instead of guessing where he’s weakest, shut the hell up and listen!
Today’s Democratic Party is caught in a Catch 22: On one hand, without the Democratic Socialists of America, the Donkeys have zero grassroots support. (That’s not an exaggeration: The moderate/corporate wing of the Democratic Party has money and institutional power — and very little else.) Meanwhile, the DSA is organized, aggressive, and unafraid.
It’s why the DSA has been able to run the table in low-turnout elections and primaries.
But on the other hand, the DSA appeals to a very specific voter demo. By race, profession, and education, the DSA is monolithic:
80% of DSA members have a college degree.
— Batya Ungar-Sargon (@bungarsargon) July 2, 2026
60% work professional jobs.
Just 4% are blue-collar.
85% are white.
This isn't a working-class movement but an elite one, for whom "Free Palestine" and "Abolish ICE" operate as a smokescreen for class privilege—just like climate and trans… https://t.co/ZgmwTn92bO
As are the left-wing protesters who attend No Kings rallies:
"According to a survey conducted at a No Kings rally in the District of Columbia, attendees skew heavily toward highly educated, left-leaning white women in their 40s. This demographic stands at the forefront of the broader shift toward therapeutic language, in which emotional… pic.twitter.com/lukh42jAHw
— Avatans Kumar 🕉 (@avatans) March 26, 2026
That’s a recipe for success in liberal strongholds like New York City, Los Angeles, Seattle, Chicago, and Washington, D.C. Those are places with token GOP competition; there, a highly mobilized group of leftists can win low-turnout party primaries — and thus, the election.
But in places where the GOP competition is real, this formula falls apart. The same Marxist rhetoric, class-envy resentment, and revolutionary sloganeering that attracts over-educated white professionals is a turnoff to everyone else. It comes across as weird, dangerous, and un-American.
That’s why the Democrats are trying to have it both ways. They desperately need the DSA to spike turnout, energize liberals, and generate grassroots support, but if these radicals represent the party in red states, purple states, and/or swing states, the GOP will win every time. (By a landslide, too.)
And the Dems will cease being a national party.
Need more proof? Consider this: The DSA endorsed 150 candidates in 2026. Some of the races are still outstanding, but so far, only about 35 DSA-endorsees have advanced from the Democratic primaries.
That’s a failure rate of (roughly) 73%!
The Democrats are terrified that Donald Trump and the Republicans will use the DSA to brand their party as radical, unhinged socialists who hate their own country. If that were to happen, instead of being a behind-the-scenes rocket that (discreetly) lifts turnout, the DSA will become a PR anchor that drags them down to the bottom of the sea.
Related: What MAGA Must Learn from the DSA Antisemites — and How We Can Win the Birthright Citizenship Debate
Some Democrats are sounding the alarm.
Rep. Josh Gottheimer, a leading moderate/centrist Democrat from New Jersey, told Jewish Insider that the socialists’ anti-Israel point of view is a "growing cancer, and we can’t let it spread, and we cannot ignore it." He warned that the incoming DSA-aligned lawmakers will be coming to Washington to "wreak havoc in Congress" and will try to "hold the party hostage" to their socialist views. "It will lead to more gridlock and dysfunction, and hard-working families will pay the price for this," he said. "The socialists have put their own personal hatred above our national security and our promises to our allies. And I think we’ve got to call out hate when we see it."
"This is a bridge too far," agrees veteran Democratic strategist James Carville, who cautions that embracing candidates whose politics fall well outside the party's historical mainstream risks alienating precisely the voters Democrats need to regain strong, enduring governing majorities. He dismisses the political views of Chevalier as entirely anathema to the Democratic Party, insisting that "they should not seat her in the caucus. Her views are totally against anything that any Democrat has. We believe in pluralism, she doesn’t believe in interracial dating…Lady, I ain’t in the same party as you…She has attacked interracial relationships and the American flag." Carville considers this a line in the sand.
Okay. If the Dems’ biggest fear — and greatest vulnerability — is being nationally branded as DSA loons, what steps should the GOP take?
I recommend three tactics:
- Nationalize the 2026 midterms. There are no “local” federal elections anymore. (If there were, the Gerrymandering Wars wouldn’t have happened.) Today, on both sides of the aisle, politics is a team sport. Therefore, if the Dems are going to seat and caucus with DSA representatives, then a vote for ANY Democratic senator or congressman is a vote to empower the DSA agenda. That’s the inescapable reality; we’ll win if it becomes a beachhead belief. Broadcast it with a bullhorn!
- Challenge each Dem candidate to denounce, disavow, and refuse to caucus with DSA extremists who believe interracial dating is evil, property is theft, Nazi tattoos are cool, and America deserved 9/11. Force them to choose between angering their base and alienating moderates. It’s a fair and reasonable demand: If they won’t condemn the extremists before the election, they certainly won’t have the courage to do so afterwards.
- Tie it together with an easy-to-understand slogan that captures and communicates the existential danger of empowering DSA loons and giving ‘em a seat behind the wheel. (I kinda like: “No Keys for Commies: Vote Republican!”)
This, after all, is the Democrats’ greatest fear. They’re literally telling us where they’re weakest! This is our smartest path forward — no question about it.
And if there was a question?
Hey, at least it’s not in the headline.
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