With the rise of President Trump, Democrats have been facing a nationwide identity crisis. Democratic leaders such as House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., have tried to maintain a rough balance between moderate Democrats and the far-left.
But that charade has all but crumbled over the last few weeks.
The party that was once represented by JFK and the “Blue Dog” coalition has all but been taken over by the worst that American society has to offer, and millennials are to blame.
The biggest virus that has caused this change in the Democratic Party is the Democratic Socialists of America, or DSA, which has backed candidates in dozens of races and resulted in more than 30 successfully-elected socialists across the country. More recent examples include a candidate who defeated the Republican House Majority Whip in the Virginia House of Delegates, four different candidates for seats in the Pennsylvania House of Representatives, and, most recently, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, the primary challenger who ousted chair of the House Democratic Caucus, Rep. Joe Crowley, in New York’s 14th Congressional District.
All of these candidates are in their late 20’s and early 30’s, which is a reflection of the DSA’s top demographic. Since Trump’s election in 2016, the DSA has reported a massive spike in its membership among millennials out of protest to Trump’s presidency. Following the overwhelming support for socialist Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., and polls showing increasing support for socialism among the youth, such an abundance of outright socialist millennials running for office is only the latest unfortunate, but predictable, step in this devastating trend.
As Vogue wrote in the aftermath of Crowley’s loss, millennial socialists “might just be the future of the Democratic Party.” Or, that is to say, what little future the party may have left.
As this ultra-radical faction that could not be more out-of-touch with the average American continues to rise on the Left, more Democratic voters will be alienated from their old party. Voters who want to hear about their jobs being brought back will instead be lectured on how capitalism has “failed.” Voters who want to hear about their welfare benefits will instead face tirades about “white privilege” and “social justice.” Gone will be moderates like Rep. Tim Ryan, D-Ohio, and former Sen. Jim Webb, D-Va., instead replaced by such figures as Rep. Keith Ellison, D-Minn., and former Bernie Sanders spokeswoman Symone Sanders.
Some may say that this is simply the Democrats finally seeing a revolt by their base against party leadership, in the same manner that the GOP was rocked by its own grassroots in 2010 and 2016. Parallels have already been drawn between Crowley’s primary loss and the equally-shocking primary loss of then-House Majority Leader Eric Cantor, R-Va., in 2014. However, a crucial difference is that the GOP’s grassroots – from the Tea Party to pro-Trump candidates – still ultimately uphold pro-America values, and numerous political stances that are widely popular among the American public, from free-market capitalism to support for the Constitution.
The Left’s grassroots, in contrast, is inherently anti-American. Whether it’s preaching socialism, trying to shame Americans for their beliefs, fighting to take away constitutional rights, or even rewriting American history, the Left’s fundamental goal, as former President Barack Obama said, is to “fundamentally transform America.”
As Democratic leadership continues to collapse against the onslaught of the far-left, the same radicalism that led to blue collar, working-class voters in the Rust Belt states voting for Donald Trump will continue into the November midterm elections and the 2020 presidential elections. In their efforts to become the future of the Democratic Party, millennial socialists will end up ensuring that the Democratic Party has no future.
