Not only did Democrats regain control of both chambers of Congress in the mid-term election, they did also by jamming a radical spear into the heart of the GOP elephant, a spear wielded by the Democratic Socialists of America. The DSA found itself high-stepping over the elephant corpse on its sought-after goal of smashing capitalism by a “long march through existing institutions.”
That expression from the New Left in the late ’60s perfectly captures what radicals can achieve by keeping their powder dry, toning down the talk of violent revolution and achieving whatever they are after “by any means necessary.” Instead, better pretending to be a deeply concerned reform-type Democrat in mainstream politics, especially elections.
Six candidates in the DSA or backed by the DSA won seats in the U.S. House of Representatives, along with the nation’s leading Israel basher, Abdul el Sayed, scoring the big prize of a U.S. Senate seat from Michigan. Although the poster boy for the Left, el Sayed has tried to distance himself from the DSA by claiming he is a capitalist, not a socialist, while supporting Medicare for All, free childcare by an expanding federal government, much heavier taxes on the rich, and rent control. He wants to cut off all aid to Israel and accuses its government of committing genocide in Gaza. While not saying it outright, this is pretty close to Hamas territory, which advocates removal of all Jews “from the River to the Sea.”
He wants to abolish the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency, claiming ICE “normalizes paramilitary force on our streets.” In 2020, el Sayed called for defunding police in the aftermath of the George Floyd extravaganza. Now he says he wants only a “balanced approach” between policing and other social services. At his most charming, he went after a fellow Democrat in the Senate, Sen. John Fetterman (D-PA), who is pro-Israel, with this solution: “Put one ogre on a pike and then everyone gets the message.” The New York Times offered up only what it considered a modest proposal: Change the country’s founding birthday in 1776 to 1619, when a slave ship docked in the waters of Virginia. El Sayed goes further, to Paris in 1789.
The eight incoming DSA lawmakers will join about 100 of their colleagues in the House of Representatives progressive caucus. (The only senator in the caucus is independent Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT), perhaps the most radical and least independent politician in America.)
“What We Stand For” on the Congressional Progressive Caucus web page includes a fair economy, universal healthcare, climate justice, fair trade, debt free college, “reproductive freedom” (abortion), and “comprehensive immigration reform” (open borders).
Among the DSA 7, the pike on a head award goes to Darializa Avila Chevalier, who called President Joe Biden a rapist, tweeted the U.S. is a “f—-king disgrace,” and noted at some dinner engagement, “I forgot to get napkins, so I just wiped my hands on the American flag behind me.”
The district Chevalier will represent overlaps Harlem and the Bronx and is 50% Hispanic, 24% black, and 17% white. As in her district, it is important to point out that the DSA can field winners only in deep-blue areas. While much media attention has been showered on the DSA 7, very few stories noted that 17 other DSA-affiliated candidates lost their races. Most of them were not in almost 100% safe Democratic territory. However, these losses in no way diminish the DSA’s growing presence and acceptability inside the Democratic “big tent.” This represents a significant expansion for a political organization out on the fringes when it was formed in 1982. Make no mistake: The leftward lunge is upon us, signaling you can be antisemitic and that’s OK. Six of the DSA 7 will join the only other two House members in the socialist club, Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-MI) of Michigan and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) of New York, both of whom easily won reelection.
Given the results of the midterm election, the New Republic announced “Democratic Socialists of America are here to stay.” Their proposals, once relegated to a political science seminar in college, “rode a wave of popular support to groundbreaking victories in the election,” and “the DSA left wing is now firmly entrenched within the Democratic machine.”
DEMOCRATS RAN RADICALS AND STILL WON. DON’T BLAME THE CANDIDATES — TRUMP OWNS THIS BLOODBATH
Entrenched in the Democratic machine, I agree, and again I emphasize the powerful draw of the long march through existing institutions. But the “wave of popular support” is overblown. What happened was simply anti-Trump, not pro-socialist. His low approval ratings stem from his love of tariffs, which do little more than spike gas prices; his overly aggressive deportation policy, which, if tempered, would have worked in his favor; the perception of corruption, given his and his sons’ involvement with the cryptocurrency craze; rising healthcare costs; and an unpopular war in Iran. Trump gave Democrats the gift they wanted. At the same time, a recent CBS News/YouGov poll found only 9% of Americans have a “very positive” view of socialism, and most of that is among young people who have not yet been mugged by reality. What we had was a blue wave, not a socialist wave.
The comedian Jeff Maurer argues in his Substack newsletter that he and his fellow liberals are too polite and “we bite our tongues in response to the hate and idiocy that DSA types are trying to smuggle into the mainstream.” He’s right, but there will come a time when liberal and centrist Democrats might not be so polite to the fanatics on the left. A good place to start is by taking a peek at the DSA’s fundraising appeal that went online on March 12, 2025: “Socialist cash takes out capitalist trash.” At least on their website, a certain honesty prevails. But on the campaign trail you have con artists like soon-to-be Sen. el Sayed who would pump his fist and laugh with glee over that catchy slogan, then lie and say he is a capitalist.
Bob Armstrong’s memoir, No Exit From Vietnam, has just been published by Pen & Sword Books. He is a contributing writer to Thursday Review, an online magazine.