July 10: Democratic DiSArray
In which, the Democrats’ problems go waaaay beyond Graham Platner
Just a quick editor’s note: There will be no newsletter coming through next Friday (July 17). Onwards!
Democrat DiSArray
I’ve sat on this story for the last couple of weeks due to last week’s Fourth of July celebrations, but as primary season winds down and the spring to November gets going next month, it’s worth following up on something that’s become a recurring theme in this newsletter: The Democrats’ civil war.
In the latest round of June primaries and July controversies, the widening gap between the party establishment and its left wing has developed into what’s increasingly looking like an unbridgable gulf.
Over a series of June primaries, Congressional incumbents and/or state party fixtures were unseated not by a scrappy crew of populist newcomers, but by an organized movement of left wing activists proudly declaring their Marxist allegiances as the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA).
DSA candidates, backed by New York City’s DSA Mayor Zoran Mamdani swept three House districts in New York, another DSA candidate took a primary in Colorado, and DSA candidates have won primaries in Michigan, New Jersey, and Maine. In these races, the endorsements to get are those of Elizabeth Warren, Bernie Sanders, and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, not Hakeem Jefferies or Chuck Schumer, and not even Barack Obama.
Bottom line, this is an overt attempt to seize control of the Democratic Party and move into being a “true left” party in the European sense of the term. Not merely a progressive or liberal party, but a socialist party. That’s the objective and it’s clearly got momentum on its side.
However, the movement is not without its scandals as formerly Bernie-backed Maine Senate candidate Graham Platner suspended his campaign this week over new allegations of rape and sexual assault hit the pages of Politico. These allegations are only the latest in a string of scandals that have dogged Platner’s campaign from the beginning. Despite the many problems Platner posed to the Democrat establishment, he still forced former Maine Governor Janet Mills out of the primary early on. Now, however, with Bernie Sanders withdrawing support and numerous other Party backers backing off former endorsements, it seems like Platner’s goose is cooked. But he’s not exiting gracefully, or graciously. According to him, he’s not suspending his campaign because the allegations are true, but because the party bosses are corrupt.
This “burn the bridges” strategy seems to me to only make sense in a world where you’re either crazy (and there’s evidence to suggest Platner is) and/or you know the party you’re castigating is not long for this world.
When you consider that establishment-backed candidates are losing primaries and/or winning primaries, but heading towards November defeats, and when presidential hopefuls are lining up to gain support from DSA leaders like Mamdani, Platner’s tirade against the Party establishment doesn’t seem that misplaced.
In other words, this isn’t your grandparents’ Democrat Party. The infighting is brutal and it is for keeps. Should a DSA bloc emerge from the midterms, I think you can expect AOC to run for President in 2028 at the very least.
Get familiar with the DSA. You’re going to be hearing more about them.
