Democratic Socialists Are a Serious Threat

American  Thinker 

Many people are wringing their hands over the election of self-identified democratic socialist Zohran Mamdani as New York City mayor. Unfortunately, they have reason to be worried, because his election reflects a trend that can be called conservatively, concerning, and liberally, alarming. To understand this assessment better, it helps to understand the nature of democratic socialism.

What is the history of the movement in this country?

Although he wasn’t an admitted socialist, Franklin D. Roosevelt introducedsweeping socialism to America:

While Roosevelt was not a socialist, his administration enacted a series of sweeping government programs that had long been championed by the Socialist Party.

Policies such as Social Security, unemployment insurance, federal jobs programs like the Works Progress Administration (WPA), and laws protecting workers’ rights to organize were all core tenets of the socialist platform that had been dismissed as radical just years earlier.

The Great Depression thus serves as the clearest example of how a systemic crisis can rapidly move socialist-inspired ideas from the political fringe to the center of American public policy.

Many of these programs have now become integral to the operations of the federal government, in spite of the early criticism of them. There is a good reason for calling them “entitlement programs.” Most of the country has come to depend on them.

Fast-forward 40 years, and we see the beginning of the Democratic Socialists of America:

Shortly before he co-founded Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) in 1982, academic and leftist activist Michael Harrington attended a conference of the Socialist International in Paris. There he befriended many of the world’s leading socialists, including Israeli Knesset opposition leader Shimon Peres. Peres was among the coterie of leftist leaders with whom Harrington could sit down ‘over a beer and exchange stories,’ as Harrington’s biographer Maurice Isserman put it.

Interestingly enough, Jews and Israel were originally supported by the DSA:

Harrington would build support for Israel into the amalgamation of American socialist groups that formed DSA. Embracing Israel as the fulfillment of the Jewish right of self-determination, he wrote that Zionism is ‘the national liberation movement of a Jewish people.’

In spite of its founding principles, DSA made an about-face when it came to the Jews and Israel. It’s hard to know precisely when this shift occurred, but October 7 solidified this change:

On October 7, 2023, in response to Hamas’s horrific attack, DSA issued a statement ‘unequivocally’ condemning the killing of all civilians but also calling Hamas’s actions ‘not unprovoked’ and ‘a direct result of Israel’s apartheid regime.’ The following spring, members of its youth branch, Young Democratic Socialists of America (YDSA), played a leading role in pro-Palestinian/anti-Israel campus demonstrations. In at least one instance, Jewish protesters were told to ‘go back to Poland.’ Other demonstrators used imagery and slogans equating Zionism with Nazism. The slogan “

‘From the River to the Sea,’ often interpreted as a call for eliminating Israel, has sounded at DSA meetings. And at its 2025 national convention, DSA approved a resolution citing support of Israel’s right to defend itself or equating anti-Zionism with antisemitism as ‘expellable offenses.’

As it turned out, the DSA was behind many of the campus protests and riots that consumed American campuses after October 7. In April of 2024, the DSA posted a statement to the website, which included this passage:

We support the righteous message of protesters at the encampments. We call on our comrades to support efforts nationwide to force universities to divest from the Zionist occupation and call on the United States government to cease all aid to Israel. Where protests appear, we’ll appear in numbers. Where repression looms, we’ll show up and protect the whole. Where support is needed, we’ll be a support.

Now, if you’re thinking that the participation of the DSA in political affairs is fringe or harmless, look at the inroads that the DSA has made:

A new report by the Heartland Institute, a national free-market think tank, reveals that nearly every candidate endorsed by prominent socialist organizations in the United States emerged victorious during the 2024 election.  

[snip]

Overall, these organizations endorsed a total of 51 socialist candidates, of which 48 (94 percent) won their races for federal, statewide, or local office with an average margin of victory of approximately 49 percent. Nine of these candidates ran in uncontested races. Taking out those nine candidates, the 39 remaining socialist candidates won their races by an average margin of approximately 37 percent. Only three socialist candidates lost their races, with a 13 percent average margin of defeat.

Among the candidates endorsed by these three socialist groups, 27 ran for the U.S. House of Representatives, two ran for U.S. Senate, 12 ran for statewide offices, and 10 ran for local offices. These races occurred in 22 states and the District of Columbia. California was the leading state for socialist candidates in the 2024 election, with 10 in total.

The DSA also publicly condemned one of their own, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, after she led a panel discussion in July 2024 against antisemitism:

The Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) dropped its endorsement of New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez after she hosted a panel discussion on antisemitism.

The DSA said in a Tuesday statement that it was rescinding its conditional endorsement of Ocasio-Cortez’s reelection campaign after she ‘conflated anti-Zionism with antisemitism and condemned boycotting Zionist institutions’ during the discussion she sponsored last month.

‘This sponsorship is a deep betrayal to all those who’ve risked their welfare to fight Israeli apartheid and genocide through political and direct action,’ the statement said.

Ocasio-Cortez, a Democrat, condemned antisemitism in the public discussion with two Jewish activists — Amy Spitalnick, the CEO of the Jewish Council for Public Affairs (JCPA), and Stacy Burdett, a former senior official at the Anti-Defamation League and US Holocaust Memorial Museum.

Democrats in the party continue to radicalize. The position of the socialists in supporting Marxist ideology increases its hold. People who feel they can draw on government programs are becoming more dependent on the “free” services that are offered. The movement to extend entitlement grows.

Are we truly prepared to accept people running for office who are democratic socialists? What if they are antisemitic? Are the freebies too tempting to too many people? Even if they fail to be elected—increasingly unlikely—how much damage will be done?