In his latest column for Roll Call, The Winston Group’s David Winston considers the Democratic Socialist victories in the New York City Democratic primaries and the challenges they may pose for the future of the party as a whole.
What does this mean in terms of policies? Democrats are trying to build party unity based on their opposition to Trump, but underneath that, is the fight over just how much socialism the party is willing to accept for that unity.
DSA/progressive policies are far more radical than many Democrats can stomach. Socialist progressives want to defund the police, healthcare for all, reduce criminal incarceration, end fossil fuel production, eliminate student debt, and offer free college tuition. They also want open borders, the end of ICE, the codification of transgender sports, and support all things anti-Israel, anti-private sector, and anti-defense.
To pay for these policies, they propose higher taxes penalizing wealth, business and property, and more regulation.
The differences between congressional Democrats and DSA/progressive Democrats are not small especially with what amounts to a dangerous strain of antisemitism infecting the DSA and progressives. With the midterms only months away, a bitter intraparty competition of ideas could drown out the anti-Trump messaging as each side tries to assert their dominance in leading the party.
Read the full piece here.
