How Some Dems Are ‘Preparing For The Next War’ Against Socialists

Moderate Democrats are bracing for “the next war” inside the party.

Jonathan Cowan, president of the group Third Way, said his organization is launching a $15 million effort running through 2028 to discredit democratic socialism, The New York Times reported on Thursday.

“We are preparing for the next war that is coming,” Cowan said. 

The money will fund opposition research on the Democratic Socialists of America, polling, social media programs, and work to educate Democratic activists and leaders. 

The push gained urgency after Abdul El-Sayed’s narrow win in Michigan’s Democratic Senate primary on Tuesday. Polls before the election had pointed to a blowout. Instead, the leftist barely edged out the establishment’s pick, Rep. Haley Stevens (D-MI), in a swing state that will also host an early presidential primary in 2028. 

Democrats had hoped to keep such wins limited to more liberal areas. El-Sayed’s nomination raised concerns that a progressive could take the party’s presidential nomination and then lose the general election.

“It is deeply troubling to see radical, far-Left candidates winning in places that are potentially presidential swing states,” Cowan told the Times.

Party leaders including Michigan Democratic Governor Gretchen Whitmer, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY), and former Vice President Kamala Harris quickly backed El-Sayed after his primary victory.

Cowan criticized candidates who court Democratic Socialists of America organizers and energy while staying distant enough to avoid the formal label, a move he called the “DSA dodge.”

The next test for the Democratic Party comes next week. In Wisconsin, democratic socialist state Assemblywoman Francesca Hong has emerged as the party’s frontrunner for governor in another battleground state. The primary is August 11.

Moderate Democrats say the goal of their anti-socialist effort is to pinpoint radical parts of the official DSA platform, including defunding the Department of War, abolishing the police and prison system, reparations, and a 32-hour workweek. 

Liam Kerr, co-founder of the Welcome PAC, argued the far-Left has, so far, gained outsider energy and attention without the full weight of those positions.

Not every leftist won this week. Former Rep. Cori Bush (D-MO) lost badly in her bid to reclaim her seat. But socialist wins have stacked up, including in primaries in New York, Colorado, and now, Michigan. In Detroit, State Rep. Donavan McKinney’s primary victory over incumbent Rep. Shri Thanedar puts the city on track to have both House seats held by democratic socialists if he wins in November, joining Rep. Rashida Tlaib. 

El-Sayed campaigned with Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) and made opposition to the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) central to his race. 

Maurice Mitchell of the leftist Working Families Party, who campaigned in Michigan, rejected moderate Democrats’ response to the rise of socialist candidates.

“They’re missing the plot,” he said of the moderate Democrats, adding, “There is a populist insurgency taking place in this country.”