The latter side is winning. The Democratic Socialists of America, which is the ultimate oxymoron, is raising millions while the Democratic National Committee is millions in the red. The socialists are energized, organized, and have all the momentum right now — if primaries held in New York City were any indication. Rep. Dan Goldman (D-NY), a fixture on CNN and MS Now, got smoked by Mamdani-backed socialist Brad Lander by nearly 30 points in New York’s 10th District. This is significant considering that Goldman captured 66% of the vote two years prior. 

The news cycle this week has been dominated by interviews with establishment Democrats as a result. The main question has been something like this: Are you worried about a socialist takeover of the Democratic party? And the answers have been exactly what one would expect: Denial, dodging and delusion. 

“[Democratic Socialists] are saying, ‘You’re next, you’re next, you’re next, you’re next,'” CNBC’s Joe Kernan explained to Jeffries during a recent interview. “You can’t think this is a positive development in New York politics, can you? And, oh, they’ll just, you know, ‘Dems will be Dems’ or something like that. I don’t see how you can say that.”

Kernan was referring to a viral video of Jefferies being shown on screen during a socialist victory party in Brooklyn on Tuesday night, where loud chants emerged of “You’re next! You’re next!” aimed at Jefferies.

“First of all, I’ve clearly rejected those things. That’s number one. Number two, my record speaks for itself. This is not a ‘Dems will be Dems’ situation. Donald Trump is the President of the United States of America right now. Are you kidding me?” Jeffries responded.

That answer doesn’t remotely address Jefferies’ core problem: If primaried by a member of the DSA, he will be defeated. His approval rating among Democrats is only 41%, but here’s the shocking part, according to Pew Research: 39% of voters say they’ve never heard of him. Same goes for Chuck Schumer: He’s seen as old and clueless by the socialist wing of the party. And he is a prime target to be primaried by the likes of AOC, who didn’t rule out that possibility during an interview with Fox News Digital recently:

“I’m sorry I’m not going to be breaking any news here as I consider what’s going to happen in the future,” Ocasio-Cortez responded when asked whether the election results made her more compelled to seek higher office. 

“But I’m definitely inspired and encouraged by all the new faces that we’re going to be sending to the states and to Congress next year,” she added. 

But the establishment isn’t going to forfeit power without a fight. They understand that the DSA is more of a threat to them than MAGA Republicans themselves. Enter Sen. John Fetterman (D-PA), a former darling of the Left before not moving off his staunch support for Israel. 

“You know, some of these candidates are outrageous,” Fetterman told Fox’s Sean Hannity recently. “You have candidates, they’re ‘abolish ICE,’ ‘abolish the police,’ ‘abolish the border.’”

And he’s not exaggerating. All three of the Mamdani-endorsed socialists who won on Tuesday have all called for abolishing ICE, defunding border security and abolishing the police. One candidate, Darializa Avila Chevalier, has even called for those guilty of murder not to be incarcerated. 

‘What should happen to somebody who has killed somebody else?’ asked Nicole Gelinas of the New York Editorial Board recently. After referring to herself as a “prison abolitionist,” Chavalier argued that “as someone who has worked with folks who have been incarcerated, who have felt ostracized, for lack of a better term, by so many facets of our society for being poor, for being Black, for being Latino.”

“Did we answer what happens to the murderer?” journalist Josh Greenman pressed. “Do you not incarcerate the murderer?’ 

“You know, again, I’m talking about this question between the distance between the world we want to see and the world that we’re at,” she replied incoherently. “And tomorrow, you know, when that instance happens, that [incarceration] is what’s going to happen, right? And I don’t think anyone in society questions that that’s what’s going to happen … this is what I’m saying is that when that happens, and as someone who has sat in so many courtrooms, to me, all of that is tragic.”

In a letter signed by 15 self-described moderate Democrats, they wrote they “are capitalist, not socialist.” They want “safety, not lawlessness.” And “they are proud of America, not ashamed.” 

Letters are nice, but establishment Democrats need to take this battle to the airwaves. They need to unequivocally reject the extreme views of the DSA. Because here’s what happens next: Republicans will paint all Democrats as socialists, even communists, while presenting a simple binary choice: 

Do you believe in communism or common sense? 

“If this is where the Democratic Party is going — this obsession with Israel, with the Jew-hating, they don’t believe in capitalism, no prisons. If this is where they’re going, my vote is in play,” Bill Maher told Vice President JD Vance on Friday night’s episode of Real Time. 

President Donald Trump, at the Faith and Freedom coalition in Washington on Thursday, fired the first salvo in this regard:

“Communism is an ideology that destroys everything but is very easy to preach. I could become the greatest communist in history by promising free houses, free food, and everything for free. But within 2–3 years, the nation would collapse, and food, housing, the military, and law and order would disappear, reducing the country to a third-world state.”

THE SOCIALIST REVOLUTION WILL EAT THE DEMOCRATIC PARTY

The midterm elections are suddenly a toss-up if this ends up being an option for voters in key swing districts and states. 

Because what works in New York City or Seattle or D.C. ain’t going to fly in the districts and states that decide power in the House, the Senate, and ultimately the White House.